Welding in Preparation for Superplastic Forming

The method of claim 36, wherein the number of characteristics comprise:

• strength, fatigue characteristics, fracture toughness performance, corrosion resistance, impact damage tolerance, and grain composition.

3-4. (canceled)

The method of claim 36, wherein portions of the blank not part of the number of weld nuggets elongate from about 1 percent to about 25 percent times more than each of the number of weld nuggets during the forming of the component.

6-14. (canceled)

A method for fabricating a circular one-piece lipskin of a nacelle of a jet engine, the method comprising:

• friction stir welding metal sheets together at a desired temperature, a particular spindle speed, and a particular feed rate to form a blank having a number of weld nuggets, wherein a first grain composition including a first grain size of each of the number of weld nuggets is matched to a second grain composition including a second grain size of the metal sheets to achieve a desired superplasticity;
• and
• using a superplastic forming process to form the circular-one piece lipskin from the blank, and wherein the metal sheets and weld nuggets have a strength, fatigue characteristics, a fracture toughness performance, a corrosion resistance, an impact damage tolerance, and a grain composition that are substantially the same after the superplastic forming process including a same grain composition as the metal sheets.

17-18. (canceled)

(canceled)

A method for fabricating a titanium structure, the method comprising:

• friction stir welding multiple titanium pieces together to form a blank with a weld nugget by adjusting a spindle speed and a feed rate and by matching a first grain composition including a first grain size of each of a number of weld nuggets to a second grain composition including a second grain size of the multiple titanium pieces to achieve a desired superplasticity and the weld nugget having a superplastic strain rate of between about 1×10̂-2 inch per inch per second and about 5×10̂-6 inch per inch per second;
• and
• forming the titanium structure from the blank, wherein the weld nugget elongates between about 1 percent to about 25 percent less than other portions of the blank during the forming of the titanium structure due to the superplastic strain achieved during welding.

(canceled)