FER is a derivative of the FEW process which is used to join aluminum to aluminum alloys. It uses a lower steel backing element. 

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The lower element is manufactured in-house with a standard deviation of about 2.1%

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The competitiveness of this process is evaluated by comparing the strength values against other aerospace-grade fasteners like Hi-Lok, CherryMax, Solid rivets, etc., 

 

The best parameters for the highest joint strength were determined after performing an extensive DoE of the process parameters.