In a major development in the field of friction stir welding (FSW), ESAB, the Sweedish producer of welding consumables and equipment, has launched the modular LEGIOª friction stir welding equipment.
The LEGIOª modular FSW machines are available at a significantly lower cost compared to the company's SuperStirª equipment, and with much shorter lead times.
The modular FSW machine concept is unique and the improved cost-effectiveness will allow FSW technology to be used far more widely than was previously possible, says the company.
ESAB claims itself to be the world's leading developer of FSW equipment since the process was first commercialised in 1992, with a large number of SuperStirª machines now in operation worldwide.
But while all SuperStirª equipment is designed to suit a particular application, the new LEGIOª modular concept allows customers to specify a machine that is assembled from FSW machine modules.
In essence, the customer determines the working area, the bed configuration, the clamping arrangement, and the number of heads.
Several other options are also available to match the customer application and requirements.
The control system that is included, has been developed specifically to handle the friction stir process.
As well as welding two components of the same grade of aluminium, the FSW process can also join dissimilar alloys or even join two completely different metals.
In many cases it can be used to join materials that cannot be welded by any other means.
The LEGIOª machines are suitable for welding parts ranging in thickness from 1.2 to 65 mm from one side, depending on the materials, and the process requires no special surface preparation.
Because of the competitive price of these machines, says the company, fabricators will be able to consider FSW even for small batches of products.
Industries that are set to benefit from the new equipment include automotive, aerospace, marine, architectural, construction and general engineering.
The ESAB Group is organised into five regions; Europe, North America, South America, Asia/Pacific and India.
