A method for producing a connection between a sandwich element and a metal element is disclosed herein. In this method, the sandwich element has an interlayer arranged between two cover elements. The method includes providing the sandwich element and the metal element; placing the sandwich element and the metal element in face-to-face contact at least partially overlapping; adding a fastener from the sandwich-element side while a base of the fastener extends within the sandwich element; and friction welding, from the metal-element side, to form a hybrid connection having a mechanical connection between the fastener and the sandwich element and a welding connection between the fastener and the metal element.

A friction stir spot welding method includes a welding step of performing friction stir spot welding of a workpiece by using a pin member and a shoulder member while the workpiece is supported and pressed by the end face of a clamp member and a pressing step of causing a friction stir spot welding device to press an obverse surface and a reverse surface of at least one of a friction-stirred region of the workpiece and an adjacent region adjacent to the friction-stirred region of the workpiece from a rotary tool side and an opposite side after the welding step while the pin member and the shoulder member are accommodated in an accommodation space of the clamp member.

A linear actuator assembly comprises a linear actuator which has a housing and an output shaft, the output shaft defining an actuator axis and being movable along the actuator axis between an extended position and a retracted position. The assembly also comprises a buffer carriage arranged in an active configuration in which it is mounted on either the housing or the output shaft. The buffer carriage has a rotary portion which is rotationally coupled to the output shaft such that rotation of the output shaft about the actuator axis requires corresponding rotation of the rotary portion. The rotary portion is rotationally restrained when the buffer carriage is in the active configuration.

A linear actuator assembly comprises a housing, an output shaft, a nose piece and a negative pressure device. The output shaft defines an actuator assembly axis, and is movable along the actuator assembly axis between an extended position and a retracted position relative to the housing. The nose piece is slidably mounted to the output shaft and movable between an extended position and a retracted position relative to the output shaft. The nose piece and the output shaft co-operatively define a chamber for containing a quantity of fluid, the volume of the chamber being smaller when the nose piece is in the retracted position than when the nose piece is in the extended position. The negative pressure device is connectable to the chamber, and is selectively operable so as to reduce the pressure in the sealed volume, thereby urging the nose piece from the extended position towards the retracted position.

The invention relates to a connecting element (10, 20, 30, 50) for producing a component connection (70) of two components (72, 74; 92) lying against each other by means of the connecting element (10, 20, 30, 50), which is welded to the lower layer (74)the base layerby friction, wherein the connecting element (10, 20, 30, 50) has a shaft (18), which has a shaft segment (14) and a head (12) having a flat surface (20) lying on the top side of the head for transmitting the axial force, wherein a drive cutout (22, 32) is introduced into the flat surface (20) in order to transmit a torque. The invention is characterized in that a continuous diameter increase starting at an ascent level (A) on the shaft segment (18) to the bottom side of the head results, wherein the distance from the ascent level (A) to a head bottom-side level (K), which has the greatest distance from the shaft end, is less than half the difference between the head outside diameter and the shaft diameter at the ascent level (DADS)/2 (D2) and greater than a quarter of the difference between the head outside diameter and the shaft diameter at the ascent level (DADS)/4 (D1).

A non-weldable workpiece may be affixed to a weldable workpiece by friction stirring the weldable workpiece to plasticize and extrude at least a portion thereof into a recess in the non-weldable workpiece. The weldable workpiece may then be welded to a body of a downhole tool to enable the welding of a non-weldable workpiece onto a body to increase the wear-resistance of the body.

A mounting assembly for a spot-joining apparatus comprises a first support arm (24). The first support arm (24) has a mounting surface (26), and receiving portion configured to receive an actuator or an anvil. The mounting assembly also comprises an alignment bracket (28) configured to engage with the actuator or anvil. The alignment bracket (28) is movable between a plurality of locations on the mounting surface (26) of the first support arm (24). The mounting assembly further comprises a clamp assembly (52, 29, 66a, 66b, 70, 70b or 52, 29, 88, 92, 98, 90, 96) configured to secure the alignment bracket (28) in any of the plurality of locations.

A joining method includes abutting an end face of a first metal member in a plate shape having a projecting part on the end face on a rear face of a second metal member in a plate shape having a hole that is bored through the second metal member in a plate thickness direction and simultaneously inserting the projecting part into the hole. The method includes inserting a stirring pin of a rotary tool into an abutment portion of a wall of the hole and an outer peripheral surface of the projecting part from a front face side opposite to the rear face of the second metal member. The rotary tool is moved along the abutment portion to join the abutment portion by friction stirring. The abutment portion is joined together with only the stirring pin of the rotary tool being in contact with the first and second metal members.

Methods and systems for providing a cold plate assembly include providing a base and a cover. The cover can be fixedly coupled to the base. Each of the base and the cover can include spaced internal ribs, which can form flow paths when the base and cover are fixedly coupled together. The internal ribs of the base and the cover can have spaced tabs that can be fixedly coupled to the other of the base or the cover. The base and the cover may also include spaced external or outer sacrificial ribs.

The method includes a step of preparing a first member made of a first metal and a second member made of a second metal having a smaller deformation resistance than the first metal, and a step of joining the first member and the second member. The step of joining includes a step of heating the first member and the second member by relatively rotating the first member and the second member, while pressing the first member and the second member against each other, without changing a relative positional relationship therebetween, and a step of cooling the first member and the second member heated, while being pressed against each other. In a first contact surface which is a surface of the first member coming into contact with the second member, a recess is formed so as to include a region intersecting the axis of rotation.