Investigating the strength of butt-welded joints of AA6082 and AA5052 alloys through friction stir welding; the impact of tool tilt angle and feed rate

Abstract

This study focuses on optimizing friction stir welding (FSW) factors to enhance ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and Hardness (HN) when joining AA6082 and AA5052 alloys. The FSW is carried out using an H13 tool with various processing factors, including tool rotational speed (TS), welding speed (WS), tool tilt angle (TT), and feed rate (FR). The chosen factors are set at different levels, and the Taguchi L16 method is used to produce several experiments to identify each parameter’s optimal level. The results indicate that the TT is the most significant factor in improving UTS. Based on the optimization process, the optimal values for UTS and HN are 252 MPa and 99.5 HV, respectively. The ANOVA outcome reveals that TT is the most significant parameter (39.5%), followed by TS (34.88%), WS (11.39%), and FR (8.37%) in increasing UTS of the butt joint. The comparison between the experiment and statistical results for UTS and HN shows an improvement from 230 to 252 MPa and 98 to 99.5 HV, respectively. This study will extend to corrosion resistance and material compatibility investigations, fostering innovative welding techniques, and joint design improvements for diverse industries requiring high-performance aluminum alloy structures, minimizing production time or energy consumption.