Teesside Branch Online Presentation:
Friction Welding - From Process Understanding to Application
The Teesside Branch invite you to their October online technical presentation: Friction Welding - From Process Understanding to Application
What will the event cover:
This presentation provides an overview of friction welding and its growing role in modern manufacturing. It begins with a summary of the primary friction welding processes - linear, rotary and friction stir welding - along with an explanation of how controlled frictional heat and forging pressure create solid-state joints without melting. The session highlights the key advantages of these processes, including low distortion, excellent mechanical performance, high repeatability and the ability to join dissimilar or hard-to-weld alloys. Attention is given to material behaviour and microstructural evolution, showing how solid-state bonding produces refined, defect-free weld zones with predictable properties. The presentation concludes with industrial applications across aerospace, automotive, rail, heavy engineering and energy, demonstrating how friction welding delivers reliable, high-integrity joints for demanding components.

Our industry expert:
Anthony McAndrew CEng MWeldI
Meet the speaker:
Anthony McAndrew is Business Development Lead at KUKA Systems UK Ltd, specialising in advanced welding solutions. With more than a decade of hands‑on experience in friction welding, he has worked extensively across all primary processes - Rotary Friction Welding (RFW), Linear Friction Welding (LFW) and Friction Stir Welding (FSW). His technical background is rooted in deep process understanding, having completed a PhD in Manufacturing Engineering focused on linear friction welding of Ti‑6Al‑4V. His research combined physical experimentation with numerical simulation to investigate how processing parameters influence interfacial material flow and weld quality in titanium alloy LFW joints.
Alongside his PhD, Anthony holds a BEng in Mechanical Engineering and is a Chartered Engineer with The Welding Institute. His career includes senior roles at Cranfield University, TWI Ltd and the Manufacturing Technology Centre. He has supervised 12 postgraduate researchers and authored 24 publications with more than 1,100 citations. Today, he bridges research and industry to help manufacturers adopt high‑value joining technologies that enhance resilience, performance and efficiency.
Benefits from attending the event:
- Join online A friendly, low-pressure way to see what the branch is like (join even if you don’t know anyone.)
- Meet peers virtually and make useful connections wherever you join from. It’s a welcoming, inclusive space for new voices and first-time attendees.
- Practical takeaways you can use straight away, shared by people working in the industry right now. Accessible to all members.
- Interactive discussion and Q&A with questions taken from the online chat. Bring your real questions and get honest, helpful answers.
- Get involved at your own pace. Attend online, and help shape what the branch does next.
Continuing Professional Development (CPD):
The Welding Institute awards points towards CPD for delegates attending this webinar. Every hour attendance of an event will earn 2 points towards your continuing professional development.