Flexible hybrid friction stir welding technology is one of the four technologies that the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (www.ornl.gov) chose to improve energy efficiency in industry.

The laboratory and its industry partners — Exxon Mobil Corp., ESAB Group, MegaStir Technologies and Edison Welding Institute — have received $10.5 million in funding from the Department of Energy's Industrial Technologies Program to study flexible hybrid friction sitr joining.

The project is aimed at transforming friction stir welding, a specialty process that uses as much as 80 percent less energy than standard welding, into a mainstream process.

Friction stir welding, a solid-state joining process that produces high-quality welds, now is used primarily for aluminum and other low-melting materials.

Despite energy and quality advantages, the technology has seen limited use in steel, complex structures and thick sections applications.

Researchers hope to develop new materials for friction stir welding tools, develop hybrid friction stir welding with auxiliary heating to reduce forge load and develop multi-pass, multi-layer technology for very thick sections. Ultimately, this will result in a field-deployable system that provides flexibility and affordability for on-site construction. Initial applications will be for large oil and gas pipelines.