A technical sabotage in an FSW welding line has revealed how a misalignment of just 20 microns in the pin, induced from the guidance firmware, can compromise the integrity of critical parts. The incident was detected when inspecting the joints with GOM Inspect, where deviation maps showed anomalous patterns. Subsequent analysis, modeled in Rhino 3D, confirmed that the error was not mechanical but intentional.
3D Pipeline to Identify Sabotage in FSW Welding 🔧
The workflow combined GOM Inspect's optical metrology to capture point clouds of the affected area, detecting submillimetric variations in the weld line. Then, in Rhino 3D, the pin geometry was reconstructed and its trajectory simulated, cross-referencing the firmware parameters. The introduced misalignment generated uneven axial force, reducing weld strength by 12% without leaving visible marks. This method allows tracing the exact origin of the sabotage.
The pin deviated 20 microns and no one noticed 🤖
The curious thing is that the sabotage was discovered because an operator noticed the robot emitted a different sound while welding, as if it had a cold. Engineers spent three days calibrating sensors until someone checked the firmware and found a line of code with a comment that said: fine adjustment for Thursday. The person responsible, when questioned, said they just wanted to see if anyone checked the logs. No one did.