Patent ID: 7971463

Claim:
An apparatus for forming a workpiece in accordance with a contour surface that defines a dome, the apparatus comprising: a die having the contour surface corresponding to a desired, non-planar configuration of the workpiece, wherein the contour surface of the die defines the dome; a friction stir forming tool defining a shoulder and a rotatable pin extending from the shoulder, the tool being configured to urge the shoulder and pin toward the contour surface of the die such that the shoulder urges the workpiece against the die and to the desired configuration, and the pin at least partially penetrates the workpiece and rotates to form a friction stir formed region defined by a refined granular structure; and an actuator for adjusting the friction stir forming tool, the actuator configured to adjust the tool along a predefined path corresponding to the contour surface of the die and along the dome defined by the die such that the shoulder is urged against the workpiece in a direction toward the contour surface to thereby bend the workpiece toward the contour surface and to the desired, non-planar configuration, wherein the friction stir forming tool is configured to urge the shoulder toward the workpiece at different locations along the workpiece in order to urge plasticized material from a portion of the workpiece that has been processed by the friction stir forming tool to form non-uniformities in the workpiece.