The invention relates to a method and to a device for welding together two joining partners by means of friction stir welding, which prevents the joining partners being contaminated by welding residue. The method comprises the following features: a welding head that can be integrated into any machine, said welding head being in the form of a spindle drive driven by a drive unit, comprising a mounting flange for securing the device assisting the welding process, and a clamping system for receiving a frustoconical-shaped tool having a welding and smoothing shoe for guiding a welding pin (11), a device (17) integrated into the welding and smoothing shoe for grinding the waste produced during the welding process, the waste produced during welding is then removed by means of one inlet channels for fluid arranged in the upper and/or lower area of the frustoconical-shaped tool for the fluid (20, 18) and a suction channel (19).

In a bobbin tool including a first shoulder surface which comes into contact with a front surface of a subject work piece, a second shoulder surface which is disposed so as to face the first shoulder surface and comes into contact with a rear surface of the work piece, and a shaft portion which connects the first shoulder surface and the second shoulder surface to each other with a gap therebetween fixed, the first shoulder surface and the second shoulder surface are provided with a first vortex groove and a second vortex groove which extend toward the front side of a tool rotation direction so as to be opened to the outer peripheral edge as it moves to the outer peripheral side.

A friction stir welding device (1) includes a workpiece disposition unit (2) at which workpieces (W) is disposed, a main body section (3) disposed at a surface (W4) of the workpieces (W) disposed at the workpiece disposition unit (2), a tool holding unit (4) formed in the main body section (3) to enable advance and retreat in a direction facing the workpieces (Z), which is a direction approaching and separating from the workpieces (W) disposed at the workpiece disposition unit (2), and configured to hold a tool (100), and a support medium (5) formed to satisfy a predetermined relative positional relationship in the direction facing the workpieces (Z) with respect to a first shoulder surface of the tool (100) attached to the tool holding unit (4) and configured to support the tool holding unit (4) on the surface (W4) of the workpieces (W) disposed at the workpieces disposition unit (2).

A quick connect refill friction stir spot welding tool includes a clamp having a first radially-projecting mounting tab configured for engaging a first mounting slot in a refill friction stir spot welding weld head. A friction sleeve is located coaxially within the clamp and has a second radially-projecting mounting tab configured for engaging a second mounting slot in the refill friction stir spot welding weld head. The second radially-projecting mounting tab is located higher along an axis of the tool than the first radially-projecting mounting tab, and radially inward thereof. A friction pin is located coaxially within the clamp and friction sleeve. The clamp and friction sleeve are attachable to and detachable from the refill friction stir spot welding weld head by rotations through less than 360 degrees.

A tool for friction stir welding includes a tool part, a shank part and a cap part. The tool part and the shank part have a hexagonal frustum-shaped concave section and a hexagonal frustum-shaped convex section to enable movement of the tool part with respect to the shank part in a direction parallel to an axis of rotation while movement of the tool part with respect to the shank part in a direction around the axis of rotation is restricted, by the hexagonal frustum-shaped concave section and the hexagonal frustum-shaped convex section of the tool part and the shank part are fitted to each other. After the hexagonal frustum-shaped concave section and the hexagonal frustum-shaped convex section are fitted to each other, by the tool part and the shank part being covered by the cap part, the tool part is fixed to the shank part.

An object is to provide a friction stir welding method and apparatus that provide sufficient strength and good welding workability by advantageously eliminating plastic flow deficiency generated as a result of insufficient heating of workpieces. In friction stir welding for steel sheets (3,3) as workpieces, a pair of facing rotary tools (1,15) are inserted into a non-welded part from both one surface side and the other surface side of the steel sheets (3,3), the rotary tools move in a welding direction while rotating, and in addition, a preheating process for heating steel sheets (3,3) is performed by heating means (5) provided in front of the rotary tools (1,15). The configuration of the pair of facing rotary tools (1,15) and the surface temperature, area, position, and so forth of a heated region in the preheating process are strictly controlled.

A friction stir welding method includes joining a first metal member, a second metal member, and a third metal member by pressing a tool onto a joining member while rotating the tool. The tool has a protrusion at a tip of the tool. The joining member includes the first metal member, the second metal member, and the third metal member. A major element of the second metal member is the same as a major element included in the first metal member. The third metal member is sandwiched between at least a portion of the first metal member and at least a portion of the second metal member. A major element of the third metal member is the same as the major element included in the first metal member and the second metal member. A crystal grain size of the third metal member is 20 μm or less.

Method and device for quick and reliable tool changing in the process of friction stir welding, comprising the following features: a) a robot (1) with a robot pivoting head (2) and a friction welding head (3) with a welding shoe (13), wherein the robot (1) can select a friction welding head (2) from a tool magazine (4), b) a device for sensing the mechanical forces at the welding pin tip (14) of each welding shoe (13) of a friction welding head (2), wherein a sensor (16) is attached to the frustoconical part of the tool (11), wherein a sensor (21) is provided, and wherein furthermore a sensor (25) is provided in the flared pin receptacle (26) and a piezoelectric force-measuring sensor (24) is provided in the longitudinal axis of the pin shaft (27) for measuring the axial force acting on the welding pin tip, c) an RFDI code provided on the pin shaft (27) of each welding shoe (13) for identification, d) a changing skid (28) provided on each welding shoe (13).

A friction stir welding tool attachable to a spindle of a machine tool includes: a shank connected to the spindle; a chuck connected to the shank through a heat insulating portion; a welding tool connected to the chuck and usable for friction stir welding; and a cooling jacket provided on a circumferential surface of the chuck. The cooling jacket is provided with a refrigerant path for delivering a refrigerant.

A system and method of joining at least two workpieces together using a friction rivet and a friction rivet cap that are friction stirred together after a cutting tip or cutting feature on the friction rivet cuts through workpieces and is then bonded to the friction rivet cap, and wherein the friction rivet cap may be excluded if the friction rivet includes a hollow in the cutting tip, the hollow being flared after the friction rivets cuts through the workpieces to thereby create an integral rivet cap in the end of the friction rivet.