Over the past years we’ve seen a number of companies such as Sciaky, Optomec and Trumpf take traditional welding processes and turn them into 3D printing processes. Aeroprobe and the Edison Welding Institute are now working on doing the same for Friction Stir Welding with Friction Stir Additive Manufacturing, also called Additive Friction Stir. New research has shown that using this process, one could make functionally gradient metal components. These could be used to make new types of materials and have applications in defense, part repair and aviation. Read more about the new technology and its potential applications at 3DPrint.com: https://3dprint.com/174645/friction-stir-am/