A method of fabrication, comprising: prior to friction stir welding a plurality of sheets of metal: performing a test on a test piece, the test comprising entering a set of parameters for friction stir welding, forming a butt joint for a test piece, friction stir welding the butt joint to form a weld nugget, performing a test by elongating the test piece to produce superplastic strain in the weld nugget and the parent material of the test piece, and adjusting the set of parameters so that he ratio between thickness of the parent material and the weld nuggets is between 1.1 and 1.25; friction stir welding the plurality of sheets of metal to form a blank with a number of weld nuggets, the welding process being performed such that a thickness ratio between about 1.1 to about 1.25 is calculated for the blank in response to a superplastic forming process, the thickness ratio being a ratio of the thickness of a parent material to the thickness of the welded nugget; placing the blank between a die section and a lid section, wherein the die section is heated to heat the blank; introducing a pressurized gas between the lid section and the die section to press the blank into a mold in the die section to form a component, wherein the number of weld nuggets have a desired thickness ratio after forming of the component between about 1.1 to about 1.25 such that the plurality of sheets of metal and the weld nuggets have a number of characteristics that are substantially the same. prior to friction stir welding a plurality of sheets of metal: performing a test on a test piece, the test comprising entering a set of parameters for friction stir welding, forming a butt joint for a test piece, friction stir welding the butt joint to form a weld nugget, performing a test by elongating the test piece to produce superplastic strain in the weld nugget and the parent material of the test piece, and adjusting the set of parameters so that he ratio between thickness of the parent material and the weld nuggets is between 1.1 and 1.25; friction stir welding the plurality of sheets of metal to form a blank with a number of weld nuggets, the welding process being performed such that a thickness ratio between about 1.1 to about 1.25 is calculated for the blank in response to a superplastic forming process, the thickness ratio being a ratio of the thickness of a parent material to the thickness of the welded nugget; placing the blank between a die section and a lid section, wherein the die section is heated to heat the blank; introducing a pressurized gas between the lid section and the die section to press the blank into a mold in the die section to form a component, wherein the number of weld nuggets have a desired thickness ratio after forming of the component between about 1.1 to about 1.25 such that the plurality of sheets of metal and the weld nuggets have a number of characteristics that are substantially the same. performing a test on a test piece, the test comprising entering a set of parameters for friction stir welding, forming a butt joint for a test piece, friction stir welding the butt joint to form a weld nugget, performing a test by elongating the test piece to produce superplastic strain in the weld nugget and the parent material of the test piece, and adjusting the set of parameters so that he ratio between thickness of the parent material and the weld nuggets is between 1.1 and 1.25; friction stir welding the plurality of sheets of metal to form a blank with a number of weld nuggets, the welding process being performed such that a thickness ratio between about 1.1 to about 1.25 is calculated for the blank in response to a superplastic forming process, the thickness ratio being a ratio of the thickness of a parent material to the thickness of the welded nugget; placing the blank between a die section and a lid section, wherein the die section is heated to heat the blank; introducing a pressurized gas between the lid section and the die section to press the blank into a mold in the die section to form a component, wherein the number of weld nuggets have a desired thickness ratio after forming of the component between about 1.1 to about 1.25 such that the plurality of sheets of metal and the weld nuggets have a number of characteristics that are substantially the same.