US 12,246,391 B2
Friction stir welding using a PCBN-based tool
Teresa Rodriguez Suarez, Oxfordshire (GB); Geoffrey Alan Scarsbrook, Oxfordshire (GB); Maria Louise Cann, Oxfordshire (GB); and Josquin Pfaff, Bellach (CH)
Assigned to Element Six (UK) Limited, Didcot (GB)
Filed by Element Six (UK) Limited, Oxfordshire (GB)
Filed on Dec. 5, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/529,715.
Application 18/529,715 is a continuation of application No. 17/635,911, granted, now 11,883,902, previously published as PCT/EP2020/087346, filed on Dec. 19, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 1918891 (GB), filed on Dec. 19, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2024/0116131 A1, Apr. 11, 2024
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. B23K 20/00 (2006.01); B23K 20/12 (2006.01)
CPC B23K 20/1255 (2013.01) 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A friction stir welding tool insert comprising a polycrystalline cubic boron nitride, PCBN, composite material with a textured surface layer, as determined by optical microscopy or scanning electron microscopy, wherein the textured surface layer has a depth of between 0.5 and 50 μm, and wherein the textured surface layer comprises a pre-defined repeating pattern, wherein the pre-defined repeating pattern is defined as a repetitive deviation from a nominal surface that forms a three dimensional topography of the surface and includes roughness, waviness, lay, and flaws.