Investigation of the Effects of Tool Positioning Factors on Peak Temperature in Dissimilar Friction Stir Welding of AA6061-T6 and AA7075-T6 Aluminum Alloys.

Amir Ghiasvand,Wanich Suksatan,Jacek Tomków,Hesamoddin Aghajani Derazkola,Grzegorz Rogalski

doi:10.3390/ma15030702

Abstract

Among the emerging new welding techniques, friction stir welding (FSW) is used frequently for welding high-strength aluminum alloys that are difficult to weld by conventional fusion-welding techniques. This paper investigated the effects of tool-positioning factors on the maximum temperature generated in the dissimilar FSW joint of AA6061-T6 and AA7075-T6 aluminum alloys. Three factors of plunge depth, tool offset, and tilt angle were used as the input parameters. Numerical simulation of the FSW process was performed in ABAQUS software using the coupled Eulerian–Lagrangian (CEL) approach. Central composite design (CCD) based on response surface methodology (RSM) was used to analyze and design the experiments. Comparison of the numerical and experimental results showed that numerical simulations were in good agreement with the experimental ones. Based on the statistical model results, plunge depth, tilt angle, and tool offset were the most significant factors on maximum process temperature, respectively. It was found that increasing the plunge depth caused a sharp increase in the maximum process temperature due to increased contact surfaces and the frictional interaction between the tool and workpiece.

Highlights

Friction stir welding (FSW) was one of the relatively novel welding techniques invented at The Welding Institute (TWI) in the UK in 1991 [1,2]
Three parameters of tool offset, plunge depth, and tilt angle were considered as independent variables, and the peak temperature created in the weld zone was considered as the response
Tool offset mm According to the design of experiment (DOE) scheme used in this study, 20 samples were modeled2 and 1 matrix and

Summary

Introduction

Friction stir welding (FSW) was one of the relatively novel welding techniques invented at The Welding Institute (TWI) in the UK in 1991 [1,2]. This process is categorized into a group of welding processes called solid-state bonding techniques [3]. The FSW joint is formed using a non-consumable tool that plunges into the workpiece and translates along the weld line [4,5]. In the FSW process, total heat is generated by two factors: severe friction between tool and workpiece and material flow created during the joint formation [9]

Methods

Results

Conclusion