Joining process comparisons

Most manufacturers do not arrive looking for friction stir welding. They arrive with a problem denominated in the process they already run: porosity in a TIG weld, a cold plate that came out of the brazing furnace out of flat, a fastened joint carrying weight it does not need to carry, a bonded seam that has started to creep. The question is never “is friction stir welding good” — it is “is it better than what I am doing today, for this part, at this volume”.

These pages answer that question one incumbent process at a time. Each sets out how the existing route actually fails, what changes when the joint is made in the solid state, and — the part most vendor comparisons omit — the conditions under which the incumbent remains the correct engineering choice. Brazing still wins on parts carrying hundreds of internal joints made in a single furnace cycle. Arc welding still wins on one-offs, complex three-dimensional access and site repair. Electron beam still wins on deep single-pass penetration in thick steel. Knowing where the boundary sits is more useful than being told there isn’t one.

Comparisons are drawn from published data and from StirLight’s own trial work, and are written and reviewed by our Technical Director. Where a figure depends on geometry, alloy or volume — as most of the interesting ones do — we say so rather than quoting a number that will not survive contact with your part.