Recently, a new all-aluminum automobile hood developed by Aerospace Engineering Equipment (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. for a well-known domestic automaker has been successfully delivered and accepted. This achievement places the company once again at the forefront of the industry and represents a new breakthrough in applying friction stir welding technology to automotive lightweighting.

Manufactured mainly from aluminum alloy, the hood is considerably lighter than conventional counterparts. It effectively reduces vehicle weight and fuel consumption while improving overall vehicle performance. Advanced Refilled Friction Stir Spot Welding technology was adopted to join key components of the hood.

Refilled friction stir spot welding robot and welding tools ▼

Reinforcement plate inside the all-aluminum hood and refilled friction stir spot weld joints ▼

As an innovative spot joining technology, refilled friction stir spot welding realizes material stirring via high-speed rotation and relative movement of three independent tool assemblies. It produces smooth, aesthetic weld joints with excellent bonding strength. The process generates no fumes, dust or electromagnetic interference, creating a cleaner working environment. Its energy consumption is merely around 10% of that of resistance spot welding, making it a promising joining solution. Through continuous process exploration and optimization, our R&D team pioneered the self-compensating refilled friction stir spot welding process. The overall joint strength has increased by nearly 30%, and the maximum shear force of each weld is nearly twice that of traditional resistance spot welding. Defects such as annular grooves have been effectively eliminated. This progress greatly promotes the large-scale application of friction stir spot welding in actual production.