In this work, three mathematical models for the heat generation during bobbin tool friction stir welding (BT-FSW) of aluminum using three tool pin geometries have been proposed. The models have utilized and updated the available models for the heat generation during the conventional tool friction stir welding (CT-FSW). For the validation of the models, BT-FSW experiments have been carried out for aluminum alloy AA1050 using three different pin geometries (cylindrical, square, and triangular), at different welding speeds of 200, 400, 600, 800, and 1000 mm/min and a constant tool rotation speed of 600 rpm. The welding temperatures during BT-FSW have been measured to be compared with that calculated from the models at the same parameters. It has been found that the calculated welding temperatures from the models and that measured during BT-FSW are in good agreement at all the investigated welding speeds especially in case of the square and cylindrical pins, proving the validity of the developed models for the predication of the heat generation as well as the welding temperatures. This will allow proper designing of the BT-FSW parameters and avoiding the conditions that can deteriorate the joint quality and properties.

In the current study, a 2 mm thick low-carbon steel sheet (A283M—Grade C) was joined with a brass sheet (CuZn40) of 1 mm thickness using friction stir spot welding (FSSW). Different welding parameters including rotational speeds of 1000, 1250, and 1500 rpm, and dwell times of 5, 10, 20, and 30 s were applied to explore the effective range of parameters to have FSSW joints with high load-carrying capacity. The joint quality of the friction stir spot-welded (FSSWed) dissimilar materials was evaluated via visual examination, tensile lap shear test, hardness test, and macro- and microstructural investigation using SEM. Moreover, EDS analysis was applied to examine the mixing at the interfaces of the dissimilar materials. Heat input calculation for the FSSW of steel–brass was found to be linearly proportional with the number of revolutions per spot joint, with maximum heat input obtained of 11 kJ at the number of revolutions of 500. The temperature measurement during FSSW showed agreement with the heat input dependence on the number of revolution. However, at the same revolutions of 500, it was found that the higher rotation speed of 1500 rpm resulted in higher temperature of 583 °C compared to 535 °C at rotation speed of 1000 rpm. This implies the significant effect for the rotation speed in the increase of temperature. The macro investigations of the friction stir spot-welded joints transverse sections showed sound joints at the different investigated parameters with significant joint ligament between the steel and brass. FSSW of steel/brass joints with a number of revolutions ranging between 250 to 500 revolutions per spot at appropriate tool speed range (1000–1500 rpm) produces joints with high load-carrying capacity from 4 kN to 7.5 kN. The hardness showed an increase in the carbon steel (lower sheet) with maximum of 248 HV and an increase of brass hardness at mixed interface between brass and steel with significant reduction in the stir zone hardness. Microstructural investigation of the joint zone showed mechanical mixing between steel and brass with the steel extruded from the lower sheet into the upper brass sheet.

In the current study, solid-state additive manufacturing (SSAM) of two temper conditions AA2011 was successfully conducted using the friction stir deposition (FSD) process. The AA2011-T6 and AA2011-O consumable bars of 20 mm diameter were used as a feeding material against AA5083 substrate. The effect of the rotation rate and feeding speed of the consumable bars on the macrostructure, microstructure, and hardness of the friction stir deposited (FSD) materials were examined. The AA2011-T6 bars were deposited at a constant rotation rate of 1200 rpm and different feeding speeds of 3, 6, and 9 mm/min, whereas the AA2011-O bars were deposited at a constant rotation rate of 200 mm/min and varied feeding speeds of 1, 2, and 3 mm/min. The obtained microstructure was investigated using an optical microscope and scanning electron microscope equipped with EDS analysis to evaluate microstructural features. Hardness was also assessed as average values and maps. The results showed that this new technique succeeded in producing sound additive manufactured parts at all the applied processing parameters. The microstructures of the additive manufactured parts showed equiaxed refined grains compared to the coarse grain of the starting materials. The detected intermetallics in AA2011 alloy are mainly Al2Cu and Al7Cu2Fe. The improvement in hardness of AA2011-O AMPs reached 163% of the starting material hardness at the applied feeding speed of 1 mm/min. The hardness mapping analysis reveals a homogeneous hardness profile along the building direction. Finally, it can be said that the temper conditions of the starting AA2011 materials govern the selection of the processing parameters in terms of rotation rate and feeding speed and affects the properties of the produced additive manufactured parts in terms of hardness and microstructural features.

