The present invention provides a process for suppressing abnormal grain growth in friction stir welded aluminum alloys by inserting an intermediate annealing treatment (“IAT”) after the welding step on the article. The IAT may be followed by a solution heat treatment (SHT) on the article under effectively high solution heat treatment conditions. In at least some embodiments, a deformation step is conducted on the article under effective spin-forming deformation conditions or under effective superplastic deformation conditions. The invention further provides a welded article having suppressed abnormal grain growth, prepared by the process above. Preferably the article is characterized with greater than about 90% reduction in area fraction abnormal grain growth in any friction-stir-welded nugget.

A fastening element for friction welding onto a planar workpiece includes a nut head, a through-bore extending at least locally within the nut head, a friction welding face on one end side of the nut head, and a cutting device for introducing a drilled hole into the workpiece on the one end side of the nut head having the friction welding face.

A stamped part includes a first blank, a second blank, and a weld joining the first blank to the second blank. The weld includes opposing ends. At least one of the opposing ends of the weld is recessed from adjacent edges of the first and second blanks.

A jacket main body is formed of a first aluminum alloy. A seal body is formed of a second aluminum alloy. The first aluminum alloy is higher in hardness than the second aluminum alloy in material type. A method includes: a preparing step of forming on an peripheral wall part a step part having a step bottom surface and a step side surface obliquely rising; a mounting step of mounting the seal body on the jacket main body to form a first butt portion and putting the step bottom surface and a back surface of the seal body on each other to form a second butt portion; a main joining step of performing friction stir welding while only the stirring pin of the rotary tool rotating contacts with only the seal body.

A welded structural assembly and method, in one form, includes an upper substrate, a lower substrate adjacent the upper substrate, a fastener, and a sealing member. The fastener includes a shank portion, a first head portion, and a second head portion. The shank portion extends through the upper substrate and into the lower substrate. The shank is welded to the lower substrate. The first head portion has an outer periphery and an underside. The second head portion is frangibly coupled to the first head portion. The sealing member is disposed under the first head portion between the upper substrate and the first head portion. The sealing member contacts the underside and extends beyond the outer periphery such that the sealing member extends radially outward beyond all points of the first head portion.

A manufacturing method for manufacturing a cylinder tube includes a joining step of joining a tube main body and a head member by friction welding by abutting an end surface of the tube main body and a flange portion of the head member in a state in which a through hole of the tube main body and a projecting portion of the head member are fitted to each other so as to form a predetermined clearance. In the joining step, a non-contact portion of the flange portion of the head member facing the clearance is joined to the tube main body by heating the non-contact portion with friction heat generated by relative rotation between the tube main body and the head member.

Process for manufacturing a part, in particular a composite cast part, includes the steps of: providing at least one insertion element; casting a casting material around at least a portion of the at least one insertion element such that at least one contact area is formed between the at least one insertion element and the casting material; and welding the at least one insertion element to the casting material in the contact area.

A two-piece connection between a supply pipe from a source of water and a connection to a fire sprinkler with the connector having a first or rear section entirely above a ceiling and a second or front section connected to the first section with the connection entirely above a ceiling and the forward portion of second section connected to the fire sprinkler. The first connector section, located entirely above a ceiling, has a spherical male sidewall with a rounded leading edge and a rear portion of the second connector section has a spherical female interior surface.

The present disclosure provides a method of manufacturing a one-piece wheel having a hollow structure for noise reduction. At least one embodiment of the present disclosure provides a method of manufacturing a one-piece wheel having a hollow structure for noise reduction, the method comprising: fabricating, by using one or both of gravity casting and low-pressure casting, an integral casting in which a disk portion and a wheel rim portion are integrally formed, wherein the rim portion includes an annular protrusion radially protruding from an outer circumferential surface; forming at least one cavity by bending the annular protrusion through flow forming to provide a bending portion, resulting in the cavity using the bending portion and one side of the disk portion; and performing a friction stir welding between the one side of the disk portion and one end of the bending portion.

In a battery assembly including a first battery and a second battery, the first battery includes a negative terminal, and the negative terminal has a first metal section and a second metal section formed of a metal different from the first metal section. The second metal section is joined to the top of the first metal section with the dissimilar metal joining, and the second metal section is formed with a joint surface and a recessed portion. A method of manufacturing the battery assembly includes a process of inserting a welding assist member into the recessed portion, and a process of placing a bus bar on the joint surface of the negative terminal in which the welding assist member is inserted in the recessed portion, and joining the bus bar onto the joint surface of the negative terminal by laser welding.