A composite metal flexplate is disclosed that includes an aluminum center plate and a steel ring gear joined to the aluminum center plate by a solid-state joint. The solid-state joint that joins together the aluminum center plate and the steel ring gear may be formed by friction welding. During the friction welding process, a surface of an annular body of the steel ring gear is preheated, followed by bringing the preheated surface of the annular body into contact with a surface of a periphery of a circular body of the aluminum center plate. The two contacting surfaces are then caused to experience relative rotational contacting movement, which generates frictional heat therebetween and softens adjacent regions of the steel ring gear and the aluminum center plate. Once this occurs, an applied force is administered to compress and forge the contacting surfaces together, thereby establishing the solid-state joint.

An airfoil for a gas turbine engine according to an example of the present disclosure includes, among other things, an airfoil body defining a recessed region and including at least one rib dimensioned to loop about a respective pocket within a perimeter of the recessed region. At least one cover skin is welded to the airfoil body along the at least one rib to enclose the recessed region. The at least one cover skin is welded to the at least one rib along a respective weld path. The weld path defines a weld width, the at least one rib defines a rib width, and a ratio of the weld width to the rib width is equal to or greater than 3:1 for each position along the weld path. A method of forming a gas turbine engine component is also disclosed.

A device for performing a method for producing a lamination pack, wherein in the method laminations are cut from an electric strip or sheet; the laminations are placed on top of each other to form a lamination stack; the laminations are connected by material fusion to each other by: locally plasticizing a material of the laminations in an edge region of the laminations by generating friction heat by a tool; mixing the locally plasticized material, at least of the laminations neighboring each other, with the tool; and allowing the plasticized material to cool and fuse the laminations in the edge region to form the lamination pack. The device has a punch press and/or a receptacle for one or a plurality of lamination stacks. The device further has a welding tool that is rotatably driven about an axis of the welding tool and moveable transverse to the axis of rotation.

A friction welding machine for radiating fins is disclosed, which mainly uses a moving unit to drive a friction joint unit to approach the plurality of radiating fins, and a friction rod provided in the moving unit rotates at a high speed to penetrate the radiating fins. The radiating fins are then welded together through the heat generated by high-speed rotation friction to achieve the purpose of improving the welding quality of the radiating fins and reducing the cost.

A method for producing a piston may include providing a blank of a piston base member with an outer peripheral joining face, an inner peripheral joining face which may be expanded in a direction of a base region of a combustion bowl, and a lower cooling channel portion which may extend between the outer and inner peripheral joining faces, wherein at least one of (i) at least one of the outer and inner peripheral joining faces and (ii) the lower cooling channel portion may be not subsequently processed. The method may then include providing a blank of a piston ring element with an outer annular joining face, an inner annular joining face, and an upper cooling channel portion which may extend between the outer and inner annular joining faces, wherein at least one of (i) at least one of the outer and inner annular joining faces and (ii) the upper cooling channel portion may be not subsequently processed. The method may then include joining the blanks via the outer and inner peripheral joining faces and the outer and inner annular joining faces to form a piston blank in such a manner that, at least in the base region of the combustion bowl, a part-region of the expanded inner peripheral joining face of the blank of the piston base member may remain free. The method may further include subsequently at least partially processing the piston blank to form the piston with the part-region of the expanded inner peripheral joining face being removed.

A method for reducing stress and distortion in a component during a friction welding process includes securing first and second workpieces of the component within an inertia welding machine such that the first and second workpieces are affixed in opposition to each other. The method also includes securing at least one annular support member at least partially around the first workpiece and/or the second workpiece at a location having a reduced cross-section as compared to remaining portions of the first workpiece and/or the second workpiece. Further, the method includes rotating the first workpiece to a predetermined rotational speed. In addition, the method includes engaging the second workpiece with the rotating first workpiece so as to generate frictional heat therebetween, thereby welding the first and second workpieces together. As such, the annular support member(s) supports the location having the reduced cross-section during welding.

A method for manufacturing a rotor for an electrical machine having a rotor support and a laminated core includes positioning the laminated core on a first component of the rotor support, where the laminated core at least partially radially encloses the first component relative to an axis of rotation of the electrical machine. The method further includes welding an axial end face of the first component of the rotor support with a second component of the rotor support to form the rotor support by friction welding, where the laminated core is fixed on the rotor support by fastening elements which respectively enclose the laminated core on both sides of the laminated core in an axial direction. At least one of the fastening elements is formed by a weld bead.

A method for bonding a cemented (or sintered) carbide element to a structural component is provided comprising cladding at least one surface of the cemented (or sintered) carbide element with a metal alloy using diffusion bonding or brazing and friction welding a cladded surface of the cemented (or sintered) carbide element to the structural component.

Provided is a method for manufacturing a liquid-cooled jacket, to reduce the size of a recessed groove on a surface of a metal member and also to reduce roughness of an abutted surface. The method includes: a placing step of placing a jacket body and a sealing body, a first main joining step of performing friction stirring by moving a main joining rotary tool around along a first abutted portion, and a second main joining step of performing friction stirring by moving the main joining rotary tool around along a second abutted portion. The main joining rotary tool has a base-end-side pin and a tip-end-side pin. A taper angle of the base-end-side pin is grater than a taper angle of the tip-end-side pin and a stairs-like pin step portion is formed on an outer circumferential surface of the tip-end-side pin.

Drill collars may be constructed using solid-state welding processes. Solid-state welding produces robust drill collars with high fatigue lifespans and permits individual segments of the drill collar to be optimized based on their intended use. A drill collar may be formed of a first segment with a different material, density, modulus of elasticity and/or geometry than an adjacent second segment fused thereto. If a segment of a drill collar is damaged in use, the damaged segment may be removed and replaced, possibly without de-rating the drill collar. Methods of forming the solid-state welds may include friction welding adjacent segments to one another such that features in each segment are circumferentially aligned when the weld is formed. Supplemental energy sources may provide additional heat at the welded surfaces to ensure the segments are effectively fused.