PTG Opens £1.6 Million Friction Stir Welding Research Centre

Precision Technologies Group (PTG) has announced the opening of a new £1.6 million friction stir welding research centre at its UK-based headquarters and machine tools manufacturing facility. Equipped with PTG Powerstir single-head gantry type and dual weld-head FSW machines, the new centre offers exciting opportunities for prototyping, product and child-part development, materials testing, production trials and low-volume production.

“Our FSW research centre has been established to assist manufacturers in developing new products and processes, as well as better understanding the immense capabilities that PTG Powerstir machines offer,” comments PTG regional sales director, Mark Curran. “By increasing their knowledge of the FSW process, we can also assist Tier 1 and Tier 2 automotive supply chain businesses in becoming more confident and proficient in tendering for manufacturing projects they may not have previously considered.

“With governments around the world setting increasingly ambitious targets for the wholesale switch to electric vehicles,” he adds, “now could be a particularly good time for organisations who have yet to embrace the advantages of friction stir welding for the production of components such as vehicle panels, skateboard chassis and battery cell housings, to get in touch with us.”

Ensuring a tight weld-flatness tolerance

PTG Powerstir dual weld-head FSW machines provide a stable welding process, owing to its ‘matched’ dual-force control systems and balanced upper and lower head welding parameters. This, in turn, minimises post-weld distortion and equips each welded assembly with an improved flatness tolerance when compared to existing conventional single-side FSW techniques.

Reduced wall thickness

“In addition to providing a state-of-the-art means of joining metals and achieving extremely high-strength results, it is also important to consider that in many instances, the use of friction stir welding also allows for reduced wall thickness – an important aspect in reducing vehicle weight,” says Mark Curran. “As the friction stir welding process generates very little heat, the crystalline structure of the metal remains unchanged, retaining its original strength. There is no need for inert gas, no need for heat-treating post weld, and no requirement for additional surface finishing.”

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