Refill Friction Stir Spot Welding (RFSSW) is a solid-state joining process, which is a development of Friction Stir Welding (FSW). Unlike FSW, there is no traversing motion associated with the RFSSW process. This results in a localised ‘spot’ weld. TWI currently specialises in world-leading research into the RFSSW process. RFSSW is an ideal alternative to mass-adding fastening processes such as riveting, which lends it to a variety of potential applications. These include in industries where light weighting is an important factor, such as marine and shipbuilding, aerospace and the automotive industries.
