The present invention aims to provide a joining method that can prevent poor joining. The present invention provides a joining method including: a measuring step that measures a height near a joint portion, which serves as a part for joining formed by a first metal member and a second metal member placed in a positional relationship for joining by abutting or overlapping, and obtains measured values; a setting step that sets a height position of a rotating tool based on the measured values obtained by the measuring step; and a friction stir step that relatively moves the turning rotating tool along the joint portion based on the height position set by the setting step.

A welding method for welding an overlapping part of a first member and a second member includes: a first welding step of forming a friction-stirred part at a one-end-side spot being a spot that is closest to one end of the overlapping part by plunging a rotary tool into the one-end-side spot; a second welding step of forming a friction-stirred part at an other-end-side spot that is located away from the one-end-side spot and closer to the other end by plunging the rotary tool into the other-end-side spot; and a third welding step of forming a friction-stirred part at an intermediate spot located between the one-end-side spot and the other-end-side spot by plunging the rotary tool into the intermediate spot.

An electrical steel strip friction stir welding method is provided that is able to inhibit the occurrence of coil joint fracture on a production line caused by degradation of mechanical properties and shape of the coil joint, under high work efficiency conditions. Double-sided friction stir welding with post-cooling is carried out under conditions so that the steel microstructures of the joined portion and the thermo-mechanically affected zone formed by joining become mainly ferrite phase, the conditions simultaneously satisfying the relationships of Expressions (1) to (4).

A friction stir welding device includes: a pin extending along an axis; a shoulder having a cylindrical shape and coaxially surrounding an outer periphery of the pin; and a driver that allows the pin and the shoulder to rotate about the axis and to advance and retract along the axis individually. The shoulder includes a shoulder main body having a distal end to be plunged into a welding target, and a shoulder adapter having a fit hole in which a proximal end of the shoulder main body is shrink-fitted and connecting the shoulder main body and the driver to each other.

Provided is a rotating tool used in a joining device configured to perform friction stir welding of to-be-joined members, the rotating tool including: a main body; a stir pin configured to perform friction stirring on the to-be-joined members; a shoulder configured to press the to-be-joined members, the stir pin and the shoulder forming an assembly; a first elastic member configured to bias the assembly toward a distal end side of the stir pin; and a first restriction member configured to restrict movement of the assembly toward a base end side in the axial direction of the rotating shaft, and the first restriction member restricts the movement of the assembly such that an amount of deformation occurring in the first elastic member with the movement of the assembly does not exceed a maximum allowable amount of the first elastic member.

Methods, apparatus, and devices for fixturing and alignment of parts and panels for assembly into aerospace components, are provided. These methods and devices are designed for joining together several large part segments into a larger complete component.

A method for forming a large metallic component, a friction stir welded component and a friction stir welded blank are provided. The method includes positioning a first metallic plate and a second metallic plate in an abutting arrangement. The first metallic plate and the second metallic plate have corresponding faying surfaces at a point of abutment. A backing plate is attached spanning the point of abutment adjacent the faying surfaces. The first metallic plate is friction stir welded to the second metallic plate to form a friction stir weld along the faying surfaces. The backing plate receives an end of a friction stir welding tool curing the friction stir welding. The backing plate is removed to form a welded blank. The welded blank is formed into a component form. The component is heat treated and aged to form the large metallic component. The friction stir weld in the welded blank has a stable microstructure having little or no abnormal grain growth during elevated temperature forming, heat treatment and aging.

The present disclosure discloses a continuous string welding device for photovoltaic cells and a welding method. The device includes a power transmission mechanism and a welding light box. The power transmission mechanism includes a welding strip positioning section, a buffering section and a welding section that perform conveying independently from each other in sequence in the conveying direction. The buffering section is capable of storing at least one string of cells. The welding light box is located in the welding section. The welding strip positioning section performs step-by-step motion conveying. The welding section performs continuous motion conveying. The buffering section is configured to receive a predetermined number of cells from the welding strip positioning section, connect the predetermined number of cells in series, and then convey the predetermined number of cells connected in series to the welding section.

A friction stir welding (FSW) tool includes a head, a tool holder and a body between the head and the tool holder and attached to the head and the tool holder. The body may include a plurality of cooling fins. An interior of the body may include a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, a torque sensor, and a communication node in electronic communication with the pressure sensor, the temperature sensor, and the torque sensor. The communication node may be in Bluetooth communication with a computing device.

Methods, apparatus, and devices for fixturing and alignment of parts and panels for assembly into aerospace components, are provided. These methods and devices are designed for joining together several large part segments into a larger complete component.