Experimental Investigation of the Friction Stir Welded Dissimilar Aluminium Alloys

Abstract

Abstract: Friction stir welding is the solid-state welding method that is used to weld mostly aluminium alloys. A cylindrical tool with a shoulder and pin rotates at high rpm is penetrated at the interface between two materials to be welded. The high rotational speed causes the material to flow plastically and the joint is formed with the traverse movement of the tool. The tool profile, material nature, rpm of tool, traverse speed are the major factors that affect the weld quality. In this research Al 1100 and Al 6061-T6 aluminium alloys were used and the joint is made using Friction Stir Welding. The joint is then tested for the impact strength, tensile strength and microhardness. The tensile test done on Universal Testing Machine and the highest strength was 202.56Mpa found at 1000 rpm and 12mm/min traverse speed. In the impact Charpy test the highest strength found is 0.1494 kj/mm2. The micro hardness test gives the highest value of 52hv at the weld zone at 100 rpm and 12mm/min weld speed. Keywords: Friction Stir Welding, Aluminium alloys, tensile strength, impact strength, Micro hardness.