STWIN IN A NUTSHELL
STWIN, or Advanced, Non-destructive Technologies to Improve Steel Stir Welding Process Through Artificial Intelligence and Smart Digital Twin,is a European research project funded by the Research Fund for Coal and Steel that started in July 2023 and will run until March 2027.
STWIN aims to develop an advanced (FSW) method capable of creating complex 3D structures involving different steel grades and thicknesses. The project will also investigate how real-time quality artificial intelligent and smart digital twins to improve weld quality, enable early defect detection and move towards zero-defect manufacturing.
The proposed approach will be demonstrated and validated through 3 industrial use cases containing: (1) complex 3D joint assemblies; (2) dissimilar material joints and (3) joints involving dissimilar thicknesses.
OBJECTIVES
- Optimise FSW process parameters for 3D joints in high strength steels, dissimilar material combinations (steel-aluminium) and joints involving different sheet thicknesses.
- Demonstrate the technical and economic benefits of the proposed manufacturing method through industrial demonstrators.
- Develop AI-based weld quality prediction models by correlating real-time measurements with physical weld defects.
- Validate real-time quality monitoring under industrial conditions using pilot test-ups based on the project demonstrators.