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A novel method, friction stir spot welding using a consumable sheet (FSSW-C), is introduced here with the aim of joining dissimilar sheets. In this process, faying surfaces of the base materials are kept at a specific gap, and a consumable sheet is placed on the top of the base materials. When the tool progresses into the consumable sheet, the plasticized consumable material gets extruded into the gap and joining occurs between the base materials. The tool never touches the steel base material overcoming the tool wear problem. In the present work, AA6063-T6 and CRCA/IS-513 are the base sheets, and AA6063-T6 is the consumable sheet. The effect of tool rotational speed on the joint formation, interface characteristics, microhardness, temperature evolution, lap shear strength, bend shear strength, and fracture modes have been analyzed. Microstructural zones are also revealed. The rotational speed of 900 rpm is the best choice for FSSW-C of AA6063-T6 and CRCA/IS-513 sheets, keeping 2-mm/min plunge speed, 2-mm plunge depth, 5-s dwell time, and 1.5-mm gap constant. However, additional case studies reveal a plunge depth of 1.5 mm (at 900 rpm) as a better choice due to further lap shear fracture load improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During dissimilar friction stir welding (FSW) of Al-Mg2Si metal matrix composite and AA6061 aluminum alloy, the temperature field and heat generation were investigated using a 3-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model and FLUENT software. The simulations were conducted for rotational speeds of 720, 920, and 1120 rpm. The welding experiments were carried out to validate the simulation results. About 70% of the heat is generated at the interface between the shoulder and the workpiece. The maximum temperature is predicted on the advancing side (AS). The difference between the peak temperatures on the AS and the retreating side (RS) is about 115 K. The effect of the rotational speed on the peak temperature is significant. The temperature distribution in the cross sections is asymmetric, which originates from different material velocities on the AS and RS. The peak temperature on the RS develops under the top surface, while the peak temperature on the AS develops on the surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Friction stir welding (FSW) is extensively used due to its low processing temperature, cost, and fast operation. The objective of this is research is to determine the optimum rotational and welding speed for welding of Al/Cu butt joint by FSW. FSW is used to produce a butt joint of pure aluminum with pure copper under two conditions; as received, i.e., not annealed, and as annealed. FSW is examined under three different rotational speeds: 910 rpm, 1280 rpm, and 1700 rpm, and each rotational speed is examined at three different welding speeds 16 mm/min, 29 mm/min, and 44 mm/min. The axial and longitudinal welding force components are measured during the welding process. Tensile and hardness tests were done to evaluate the mechanical properties, and the microstructural properties were also examined by XRD, SEM, and an optical microscope. The results showed that the welding force increased and the axial force decreased as the rotational speed increased and the welding speed decreased. Voids, tunnels, and cavities are noticed in case of a low rotational speed and a high welding speed; however, almost defect-free structure obtained at the highest rotational speed examined, i.e., 1700 rpm and the lowest welding speed of 16 mm/min, in case of Al and annealed Cu joint, but in case of non-annealed copper, it was different. It can be concluded that there is an optimal combination between the rotational speed and the welding speed in order to obtain the optimum mechanical and microstructural properties of the Al–Cu-welded joints, and that speed is a function of the material conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rotating electrodes can effectively improve the processing performance of micro-electrical discharge machining (micro-EDM), but there is still a lack of systematic research on the specific effects of electrode rotation and rotational speed changes. In this paper, the effects of electrode rotation and rotational speed on the discharge channel, debris stress, and debris motion in micro-EDM were analyzed theoretically. An AISI304 sheet was used as the workpiece and helical tungsten carbide alloy as the electrode. The through-hole drilling experiments of micro-EDM were carried out at low and high discharge energy and different electrode rotational speeds. In terms of processing efficiency, the effects of electrode rotation and rotational speed on material removal rate (MRR), relative tool wear ratio (RTWR), and short circuit number were analyzed. The results show that MRR increases first and then decreases, RTWR and short circuit number decrease first and then increase. In the aspect of processing precision, the impacts of electrode rotation and rotational speed on taper angle and overcut were analyzed. The results show that the electrode rotational speed has little effect on the change of the taper angle. In addition, when the electrode rotational speed is small, there is no obvious change in overcut. When the speed is too high, the overcut increases obviously and shows a trend of continuous increase. Finally, by comparing the experimental results, the optimal electrode rotational speeds of micro-EDM with two kinds of discharge energy were determined. The final experimental results also verify the correctness of the