National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of EN ISO 25239‑4:2020. It is identical to ISO 25239‑4:2020. It supersedes BS EN ISO 25239‑4:2011, which is withdrawn.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee WEE/-/1, Briefing committee for welding.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its committee manager.

This publication does not purport to include all the necessary provisions of a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.

Compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

This British Standard was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 31 July 2020.

Foreword

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.

The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www.iso.org/patents).

Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not constitute an endorsement.

For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.

This document was prepared by IIW, International Institute of Welding, Commission III, Resistance Welding, Solid State Welding and Allied Joining Process, in collaboration with the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) Technical Committee CEN/TC 121, Welding and allied processes, in accordance with the Agreement on technical cooperation between ISO and CEN (Vienna Agreement).

This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition (ISO 25239‑4:2011), which has been technically revised.

The main changes compared to the previous edition are as follows:

alternative process control methods (e.g. temperature control) have been included;
the wording of the paragraph on thermal management and heat treatments has been improved;
the definition for the extraction of test specimens has been modified for all test pieces and the figures have been revised accordingly;
the requirement for testing transverse test specimens with as welded surfaces has been deleted;
in Table 3, a new requirement on the minimum joint efficiency has been added for heat treatable alloys below 5 mm;
the pWPS is now to be qualified in accordance with the defined acceptance levels included in ISO 25239‑5;
acceptance levels have been included in the WPQR form in Annex D.

A list of all parts in the ISO 25239 series can be found on the ISO website.

Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.

Introduction

Welding processes are widely used in the fabrication of engineered structures. During the second half of the twentieth century, fusion welding processes, wherein fusion is obtained by the melting of parent material and usually a filler metal, dominated the welding of large structures. In 1991, Wayne Thomas at TWI invented friction stir welding (FSW), which is carried out entirely in the solid phase (no melting).

The increasing use of FSW has created the need for this document in order to ensure that welding is carried out in the most effective way and that appropriate control is exercised over all aspects of the operation. This document focuses on the FSW of aluminium because, at the time of publication, the majority of commercial applications for FSW involved aluminium. Examples include railway carriages, consumer products, food processing equipment, aerospace structures, and marine vessels.

This European Standard was approved by CEN on 12 July 2020.

CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre or to any CEN member.

This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre has the same status as the official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and United Kingdom.

European foreword

This document (EN ISO 25239‑4:2020) has been prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC IIW "International Institute of Welding" in collaboration with Technical Committee CEN/TC 121 “Welding and allied processes” the secretariat of which is held by DIN.

This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an identical text or by endorsement, at the latest by January 2021, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn at the latest by January 2021.

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. CEN shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

This document supersedes EN ISO 25239‑4:2011.

According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the following countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

Endorsement notice

The text of ISO 25239‑4:2020 has been approved by CEN as EN ISO 25239‑4:2020 without any modification.

1 Scope

This document specifies the requirements for the specification and qualification of welding procedures for the friction stir welding (FSW) of aluminium.

In this document, the term “aluminium” refers to aluminium and its alloys.

This document does not apply to friction stir spot welding which is covered by the ISO 18785 series.

NOTE Service requirements, materials or manufacturing conditions can require more comprehensive testing than is specified in this document.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 Development and qualification of welding procedures

4.1 General

4.2 Technical content of a pWPS

5 Qualification based on a welding procedure test

5.1 General

5.2 Test pieces

5.3 Examination and testing of test pieces

5.4 Range of qualification

5.5 Welding procedure qualification record

6 Qualification based on pre-production welding test

6.1 General

6.2 Test pieces

6.3 Examination and testing of test pieces

6.4 Range of qualification

6.5 Welding procedure qualification record

Bibliography

BS EN ISO 25239-4:2020

Friction stir welding. Aluminium - Specification and qualification of welding procedures

Current

Published:

31 Jul 2020