Assessment of influence of process parameters on properties of friction stir welded Al-Ce-Si-Mg aluminium alloy

Abstract

The research on friction stir welding is mainly focused on welding of aluminium alloys. The material of interest in this research is an aluminium alloy known as Al-Ce-Si-Mg aluminium alloy. The FSW of this alloy finds applications in aerospace industry like joining of aircraft structure parts such as fuselage, cladding and engine components and in automotive industry for welding of parts of body structure and engine. The quality of the weld produced by FSW such as macrostructure defects, average grain size, ultimate tensile stress and weld zone hardness etc are dependent on input parameters like tool revolution, tool feed rate and tool pin profile. The weld defects like tunnel hole, worm hole and pin holes were not predominant in the tool revolution range of 800 to 1200 rpm and tool feed rate range of 10 to 20 mm min-1. The maximum ultimate stress was found to be lesser in the low and high tool revolution and tool feed rates compared to the medium speeds. The maximum value of UTS noted was 102.55 MPa for the weld at a tool revolution of 800 rpm and tool feed rate of 20 mm min-1 with a triangular pin profile tool, giving a joint efficiency of 67%. The Vickers hardness values were less at lower and higher speed ranges of tool revolution and tool feed rates for all the tool pin profiles used. The maximum value of Vickers hardness was noted for a tool revolution of 1000 rpm and tool feed rate of 20 mm min-1 with a triangular pin profile tool. The lowest grain size was observed for the tool revolution of 1000 rpm and tool feed rate of 20 mm min-1 with a triangular pin profile tool, indicating the inverse relation between hardness and grain size. In all the experiments it was observed that the triangular pin profile tool gives the best results at medium tool revolution and tool feed rate ranges. 2019 IOP Publishing Ltd.