previous theoretical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of micro electro mechanical system (MEMS), the application of micro components is becoming increasingly wide. Micro electrical discharge machining (micro EDM) is one of the most effective manufacturing processes for micro components. During past few decades, some innovative methods for improving micro EDM performance have been proposed. Using special-shaped electrode is just one of them. Although micro EDM with helical electrode has been proposed and the availability has been proved for several years, relatively little is known about the precise effect of helical electrode rotation on micro EDM performance. In this study, micro through-holes were machined on Ti6Al4V sample with a cylindrical electrode and helical electrode. The helical electrode achieves better machining performance overall compared to the cylindrical electrode due to its favorable debris removal ability. The higher the rotational speed of helical electrode, the higher the material removal rate (MRR). When using the cylindrical electrode, the MRR first increases and then decreases after reaching a peak at 3000 rpm. Higher MRR is obtainable with the helical electrode with reverse rotation; with forward rotation, it yields higher machining precision (lower overcut and taper rate). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of rotational and traverse speeds during dissimilar butt friction stir welding of Al 5083-H321 and 316L stainless steel plates was studied. The macrostructure and microstructure of the joints were examined using optical microscope and scanning electron microscope equipped with energy-dispersive X-ray analysis. The strength of the joints was measured using tensile test. The results showed that with increasing the rotational speed, the tensile strength of the joints increased up to a maximum value and then decreased. In addition, decreasing the traverse speed resulted in higher tensile strength. The 238-MPa maximum value of the tensile strength was achieved at rotational speed of 280 rpm and traverse speed of 160 mm/min. The formation of surface and cross section defects at lower rotational speeds and higher traverse speeds and existence of cracks and microcracks at higher rotational speeds were responsible for the lower tensile strengths of the corresponding joints. In addition, the FeAl intermetallic compound was detected in the interface of the steel particles and Al. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Welding parameters like welding speed, rotation speed, plunge depth, shoulder diameter etc., influence the weld zone properties, microstructure of friction stir welds, and forming behavior of welded sheets in a synergistic fashion. The main aims of the present work are to (1) analyze the effect of welding speed, rotation speed, plunge depth, and shoulder diameter on the formation of internal defects during friction stir welding (FSW), (2) study the effect on axial force and torque during welding, (c) optimize the welding parameters for producing internal defect-free welds, and (d) propose and validate a simple criterion to identify defect-free weld formation. The base material used for FSW throughout the work is Al 6061T6 having a thickness value of 2.1 mm. Only butt welding of sheets is aimed in the present work. It is observed from the present analysis that higher welding speed, higher rotation speed, and higher plunge depth are preferred for producing a weld without internal defects. All the shoulder diameters used for FSW in the present work produced defect-free welds. The axial force and torque are not constant and a large variation is seen with respect to FSW parameters that produced defective welds. In the case of defect-free weld formation, the axial force and torque are relatively constant. A simple criterion, (∂ τ/∂ p) > (∂ τ/∂ p) and (∂F/∂ p) > (∂F/∂ p), is proposed with this observation for identifying the onset of defect-free weld formation. Here F is axial force, τ is torque, and p is welding speed or tool rotation speed or plunge depth. The same criterion is validated with respect to Al 5 xxx base material. Even in this case, the axial force and torque remained constant while producing defect-free welds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, rolled plates of AA 2198 T3 aluminium alloy are friction-stir welded in butt configuration varying two fundamental process parameters: rotational and welding speeds. Two sets of empirical models based on regression analysis are developed. The first one predicts the stationary values of the in-plane and downwards forging welding forces in dependence of the process parameters under investigation. The second one predicts the mechanical strength, in particular yield and tensile strength, of the friction-stir welded joints as function of the same parameters. For the development of the empirical models, two 3 full factorial designs are used: one having the stationary values of the welding forces and the other having the yield and tensile strength as observed responses, respectively. Statistical tools such as analysis of variance, F tests, Mallows' C, coefficient of determination etc. are used to build and to validate the developed models. By using the desirability function approach, the optimum process parameters to simultaneously obtain maximum possible yield and tensile strength are found within the investigated range. The developed models can be effectively used to predict the stationary forces and the mechanical proprieties of the joints at 95% confidence level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]