American Friction Welding provides high-quality contract and subcontract rotary friction welding services and products manufactured to customer specifications. As North America’s largest full-service, direct-drive rotary friction welding shop, AFW supports programs from prototype development through repeatable full production.
Most inquiries start with a manufacturing bottleneck, a new or legacy design, a supply-chain sourcing issue, a need for added production capacity, or a requirement for another qualified source.
Send the drawing, materials, quantities and application requirements. AFW can review friction welding feasibility and the path from development into production.
Send Prints / Request a QuoteAFW can help determine which friction welding process best fits the part, materials and production requirements.
AFW supports customer programs with direct-drive rotary friction welding, along with spin welding, inertia friction welding, and linear friction welding.
Dedicated capacity, engineering support and supporting operations for manufacturers that need more than a one-off weld.
Support for recurring production, overflow requirements, manufacturing bottlenecks and programs that need additional rotary friction welding capacity.
Engineering support for new applications, prototypes and established components where the manufacturing route or sourcing strategy needs improvement.
Solid-state rotary friction welding can join a wide variety of metal combinations, including dissimilar-material applications where conventional fusion welding may be difficult.
AFW can evaluate programs where supply continuity, reshoring, supplier risk or the need for another qualified production source is driving the review.
Researching your application and end-user needs, AFW provides consultative design engineering support alongside your engineering staff. By working on prototypes in conjunction with your design team, AFW can develop more cost-effective, productive or time-saving solutions while meeting specifications and budget requirements.
See AFW’s direct-drive rotary friction welding process and production capabilities.
AFW’s friction welding capabilities focus on combining a wide variety of metals and dissimilar material combinations. Final feasibility depends on material compatibility, part geometry, joint design, application requirements and the production process.
AFW works with alloy and carbon steels, stainless steel, aluminum, copper, brass, bronze, carbide, Incoloy, Inconel, molybdenum, Monel, nickel, silver, titanium, tungsten, Waspaloy and other application-specific alloys. Material forms include castings, forgings, billets, bar stock and plate.
AFW supports industrial applications where rotary friction welding can improve the manufacturing route, material use, performance or production consistency. Explore friction welding applications and AFW’s technical resources for specific material combinations and use cases.
Evaluating a material combination? See AFW’s friction welding dissimilar metals compatibility chart for documented material pairings and a starting point for application review.
Friction welding expertise and experience are keys to delivering finished components to exact customer specifications. Because many customers require tight tolerances, AFW invests in experienced friction welding operators and equipment, testing engineers, quality gauges and inspection controls.
AFW’s customers place a priority on quality and adherence to exact specifications. Our goal is to deliver.
Supporting operations: material procurement, internal and external flash removal, destructive and non-destructive weld testing, CNC machining, finishing and special-process coordination, plus inventory-management programs.
Our team is proud of the quality assurance programs developed to support friction welding services. The QMS includes monitoring and improving processes throughout design and engineering of custom components, materials acquisition, craftsmanship, JIT inventory management, inspection and quality control standards.
View AFW’s quality control capabilities and ISO 9001 certification.
Engineers evaluating rotary friction welding can use AFW’s Rotary Friction Welding Design Guide for practical guidance on joint configurations, material considerations, part geometry, flash, machining allowance, tolerances, concentricity, tube welding, inspection requirements, and information needed for quoting.
With over thirty years of experience, AFW offers friction welding knowledge and expertise through its consulting services to engineering firms, manufacturers and friction welders.
Yes. American Friction Welding is a subcontract friction welding service provider supporting customer parts from prototypes through full production. AFW does not sell friction welding machinery.
Yes. AFW supports prototype development, design and engineering collaboration, process development, inspection and recurring production for customer-specified components.
AFW’s solid-state friction welding capabilities support a wide variety of metal combinations, including many dissimilar-material applications. Final feasibility depends on the materials, geometry and application requirements.
No. AFW is strictly a provider of subcontract friction welding services and does not supply friction welding machinery for purchase.
Drawings, materials, part geometry, annual quantities, tolerances, inspection requirements and downstream machining or finishing needs help AFW evaluate a project and prepare a quote.
Is AFW’s core practice actually friction welding, or is friction welding a sideline to other primary operations?
It is our core practice. AFW’s solid-state friction welding technologies serve a wide range of industrial applications. Our welding capabilities focus on combining dissimilar materials and a wide variety of metal combinations.
Why AFW? Learn More
Send AFW your drawing, materials, part geometry, annual quantities, tolerances and inspection requirements. We can evaluate whether rotary friction welding fits the application and discuss the path from development into production.
Send Prints / Request a Quote
