From applied research to industrial machinery: the DRD path in Friction Stir Welding
The project presented by DRD within the PR FESR Toscana 2021–2027 program – Research, Development and Innovation for Investment Attraction, dedicated to the Advanced Application of Friction Stir Welding in the railway sector (FSI), was born with an ambitious goal: to transfer a solid-state welding technology, already established in aerospace and automotive applications, to large-scale railway applications, with particular focus on the welding of large structural extrusions.
Final project presentation – 31/10/2024
From the very early stages, the project positioned itself as a meeting point between industrial research, experimental development, and concrete production applicability. In this context, the project took shape thanks to the joint contribution of all involved partners, who provided technical expertise, industrial experience, and research capabilities essential for the study, development, and validation of the system, together with the Department of Electronic Engineering of the University of Pisa, which provided scientific and methodological support in defining control architectures, process logic, and experimental validation criteria.
Although the project was included in the ranking for funding, DRD chose not to interrupt the development path, continuing independently with study, design, and experimental activities. This continuity proved to be a key element: the idea did not remain on paper but was progressively transformed into a real, verifiable, and measurable system.
After about one year of studies and experimental activities, in September 2025 a first concrete milestone was achieved. DRD designed and built an FSW head, integrating it into a prototype machine specifically set up for process testing. This phase marked the decisive transition from simulation and theoretical analysis to real-world experimentation.
The first welding campaigns were carried out using tools developed by a DRD partner, a UK company with over twenty years of experience in Friction Stir Welding technology. The use of optimized tools allowed the focus to remain on analyzing the behavior of the welding head, kinematics, and process control, reducing external variables and increasing result reliability.
The tests involved welding AA6000 aluminum profiles with thicknesses of 3 and 5 mm. The results obtained were extremely encouraging: the welds showed high joint quality, good metallurgical homogeneity, and behavior consistent with the set process parameters. These results confirmed the validity of the design choices and the correctness of the engineering approach adopted.
From a technical standpoint, the experience allowed DRD to refine key aspects of the FSW process: axial force management, feed control, welding head stability, and cycle repeatability. These elements are strategically important in the railway sector, especially when working on large components subject to strict quality and reliability requirements.
This journey does not represent an endpoint but rather the beginning of a new phase. The knowledge gained through the FSI project has formed the technical and cultural foundation for the design of the first DRD CNC machines dedicated to Friction Stir Welding. Machines designed from the outset to be modular, scalable, and production-oriented, capable of meeting the specific needs of the railway sector and, more broadly, advanced structural welding applications.
In this sense, the experience demonstrates how an applied research project, even before full financial implementation, can generate real value when supported by continuity of vision, interdisciplinary expertise, and strong integration between industry and academia. DRD has transformed a project idea into a functioning system, paving a clear path toward the development of proprietary FSW solutions and laying the foundations for a new generation of machine tools dedicated to solid-state welding.
In July, we brought to the field the concrete result of a year of studies and experimentation, developed in close collaboration with Ofec and the Department of Electronic Engineering of the University of Pisa. A shared research path born from the combination of industrial expertise and academic support, with a clear goal: transforming theory into applied technology.
This work allowed us to design and build a dedicated FSW head, later installed on a prototype machine, enabling the first real welding tests. Thanks to the use of tools developed by a DRD partner, a UK company with over twenty years of experience in Friction Stir Welding technology, we were able to perform welds on AA6000 aluminum profiles with thicknesses of 3 and 5 mm.
The tests delivered extremely positive results, confirming the validity of the design choices and the strength of the adopted approach. The welds showed high joint quality and full consistency with the objectives of precision, reliability, and process control we had set.
This milestone represents a fundamental step in DRD’s development path in the FSW field, marking the starting point for the evolution of our machines and solutions dedicated to advanced industrial welding.
