Study on Friction Stir Welding Characteristics of
AL 5052 Aluminum Alloy



Jang, Jin Suk

Department of Manufacturing Automation Engineering,
Graduate School of Pukyong National University

ABSTRACT

In this study, friction stir welding (FSW) was conducted by varying both the welding speed and rotational speed of the tool, among the welding parameters, with aluminum alloy (A1) as its material. The welding surfaces of the test pieces produced in this manner were observed. In order to examine its mechanical properties, their micro-structural photographs, hardness, hardness measured by a tester, and tensile strength measured by a tensile strength meter were performed. The material of the tool was SKH9; for its shape, a threaded cylindrical probe tool was used; and the rotation direction of the tool in the friction stir welding was set counter-clockwise


The welding was conducted under the following conditions:
(1) Tool shoulder diameter: 9mm
(2) Tool shoulder diameter: 12mm
(3) Tool shoulder diameter: 15mm

To identify the conditions of welding parameters, the experiment was conducted by subdividing the rotating speed of the tool into 1,000 rpm, 1,500 rpm and 2,000 rpm; the welding speed into 100 mm/min., 300 mm/min., and 500 mm/min. respectively
For the purpose of examining the effects on tensile strength characteristic values as the values of the experimental results, the conditions that provided the highest rotational speed of the tool and welding speed were confirmed. The experiment was planned to use a two-way layout method with respect to tensile strength, and the tool''s rotational speed and welding speed. The effects that each variable has on the characteristic values were analyzed using the analysis of variance (ANOVA), one of statistical analysis methods. The reliability was verified by comparing the actual values which maximize the characteristic values.