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Article summary:

1. Thermal stir welding (TSW) is a variant of the friction stir welding process that uses an external heat source to preheat the workpiece.

2. TSW has been demonstrated to be able to reliably join 12.3-mm-thick plates of CP titanium, and this paper describes the microstructures and textures that develop in these welds.

3. The observed microstructure was used to reconstruct the high-temperature microstructure and texture present during the welding process, revealing the genesis of the welding structures.

Article analysis:

The article “Thermal Stir Welds in Titanium” provides a detailed overview of thermal stir welding (TSW), a variant of friction stir welding (FSW). The article is well written and provides a comprehensive description of TSW, its advantages over conventional FSW, and its application in joining thick sections of alpha and near-alpha titanium alloys. The article also presents results from experiments conducted on solid-state joining equipment at NASA-Marshall Space Flight Center using an induction coil to preheat the workpiece ahead of the rotating tool.

The article is generally reliable and trustworthy, as it provides evidence for its claims through experimental results and data analysis. The authors provide detailed descriptions of their experimental setup, including thermocoupled heating trials which reveal peak temperatures exceeding the beta transus temperature of 1186 K (913 °C). They also present electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) images which show variations in grain structure, texture, and texture strength across the weld nugget boundary into larger, more angular grains with a more complex and stronger texture.

The only potential bias in this article is that it does not explore any counterarguments or alternative methods for joining thick sections of alpha and near-alpha titanium alloys other than TSW. However, this does not significantly detract from its overall reliability as it focuses solely on TSW as an effective method for joining such materials. In conclusion, this article can be considered reliable and trustworthy due to its comprehensive coverage of TSW as an effective method for joining thick sections of alpha and near-alpha titanium alloys.