Wpływ zużycia narzędzia na jakość połączeń zakładkowych blach ze stopu Aluminium 7075 T6 wykonanych metodą FSW

Abstract

The article concerns the issues of tool wear effect on the quality of a friction stir welding joint quality. The experiment used aluminum alloy 7075 T6 sheet metal, which is used primarily in the aerospace industry. 1.0mm and 0.8mm thick lap joints were tested. Tool wear was determined based on multiple readings on a multisensory machine. The tool wear evaluation was done on the basis of a static tensile strength test and metallographic sections of the joints. The pin of the tool works in more demanding conditions and is more exposed to friction. This results from tooling operations performed at full depth dive in the jointed material. When also considering the small dimensions of the pin such as the diameter and the great forces occurring in this process, it is easy to see why this element is most susceptible to tool wear. The welding process causes the tool to undergo friction wear, which is the cause of reduced tool dive depth in the jointed material. As a result, it is paramount to constantly control the tool extension to achieve the desired quality parameters of the joint. After creating 200m of joints, a decrease in the strength of joints was observed as well as the repeatability of the results connected to a change in the stirring conditions in the material. The change in joint strength and tool wear is also confirmed in the metallographic analysis, which states that the continued degradation of the tool makes it subject to a decrease in size of the characteristic sizes of the thermoplastic zone that is the main determining factor of the joint strength.