Kuka announces multi-million dollar major order for friction stir welding

E-mobility Kuka announces multi-million dollar major order for friction stir welding

2024-07-12 Source: Kuka | Translated by AI 1 min Reading Time

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For an automobile manufacturer, the robot manufacturer Kuka is supplying 23 systems for friction stir welding

With friction stir welding, as offered by Kuka with robot support, even dissimilar materials are securely joined. This has now prompted an automaker to place a major order with Kuka. Read on ...(Image: Kuka) — With friction stir welding, as offered by Kuka with robot support, even dissimilar materials are securely joined. This has now prompted an automaker to place a major order with Kuka. Read on ...
(Image: Kuka)

Kuka has the largest order in the e-mobility sector on its books. It involves 23 FSW cells (FSW stands for Friction Stir Welding) with various technologies. Kuka robots of the KR Fortec type are integrated into production lines for electric vehicles and are used there in several manufacturing steps, as it further states. The order is said to be in the double-digit million range. The robots in the cells weld battery carriers together and in a second production section connect cooling plates to the battery carriers. Furthermore, Kuka is responsible for the entire friction stir welding process. FSW welding is used in a variety of industries that have special requirements for weld seams—be it battery containers, side walls of high-speed trains or tank structures of rockets. The weld seams are also particularly tight.

The resource-saving joining alternative

A special challenge in manufacturing is 3D welding, for which robot-based FSW technology is particularly suitable according to Kuka. This also requires complex clamping technology, in which the Augsburg robot experts were able to bring in their comprehensive engineering know-how. A tool changer and a cleaning station for the FSW tools are also used for fully automatic operation. In friction stir welding, a rotating, pin-like tool is guided along the contact surfaces of the component. The frictional heat plasticizes the material like dough and the parts are joined together. This way, even materials that are difficult to weld or different in nature, such as aluminum with magnesium, copper or steel, can be joined process-reliably, as Kuka explains. With this method, the energy requirement also decreases and less material is consumed. Shielding gas or filler wire, as required in classical processes, are not needed.

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Date: 08.12.2025

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