Self-reacting friction stir welding tool with the ability to add filler material
AssigneeAeroprobe Corporation
InventorsJeffrey Patrick Schultz, Kevin Creehan
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention relates to tools and methods for welding, coating, repairing, or otherwise modifying the surface of a metal substrate. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention provide self-reacting friction stir welding tools which have an internal channel that allows filler materials to be added to the weld joint or otherwise friction stir processed area. Embodiments also provide friction stir tooling having upper and lower shoulders disposed at a fixed distance from one another and connected by a fixed split-pin. The tooling can be configured for automatically dispensing varying amounts of filler material into the tooling in response to variations in thickness of a substrate being processed.
Claims12
Self-reacting friction stir welding tooling comprising:
- friction fabrication tooling having a non-consumable body with a throat for feeding filler material into a weld joint and upper and lower shoulders disposed at a fixed distance with their surfaces facing one another;
- wherein the upper shoulder surface and the lower shoulder surface are capable of trapping filler material loaded into substrates in a volume between the tool shoulders and are capable joining the substrates with frictional heating and compressive/shear loading;
- and wherein the upper and lower shoulders are connected by a fixed split-pin.
A self-reacting friction stir welding system comprising:
- friction fabrication tooling having a non-consumable body with a throat for feeding filler material into a weld joint and upper and lower shoulders disposed at a fixed distance with their surfaces facing one another;
- a fluidized powder delivery system in operable communication therewith, wherein the powder delivery system is operably configured for continuously delivering a coating material into and through the tooling.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.