Friction Stir Welding (FSW) was one of the most impressive and striking things I came to

learn during the Welding Engineer Program. When I saw it for the first time in Osaka
University lab, I was so surprised.

I decided then to try this out myself when I return to my home country. I have now started
small FSW test runs on the NC milling machine I have in my workshop. This is a brief report
on what has been done so far.

To best of my knowledge this is the first instance of FSW here in Bangladesh. Also, as far I
could gather, there is no patent claim for FSW here so we can use it freely.

Machine: NC milling machine. 40 taper 3kW spindle motor, maximum 4000 RPM.

Tool: I made a simple tool from JIS SKD-11 tool steel (strong, can be hardened to high
degree easily) and a simple holder from mild steel to attach it to the spindle. The tool was
designed for joining 3 mm thick plates. (Drawings of the tool and holder is given in pages 5
& 6)

Page 1 / 6
Base Metal pieces: 3 mm thick Aluminum plates. Properties close to 1060. Tests done in
cold-worked condition.

First try did not go very well. I was uneasy and too worried about blowing down-feed motor.
The tool did not get to full depth so there was clearance between tool shoulder and base
metal. Metal flowed into this space and the effect was like cutting rather than welding. Also,
midway the base metal pieces came loose as I underestimated required clamping force.

Tool RPM Feed Rate Result Lessons:

penetration
1.8 mm 2000 30 mm/min Appearance is poor There must be no clearance
with jagged edges. between tool shoulder and
base metal.
No back side joint.
Forces are very strong,
Joint fractured easily pieces to be welded must be
with soft hammer held down very rigidly.
blow.

First try,
not so good

Page 2 / 6
Next run is decidedly better. I increased the RPM and pushed the tool down to full depth, also
ignored all the squeaking sounds coming from the machine. Result was obviously better.
Joint appearance was nice, back side was also nicely joined up to a small length (getting good
back side appearance can be interesting challenge).

Tool RPM Feed Rate Result Lessons:

penetration
2.2 mm 2350 45 mm/min Appearance was Tool penetration has to be
very good and precisely controlled. Zero
consistent. clearance between tool
shoulder and base metal is
Joint was very essential for good joint.
strong. The test piece
bent after several For thin plates, complete joint
strong hammer can be achieved if tool
blows but did not penetrates close to full
fracture. thickness of base metal

Top side

Back side

Page 3 / 6
Issues to test next:

- Effect of rotation speed is not clear. I used similar RPM on both tests. Widely different
RPMs will have to be tested.
- Effect of welding speed is also not clear. So far I used 30 and 45 mm/min feeds but other
factors were very different so effect was not clear. Different speeds will have to be tested
keeping other parameters constant.
- Tool shape. The tool I made had the simplest possible shape. I intend to test tool with
knurling and spiral grooves soon. My hunch is that tool shape may have greatest effect on the
down force of tool during plunging but I will need to run tests to confirm this.

Digitally signed by Md. Samial Hasnat

DN: cn=Md. Samial Hasnat, o, ou,
email=emon_je@yahoo.com, c=BD
Date: 2010.04.12 01:01:06 +06'00'
-----------------------------------
(Md. Samial Hasnat)
Assistant Engineer (CNC & R&D)
BITAC, Bangladesh
Participant, “Knowledge and Management Ability for the International Welding Qualification”, Fiscal 2009

With Thanks to JICA and all the people involved in “Knowledge and Management Ability for the
International Welding Qualification”, for granting this opportunity.

Page 4 / 6
 M12 x 1.5

10.30

8.50

2.20
6

18

UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED: FINISH: DEBUR AND

DO NOT SCALE DRAWING REVISION
DIMENSIONS ARE IN MILLIMETERS BREAK SHARP
SURFACE FINISH:
TOLERANCES: MACHINE EDGES

LINEAR:
ANGULAR:

NAME SIGNATURE DATE TITLE:

DRAWN

CHK'D

APPV'D
HASNAT
TOOL
MFG CNC

Q.A HASNAT MATERIAL:

DWG NO.
A4
JIS SKD-11 FSW_TOOL_REV0
Page 5 / 6
WEIGHT: SCALE:2:1 SHEET 1 OF 1
 16

100
43

28

M12 x 1.5,16 DEEP

UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED: FINISH: DEBUR AND

DO NOT SCALE DRAWING REVISION
DIMENSIONS ARE IN MILLIMETERS BREAK SHARP

MACHINE
SURFACE FINISH: EDGES
TOLERANCES:
LINEAR:
ANGULAR:

NAME SIGNATURE DATE TITLE:

TOOLHOLDER
DRAWN HASNAT
CHK'D

APPV'D

MFG CNC

Q.A HASNAT MATERIAL:

DWG NO.
A4
AISI 1020 FSW_TOOLHOLDER_REV0
Page 6 / 6
WEIGHT: SCALE:1:1 SHEET 1 OF 1