In-process discontinuity detection during friction stir welding

The objective of this work is to develop a method for detecting the creation of discontinuities (e.g., voids) 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 -- where an in-situ characterization of weld quality can be obtained, reducing the need for post-process inspection.;Friction stir welds with discontinuity and without discontinuity were created. In this work, discontinuities are generated by reducing the friction stir tool rotation frequency and increasing the tool traverse speed in order to create "colder" welds. During the welds, forces are measured. Discontinuity sizes for welds are measured by computerized tomography. The relationship between the force transients and the discontinuity sizes indicate that the force measurement during friction stir welding can be effectively used for detecting discontinuities in friction stir welds. The normalized force transient data and normalized discontinuity size are correlated to develop a criterion for discontinuity detection. Additional welds are performed to validate the discontinuity detection method. The discontinuity sizes estimated by the force measurement based method are in good agreement with the discontinuity sizes measured by computerized tomography. These results show that the force measurement based discontinuity detection model method can be effectively used to detect discontinuities during friction stir welding.