International Symposium on Friction Stir Welding

The event will be held at Kyoto International Conference Centre. It includes three days of technical presentations with opportunities to network. Over eighty papers are scheduled to be presented in both plenary and parallel sessions. Papers will discuss new developments in science, technology, applications, industrialisation, performance, quality, design or any other topic relevant to the advancement of Friction Stir Welding.

The location and travel information can be found here.

If you plan to fly into Osaka Kansei airport an option is to use the door to door shuttle between the airport and every hotel in Kyoto

The detailed programme will be released on 16 March 2020.

• Check if you need a visa for travel to Japan
• If you need a visa please complete the Request for Visa Application and Itinerary Form and send them to becki.parratt@twi.co.uk. Please supply your proposed itinerary if your travel plans are not yet booked.
• You will be provided with the documents/ information (this process may take up to 3 weeks) for you to apply at your Embassy/Consulate of Japan with jurisdiction over your place of residence.

The Kyoto area has about 18,000 hotel rooms, ranging from worldwide luxury brands to budget hotels. Kyoto is a compact city and the subway and other public transportation methods are very convenient.

• Please be sure to arrange your own hotel during the conference.
• The conference will NOT offer hotel booking service and there is NO special price for conference attendees, because Kyoto is visited by many tourists.
• Kyoto city subway has convenient access to Kyoto International Conference Center (venue).
• A list of recommended hotels along the subway can be downloaded here.

• Limited exhibition space will be available at a fee of £300.
• Space can be booked by completing this document and returning to the organisers.
• Space will be allocated on a first come first serve basis.
• A table will be provided by the venue (0.9x1.8m) and a 100V supply voltage power point for plug type B

A Japanese banquet will be held in the Banquet Hall Sakura on the evening of 27 May. Delegates will have the opportunity to network and socialise whilst experiencing traditional Japanese food and entertainment surrounded by a beautiful, traditional Japanese garden. This will be hosted by the International Conference Centre.

The cost of the social event is included in your registration fee. if you wish to bring a guest to the social event, the cost is £80 which can be booked online when you register for the event.

• Download Author Instructions
• Download Poster Instructions
• Download Presenter Instructions

The industrial visit will be on 29th May to Osaka University's Institue of Laser Engineering and the Joining and Welding Research Institute. Space is limited to 45 people only for the Institute of Laser Engineering and if you wish to include this in your visit, you will need to submit your name, affiiliation and nationality one month before the visit date. (You enter this information during registration).

More information can be downloaded here.

The rapid expansion of electro-mobility offers a unique opportunity for friction stir welding (FSW) to expand in the high-volume automotive manufacturing market.

Friction stir welded aluminium battery enclosures are already used by large volume electric vehicle OEM’s and continue to be the preferred fabrication assembly technique in the upcoming generation of affordable electric cars.

In 2030 the International Energy Agency are predicting sales reaching 43 million cars per year. Based on the current design, this would require approximately 400,000 kilometres of FSW joints.

FSW also offers solutions through cable joining, copper to aluminium joints and encapsulation of cooling channels for power electronics.

This huge demand for FSW technology is driving developments in product design, high productivity, automated manufacturing cells, cost effective FSW tools, inspection and quality assurance.

This is a special session where companies will present on their products and services provided to the Automotive sector meeting the demands of electrification including such areas as:

• Machine configurations
• Cycle times
• Part handling
• Process Control
• Data logging and capture
• Inspection
• Special features