Friction Stir Welding Tool Geometries Affecting Tensile Strength of AA6063-T1 Aluminum Alloy Butt Joint

Abstract

Friction Stir Welding (FSW) is a solid state welding that could successfully weld the difficult-to-weldmaterials such as an aluminum alloy. In this welding process, the stirrer of the welding tool is one of the important factors for producing the perfect sound joint that indicates the higher joint strength. So, this report aims to apply the friction stir welding using various stirrer geometries to weld the AA6063-T1 aluminum alloy butt joint, investigates the mechanical properties of the joint and then compares the mechanical properties with the microstructure of the joint. An experiment was started by applying the friction stir welding process to weld a 6.3 mm thickness of AA6063-T1 aluminum alloy butt joint. A study of the stirrer geometries effect such as a cylindrical geometry, a cone geometry, a left screw geometry and a right screw geometry at a rotational speed of 2000 rpm and a welding speed of 50-200 mm/min was performed. The mechanical properties such as a tensile strength and a hardness of the joint were also investigated and compared with the microstructure of the joint. The results are as follows. A variation of FSW Stirrer shape directly affected the quality AA6063-T1 aluminum alloy butt joint. A cylindrical stirrer shape and a cone stirrer shape produced the void defect at the bottom part of the weld metal and initiated the failure of the joint when the joint was subjected to the load during the tensile test. Left and right screw stirrer shapes gave the sound joint with no void defect in the weld metal and affected to increase the joint strength that was higher than that of the aluminum base metal.