US Patent 8141764 Friction stir welding apparatus, system and method

A friction stir welding system is provided herein. More specifically, traditional friction stir welding requires a rotatable head that is forced against a plurality of work pieces to bond the same. The rotational and normal forces generated by the friction stir welding tool are generally reacted by a backing plate, anvil, mandrel or other mechanisms, such hardware are subject to the applied forces and are often supported with additional internal supports. Conversely, a friction stir weld system is described that omits the need for such a backing member and internal supports as it is performed using a self reacting pin tool.