Decentralized Friction Stir Welding Control on Canisters for Spent Nuclear Fuel

The Swedish nuclear waste will be stored in copper canisters and kept isolated deep under ground for at least 100,000 years. To ensure reliable sealing of the canisters, friction stir welding is utilized. To repetitively produce high quality welds, it is vital to use automatic control of the process. A decentralized solution is designed based on an already existing temperature controller and a proposed linear plunge depth controller. The plunge depth control is challenging mainly because of deection in the machine, thermal expansion and cross couplings in the process. The decentralized controller has been implemented and evaluated on the real system with good results, keeping the plunge depth within the necessary 0:1 mm of its setpoint at the same time as the temperature specications are met.