Design for manufacturing for friction stir welding

"This thesis is divided in two parts. In the first part, technical feasibility of implementing Friction Stir Welding (FSW) for automobile chassis fabrication is discussed using a case study. In the case study, Design for Manufacturing (DFM) principles are applied to manufacture an aluminum automobile chassis. Various DFM issues such as Tool Accessibility Issue, Joint Configuration Issue, and Fixture Support Issue along with relevant guidelines such as component geometry change and component elimination are discussed in the first section. Results show that more than 50% of the chassis joints can be welded using FSW technique. The second part of the thesis describes efforts to develop a web-based E-Design Tool for the FSW technique. The EDesign Tool accepts joint specifications from the user and generates a set of process parameters that may be used as process design guidelines by engineers and researchers who work on FSW. The E-Design Tool can serve as a useful tool for process parameter selection for designers, engineers, and researchers who work on the FSW technique"--Abstract, page v.