Recent developments in Micro Friction Stir Welding: A review

The advent of friction stir welding (FSW) in 1991 has been evolutionary in the joining of metals and related materials. Friction stir welding has enabled the joining of metals that could not be joined by other welding processes. Research has shown that dissimilar materials with very different properties, plastics, composites and even wood can be joined by FSW. Recent activities in the application of FSW has seen the development of micro friction stir welding (mu FSW), which is the FSW of very thin sections of thickness 1000 mu m (1 mm) or less. Micro friction stir welding further extends the applications of FSW to areas such as copper electrical contacts, tailor-welded blanks, wood. Though mu FSW is relatively new development significant work has been done to date with interesting research findings being reported. This paper aims to review developments in mu FSW to date. The focus of the paper will be on problems peculiar to mu FSW due to downscaling to the micro scale and other practical considerations.