Researchers develop a faster welding technique for aluminium auto parts

Researchers from the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in partnership with General Motors, Alcoa and TWB Company LLC have come up with a new technique for processing aluminium for automobiles that will enhance the speed, scale, quality and consistency required in the auto industry.

The new technique promises to reduce production time and costs for creating strong yet strong automotive parts and has been reported in the May issue of the Journal of Materials.

Friction stir welding or FSW is a new joining technique that can be used to join aluminium sheets of varying thickness ten times faster that any former FSW technique providing speeds that can meet high-volume assembly requirements.

"We looked at the barriers preventing the use of more lightweight alloys in cars, picked what we felt was a top challenge, and then formulated a team that represented the entire supply chain to tackle it," said Yuri Hovanski, the program manager at PNNL and lead author. "The result is a proven process that overcomes the speed, scale and quality limitations of FSW that previously were showstoppers for the auto industry."

Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy is funding the two-phased, six year project with in-kind contributions from all the participating companies.