A review of friction processes for aerospace applications

Friction welding is now extensively used in industries as divergent as sub–sea and aerospace. This paper will focus on some of the variants of friction welding which already provide or may further provide technical opportunities for the aerospace industry. The following techniques are reviewed: Continuous Drive, Inertia, Linear, Taper Stitch, Friction Stir Welding, Friction Pillar Processing, Friction Transformation Hardening, Third–body Friction Joining, and Friction Surfacing. Friction welding is now an established process for the manufacture of aero engine components, and further development work will include a number of emergent process variants and deal with material combinations which are difficult to weld by other processes.