FANUC-Controlled Friction Stir Welding Machine Helps Advance US Manufacturing

Applied scientific research and development firm Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC) creates advanced manufacturing solutions to help bolster American manufacturing. One project required a friction stir welding machine that could accommodate very large parts, upwards of 30ft or more. The company turned to Quickmill, an OEM of high-quality machining centers used in heavy-equipment applications. Quickmill built a gantry-style CNC milling machine tool using FANUC’s 0i-MF Plus CNC as well as FANUC’s powerful servo motors that could weld two very thick steel plates together in one pass. CTC also wanted to be able to adjust the height of the cutting tool on the fly during the process and be able to capture all the machine’s data produced, which was accomplished due to the open architecture of the FANUC CNC. The result has allowed CTC to apply friction stir welding to more product lines and help introduce the technology into the US industrial base.