Subcontract friction welding

Efficient in handling small scale and high volume production runs, KUKA's in-house Thompson machines are configured to join a wide variety of materials including dissimilar materials and components for many different applications.

KUKA UK Sub-contract friction welding facility

With over 50 years of experience, the UK facility is one of the largest in Europe. The department has capability across a range of rotary friction welding machines, supported by an in house metallurgical laboratory, pre and post weld heat treatment capability and full part preparation solutions.

Accreditation: ISO 9001:2008, IS) 14001:2004. BE EN 15620:2019 Friction welding of metallic materials.

Wide range of components from very large section sizes to very small, also for bi-metallic materials.

Thompson's friction welding capabilities cover many material combinations (incl. similar and dissimilar material welding ) and geometry options including bar to bar, tube to bar, bar to plate, tube to plate and tube to tube, for example. Commonly friction welded components include drill rods, axles, drive shafts, pump shafts and cv joints.

Automotive components: Turbo Chargers, Airbag canisters, CV Joints, Shock Absorbers, Engine Valves, Drive Shafts, Gear Shafts, Battery Contacts, Break Disks, Crank Shafts, Torque Converters, Cable Lugs, Pistons, Grounding Cables, Break Cylinders, Camshafts

Bi-metallic & Similar and dissimilar material welding: With friction welding, we can bond certain material and alloy combinations that are considered either un-weldable or poor, through conventional welding methods, for example: Copper to Aluminium (Aluminum - USA), Copper to Stainless Steel, Aluminium to Stainless Steel, Mild Steel to Stainless Steel, Titanium to aluminium, and many more

Drill rods and drill pipes: All types of drill pipes can be joined by the rotary friction welding process, a well as percussive rock drills, rotary drills and tunnelling rods. Suitable materials include a range of construction and engineering steels, carbursing, API and nitriding steels.

KUKA RFW Thompson_Electrical distribution

Components for electrical power distribution, pump shafts and plug valves in materials ranging from copper/aluminium and copper/steel to heat resistant stainless steels, nickel alloys and titanium.

Thompson Subcontract manufacturing Heavy automation axles

The world leading Thompson double ended solution has the capacity for welding two fully machined spindles to axles housing or tubes, simultaneously.

Piston rods: Eyes and clevises can be joined to pre-chromed rods as well as caps and flanges to cylinders in a selection of engineering steels, in various combinations such as induction hardened and hard-chromed related conditions.

Small Diameter Components: Common applications include hand tool components and engine valves in a range of ferrous and non-ferrous materials. Common small diameter applications include: Engine Valves, Ball Screw Shafts, Hand tools, Gear Shafts

Most common cases:

Piston rod welding
Hydraulic cylinder welding
Axle welding
Truck axle friction welding
Bus axle friction welding
Drill pipe friction welding
Drill rod welding
Airbag welding
Engine valve welding
Engine piston welding

Get the white paper

Learn more how KUKA friction welding know-how helps you benefit without additional capital investment.

Subcontract direct drive friction welding solutions

Our wide range of welding capabilities are supported by advice on materials, geometry, metallurgy and pre and post weld processing and are supported by on-site metallurgical expertise.

Weld development and trials

Full weld development on customer parts to establish the optimum parameter for a fit-for-purpose bond
Research&Development

Development in bonding of new material combinations and geometries
Production batch welding

From limited batch size to ongoing series production.

Additional friction welding services

Turning & Machining Facilities – dedicated machining equipment for Sub-Contract Friction Welding for pre or post machine of components.
Flash Removal – On certain machines and applications, the weld flash created can be removed by the friction welder.
Pre-washing – Pre-wash certain components within our industrial cleaning machine to remove greases/oils and other possible contaminates.
Weld Testing and Validation – Full destructive and non-destructive testing to welding standards.
Post Weld Heat Treatment – Heat Treatment or stress relief of components following welding.
Metallurgy Lab – Our in-house Metallurgy laboratory for; material selection, pre and post weld recommendations, inspection, analysis & reporting and testing of materials and bonded components.
Material procurement & logistics.