A study on friction stir welding of 12mm thick aluminum alloy plates

Abstract

Most of the investigations regarding friction stir welding (FSW) of aluminum alloy plates have been limited to about 5 to 6 mm thick plates. In prior work conducted the various aspects concerning the process parameters and the FSW tool geometry were studied utilizing friction stir welding of 12 mm thick commercial grade aluminum alloy. Two different simple-to-manufacture tool geometries were used. The effect of varying welding parameters and dwell time of FSW tool on mechanical properties and weld quality was examined. It was observed that in order to achieve a defect free welding on such thick aluminum alloy plates, tool having trapezoidal pin geometry was suitable. Adequate tensile strength and ductility can be achieved utilizing a combination of high tool rotational speed of about 2000 r/min and low speed of welding around 28 mm/min. At very low and high dwell time the ductility of welded joints are reduced significantly.

Keywords

friction stir welding / FSW parameters / tool geometry / trapezoidal tool / taper cylindrical tool / alloy plates

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