Effect of friction stir welding tool profiles on mechanical properties of dissimilar welded aluminum alloy plates

Abstract

PurposeThe main purpose of the present work is to study the effect of tool pin profiles on mechanical properties of welded plates made with two different aluminium alloy plates.Design/methodology/approachThe welded plates were fabricated with the three different kinds of pin profiled tools such as taper cylindrical, taper threaded cylindrical and stepped cylindrical pin profiles. Tensile properties of welded plates were evaluated using tensile testing machine at room temperature. Microstructures studies were carried out using scanning electron microscope.FindingsTensile properties were improved with the use of taper threaded cylindrical pin tool in friction stir welding process when compared with taper cylindrical and stepped cylindrical pin tools. This is due to refinement of grains and mixing of plasticized material occurred with generation of sufficient heat with the taper threaded pin tool. Through these studies, it was confirmed that friction stir welding can be used to weld Al6061 and Al2014 aluminium alloy plates.Research limitations/implicationsIn the present study, the friction stir welding is performed with constant process parameters such as tool rotational speed of 900 rpm, transverse speed of 24 mm/min and tilt angle of 1°.Practical implicationsAluminium alloys are widely using in automotive and aerospace industries due to holding a high strength to weight property. These aluminium alloy blanks can be developed with friction stir welding method with better properties.Originality/valueVery limited work had been carried out on friction stir welding of aluminium alloys of Al 6061 and Al2014 with different tool pin profiles. Furthermore, this work analyzed with tensile properties of welded plates correlated with weld zone microstructures.