Wear behaviour study of Friction Stir Welded Dissimilar Metals: AA6101-T6 and AA6351-T6 Aluminium Alloys

Abstract

Aluminium alloys are difficult to weld together under the standard welding techniques. Among the all welding processes, friction stir welding has proved its importance in joining of different aluminium grades. In the present work, joining of two dissimilar aluminium alloys AA6101 & AA6351 has been carried out by friction stir welding process with different rotational speeds and a constant welding speed. Radiography study of the weld joint explains the defects present in the welded zone. A good quality weld zone is due to the proper selection of tool rotational speed as it helps in uniform mixing. The micro hardness test and wear behaviour were studied for the weld zone. The higher tool rotational speed of FSW reduces the wear volume due the increase in hardness of the weld zone. The SEM analysis shows the different worn out behaviour of the weld surfaces. Better burr free surfaces are obtained with the weld zones welded at high rotational speed.