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To cite this article: Mouloud Aissani, Saliha Gachi, Fouad Boubenider & Younes Benkedda (2010): Design and Optimization of
Friction Stir Welding Tool, Materials and Manufacturing Processes, 25:11, 1199-1205
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10426910903536733
In Friction stir welding, the tool geometry plays a fundamental role to obtain suited microstructures in the weld and the heat affected zone.
In this work, for obtaining an excellent weld appearance without void, cracking, or distortion, an attempt was made to select proper FSW tool
for aluminium alloy. So, we have included in the tool a safety system aimed at avoiding premature damage, and allowing the measure of applied
pressure. The improved tool was tested on AA2024-T4 and AA7075-T6 aluminum alloys sheets. The weld quality has been evaluated by means
of a microstructure analysis and micro-hardness measurements. The capacity to increase the welding speed, the changes of the crystalline plans
orientation in the mixed part of thermo-mechanically affected zone and grains sizes observed in micrographics underlines the effect of the pin
geometry and its displacement. The micro-hardness curve shows good mechanical properties. Finally, obtained results show welds of very good
qualities. This study opens new interesting perspectives.
Keywords Aluminium; Design; Friction Stir Welding; Metallography; Micro-hardness.
Introduction
Friction stir welding (FSW) is considered in the
aeronautic and automotive industries as an innovative
process [13], since it allows the joining of high strength
aluminium alloys, such as 2000 and 7000 series and other
metallic alloys that are generally considered difcult, to be
welded by using conventional fusion techniques [35]. As
laser beam welding, FSW becomes also a common joining
technique in aeronautic (fuselage and wing) applications,
and it can replace conventional riveting actually used in
airframe components. It requires less energy than the laser
technique (only 2.5% of the laser energy is used). Also, it
creates welded products without producing any toxic fumes
or solid waste, and the weld joint does not involve any
ller metal. This process avoids also compatibility problems
related to the metal compositions during welding. It has a
great impact on the nal results compared to other fusion
welding processes.
The FSW process uses a specially designed rotating,
nonconsumable tool to generate frictional heat in the
workpiece. This rotating tool causes local changes in the
welded material [6, 7] because of mechanical deformation
and heat transfer. The key component of the process is the
friction tool, which has two essential conventional parts.
The rst one is the proled pin extending along the rotating
component axis. The second part of the tool is the shoulder.
The shoulder is the working surface of the tool, normal to
the rotation axis. Once the workpieces are placed in contact
and appropriately xed, the tool is then inserted at high
1199
1200
M. AISSANI ET AL.
1201
Figure 3.FSW tool shoulders with (a) xed standard pins and (b) with
modied pin.
p=
F
S
(1)
Table 1.Chemical compositions in wt% 102 of 42CD4 steel and E24 mild steel.
Elements (wt%) 102
42CD4
E24
Mn
Si
Ni
Cr
Mo
Cu
Al
42.5
17
74.9
110
26.6
03
29
02.5
16
04
23.2
118
15.4
22.7
7.27
01
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M. AISSANI ET AL.
Table 2.Compositions in wt% of AA2024 and AA7075 alloys.
Element
2024-T4
7075-T6
Cu
Fe
Si
Cr
Mg
Mn
Zn
Ti
3.84.9
1.22
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.4
0.1
0.10.28
1.21.8
2.12.9
0.30.9
0.3
0.25
5.16.1
0.15
0.2
Material
Thickness
(mm)
Pin dimension
(mm)
Shoulder
diameter
(mm)
Rotation
speed (rpm
or tr/min)
Adv. speed
(mm/min)
Applied
pressure
(MPa)
2024-T4
2024-T4
7075-T6
1.6
1.6
5
L = 12, D = 6
L = 12, D = 6
L = 4, D = 5
20
20
35
1400
2000
2000
16
16
16
10.90
10.90
10.49
where
D2
4
F = K l
S=
(2)
(3)
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M. AISSANI ET AL.
Figure 8.(a) Cross-section of weld joint; (b) Microstructure of the AA2024-T4 welding joint; and (c) Bind zone.
Figure 9.Microstructure of AA7075-T6 welding joint (50): (a) HAZ/TMAZ and (b) TMAZ/nugget zone.
Figure 10.Microstructure of AA7075-T6 welding joint: (a) base metal (500); (b) nugget zone (500); and (c) bind zone (nugget zone/TMAZ) (200).
1205
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.