Subcontract friction welding

Integrated rotary friction welding solutions from process consultancy and process validation through to prototyping and the complete production of various components and batch sizes in consistently high quality.

Contract welding to high industrial standard

With more than 50 years of experience in rotary friction welding and two certified friction welding centers in Augsburg (Germany) and Halesowen (UK), KUKA has a large and diverse machine pool with a working range of 2-300 t (forge force 20-3000 kN) for the welding of cross-sections from 10 to 30,000 square millimeters (steel).
Our company is supported by an in-house metallurgical laboratory, heat treatment capabilities before and after welding as well as solutions for preparing parts for the welding process. We carry out the friction welding of metallic materials in accordance with DIN EN ISO 15620:2019.

Wide-ranging machine pool for your contract welding work

Augsburg site (Germany)

Certified specialist welding contractor

Quality management according to ISO 9001 and the guidelines of VDA 6.4
Environmental management according to ISO 14001
Compliance with standards according to DIN EN ISO 3834-2 for the manufacture and sale of welded products and the development of systems with arc welding technology
Certified at the highest certification level CL1 in accordance with DIN EN 15085 CL1 for railway applications and the welding of railway vehicles and components

KUKA machine pool at a glance

Machine type	Forge force	Welding area, solid material*	Welding diameter, solid material*
1 x Picus 2	2 t / 20 kN	180 mm²	6 - 15 mm
1 x RS 5	5 t / 50 kN	500 mm²	8 - 25 mm
1 x RS 5 cell with robot	5 t / 50 kN	500 mm²	8 - 25 mm
1 x RS 20	20 t / 200 kN	1300 mm²	15 - 40 mm
2 x Genius	30 t / 300 kN	2400 mm²	13 - 55 mm
1 x RS 45	45 t / 450 kN	3900 mm²	25 - 70 mm
1 x RS 80	80 t / 800 kN	6400 mm²	30 - 90 mm
2 x RS 300	300 t / 3000 kN	25400 mm²	50 - 180 mm

Halesowen site (UK)

Certified company

Quality management according to ISO 9001 and the guidelines of VDA 6.4
Environmental management according to ISO 14001

Thompson machine pool at a glance

Machine type	Forge force	Welding area, solid material*	Welding diameter, solid material*
1x M15	15 t / 150 kN	1000 mm²	8 - 36 mm
3x M60	60 t / 600 kN	4000 mm²	26 - 70 mm
1x M150	150 t / 1500 kN	9500 mm²	55 - 110 mm

Contact: Contract welding at Halesowen site (UK)

Contract manufacturing of individualized components in any size, including bimetallic material combinations

The possibilities of friction welding cover many steel materials and a wide range of material combinations, including the joining of parts of the same or different materials. Possible combinations include copper and aluminum, copper and stainless steel, aluminum and stainless steel, structural steel and stainless steel, titanium and aluminum, nickel alloys and titanium, and many more. Besides this, there is a selection of geometries such as rod to rod, tube to rod, rod to plate, tube to plate and tube to tube. The KUKA and Thompson rotary friction welding machines make this diverse range of material combinations possible, ensuring successful metalworking for a wide variety of applications and industries.

Manufacturing of a wide variety of metallic workpieces

Typical applications encompass the following industries:

Automotive industry
Oil and gas industry
Construction machinery industry
Electrical applications
Metal industry
Medical industry

Automotive components: Turbochargers, airbag canisters, CV joints, shock absorbers, engine valves, battery contacts, brake discs, torque converters, cable lugs, pistons, grounding cables, brake cylinders, drive shafts, gear shafts, crankshafts and camshafts.

Components for electrical energy distribution, pump shafts and cartridge valves in materials ranging from copper/aluminum and copper/steel to heat-resistant stainless steels, nickel alloys and titanium.

Components with a small diameter: components for hand tools and engine valves made of various ferrous and non-ferrous materials, ball screw spindle shafts, hand tools and gear shafts.

Piston rods: eyes and fork heads can be joined to pre-chromed rods as well as caps and flanges to cylinders in a selection of technical steels in induction-hardened and hard-chromed states.

Drill rods and drill pipes, percussion drills, rotary drills and tunnel drill rods. Suitable materials include a variety of structural steels and construction steels, carburized steels, API steels and nitriding steels.

Friction welding with KUKA: everything from a single source

Our wide range of metalworking services is supported by consultancy on materials, geometry, metallurgy, and preparation and finishing of the welds. At the same time, the complete manufacturing operation is complemented by on-site metallurgical expertise.

Process consultancy
- Application-specific feasibility analysis
- Consultancy on weld geometry and material selection
Product development
- Partner for customer product developments
- Application-specific welding process qualifications
Prototyping
- Prototyping as the basis for checking and revising a design
- Support throughout the entire process to the finished product
- Pilot series and sampling
Welding of production batches
- From a limited batch size to ongoing series production

Additional services in the area of rotational welding

Machining – Machining processes required before or after friction welding
Removal of welding flash – With certain machines and applications, the resulting welding flash can be removed automatically.
Heat treatment – Before and after welding
Pre-washing – Pre-washing of certain components in our industrial cleaning machine in order to remove grease/oils and other possible impurities (Halesowen site).