Force measurement-based discontinuity detection during friction stir welding

The objective of this work is to develop a method for detecting the creation of discontinuities (i.e., voids, volume defects) during friction stir welding. Friction stir welding is inherently cost effective, however, the need for significant weld inspection can make the process cost prohibitive. A new approach to weld inspection is required in which an in-situ characterization of weld quality can be obtained, reducing the need for post-process inspection. To this end, friction stir welds with subsurface voids and without voids were created. The subsurface voids were generated by reducing the friction stir tool rotation frequency and increasing the tool traverse speed to create “colder” welds. Process forces were measured during welding, and the void sizes were measured post-process by computerized tomography (i.e., 3D X-ray imaging). Two parameters, based on frequency domain content and time-domain average of the force signals, were found to be correlated with void size. Criteria for subsurface void detection and size prediction were developed and shown to be in good agreement with experimental observations. With the proper choice of data acquisition system and frequency analyzer the occurrence of subsurface voids can be detected in real time.