Effect of friction stir welding parameters on the ultimate tensile strength of Al-Cu tailor welded blanks

Abstract

In the present study, parameters of tool rotation speed, tool travel speed and tool offsetting with different levels were used in the friction stir welding (FSW) of aluminum-copper tailor welded blanks (TWBs). The FSW of pure copper to 5052 aluminum alloy were carried out by varying tool rotation speed from 800 rpm to 1200 rpm, tool travel speed from 40 mm/min to 80 mm/min and tool offsetting from 1 mm to 2 mm. The L9 orthogonal array of Taguchi was used to design 9 experimental tests and each test was repeated three times. The uniaxial tensile test based on the ASTM-E8 was used for mechanical properties extraction of TWBs. The tool rotation speed of 1200 rpm, tool travel speed of 60 mm/min and tool offsetting of 1.5 mm resulted in the optimum range of heat input to form a stir zone with good quality. Using these FSW parameters caused the formation of thin intermetallic layers which stopped the motion of dislocation in the tensile test and resulted in higher tensile strength and joint quality. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to scan the tensile fracture surface of TWBs.