Experimental investigation of tool probe shape and rotational speed on weld quality of friction stir welding of aluminium alloy

Abstract

Abstract Friction stir welding (FSW) is generally recommended for welding of aluminium alloys as it eliminates many of the common problems of fusion welding. In FSW, the weld quality depends on the tool probe shape and rotational speed of the tool probe. In this paper, aluminium alloy (AA6061) is used for experimentation. Three different tool probe shapes are used to find the effectiveness of tool shape on the mechanical properties of the joint. Five different rotational speeds for each shape of the tool are used for conducting the experiments. The result shows that the square pin profile tool resulted in higher joint efficiency of 85% followed by a triangular pin and cylindrical pin tool. For all cases, with an increase in rotational speed, nugget microhardness, tensile strength, and bending strength value tends to increase with an increase in rotational speed up to 1000 rpm; however, with further increase in rotational speed has no impact on weld region rather decreased in weld strength.