FEATURE aeronautical fuselage parts Process Development for Continuous Induction Welding of Aeronautical Fuselage Parts-The SIDEFFECT Project Pierre Couarraze and Guillaume Vincent Institut de Recherche Technologique Jules Verne Chemin du Chaffault Bouguenais, FR E-mail: pierre.couarraze@irt-jules-verne.fr ABSTRACT The SIDEFFECT project focus on the continuous induction welding process by an automated device on aerospace composite structures. All technical developments and tests were performed without electromagnetic susceptor at the weld interface. Technical development had to demonstrate induction welding on representative parts in the IRT Jules Verne (IRT JV) facilities and focused on several independent topics to increase the industrial readiness of this process. Numerical process modelling, tooling for part positioning and the development of a robotic welding effector were three major axes of the project. In the automated induction-welding cell, multiple test series succeeded to develop several assembly configurations. Initially with straight L stringer on flat laminate (with or without Lightning Strike Protection (LSP)), experiments were also done with Z stringer on curved skin and soft slope. Thanks to numerical modelling, the challenge of welding with LSP was developed. Extensive temperature measurements were installed to study thermal field at stringer/skin interface, stability along the welding curve and process repeatability. For each weld, a control cycle comprising microscopic cross-sections and ultrasonic inspection was performed. These material's health observations were completed by mechanical L-pull tests on flat sample. 16 | SAMPE JOURNAL | MARCH/APRIL 2022 www. sampe.orghttp://www.sampe.org