The article presents general information about friction stir welding process (FSW) as a welding method involving the stirring of the weld material, discusses the course of the welding process itself, describes the structure of the FSW joint, presents advantages and disadvantages of the method as well as discusses factors affecting the quality of FSW joints. In addition, the articles describes an innovative FSW head (designed by Stirweld (France) and installed on CNC machines) as well as illustrates the operation of the head and enumerates the advantages resulting from the use of the head in comparison with those characteristic of “conventional” friction stir welding machines.

doi: 10.17729/ebis.2022.5/7