Bobbin tool friction stir welding (BT-FSW) is characterized by a fully penetrated pin and double-sided shoulder that promote symmetrical solid-state joints. However, control of the processing parameters to obtain defect-free thick lap joints is still difficult and needs more effort. In this study, the BT-FSW process was used to produce 10 mm AA1050-H14 similar lap joints. A newly designed bobbin tool (BT) with three different pin geometries (cylindrical, square, and triangular) and concave shoulders profile was designed, manufactured, and applied to produce the Al alloy lap joints. The experiments were carried out at a constant tool rotation speed of 600 rpm and a wide range of various welding travel speeds of 200, 400, 600, 800, and 1000 mm/min. The generated temperature during the BT-FSW process was recorded and analyzed at the joints’ center line, and at both advancing and retreating sides. Visual inspection, macrostructures, hardness, and tensile properties were investigated. The fracture surfaces after tensile testing were also examined. The results showed that the pin geometry and travel speed are considered the most important controlling parameters in BT-FSW thick lap joints. The square (Sq) pin geometry gives the highest BT-FSW stir zone temperature compared to the other two pins, cylindrical (Cy) and triangular (Tr), whereas the Tr pin gives the lowest stir zone temperature at all applied travel speeds from 200 to 1000 mm/min. Furthermore, the temperature along the lap joints decreased with increasing the welding speed, and the maximum temperature of 380 °C was obtained at the lowest travel speed of 200 mm/min with applying Sq pin geometry. The temperature at the advancing side (AS) was higher than that at the retreating side (RS) by around 20 °C. Defect-free welds were produced using a bobbin tool with Cy and Sq pin geometries at all the travel welding speeds investigated. BT-FSW at a travel speed of 200 mm/min leads to the highest tensile shear properties, in the case of using the Sq pin. The hardness profiles showed a significant effect for both the tool pin geometry and the welding speed, whereas the width of the softened region is reduced dramatically with increasing the welding speed and using the triangular pin.

In the current investigation, additive friction stir-deposition (AFS-D) of as-cast hypoeutectic A356 Al alloy was conducted. The effect of feeding speeds of 3, 4, and 5 mm/min at a constant rotational speed of 1200 rpm on the macrostructure, microstructure, and hardness of the additive manufacturing parts (AMPs) was investigated. Various techniques (OM, SEM, and XRD) were used to evaluate grain microstructure, presence phases, and intermetallics for the as-cast material and the AMPs. The results showed that the friction stir deposition technique successfully produced sound additive manufactured parts at all the applied feeding speeds. The friction stir deposition process significantly improved the microstructure of the as-cast alloy by eliminating porosity and refining the dendritic α-Al grains, eutectic Si phase, and the primary Si plates in addition to intermetallic fragmentation. The mean values of the grain size of the produced AMPs at the feeding speeds of 3, 4, and 5 mm/min were 0.62 ± 0.1, 1.54 ± 0.2, and 2.40 ± 0.15 µm, respectively, compared to the grain size value of 30.85 ± 2 for the as-cast alloy. The AMPs exhibited higher hardness values than the as-cast A356 alloy. The as-cast A356 alloy showed highly scattered hardness values between 55 and 75.8 VHN. The AMP fabricated at a 3 mm/min feeding speed exhibited the maximum hardness values between 88 and 98.1 VHN.

This work aims to optimize the performance evaluation characteristics such as the temperature at the weld center of the lap joint (Tw), the tensile shear load (TSL), and the hardness using an experimental design experiment for bobbin tool friction stir welding (BT-FSW) of AA1050 lap joints. BT-FSW is characterized by a fully penetrated pin and double-sided shoulder that promote symmetrical solid-state welds. This study contributes to improving the quality of 10 mm thick lap joints and addressing challenges to obtaining a sound weld deprived of any defects. Taguchi L9 orthogonal array (OA) experimental design was performed. Three different pin shapes (cylindrical, triangular, and square) and three levels of welding travel speeds of 200, 400, and 600 mm/min were selected as input controllable process parameters at a constant tool rotation speed of 600 rpm. A travel speed of 200 mm/min with square pin geometry significantly improves the TSL of the joint up to 6491 N. However, the hardness characteristic is optimized by using 600 mm/min travel speed and a cylindrical tool pin. The minimum temperature in the weld joint can be obtained using 600 mm/min or more with triangular pin geometry. From ANOVA results, it was seen that the BT-FSW of AA 1050 thick lap joints performance in terms of TLS and Tw were greatly influenced by travel speed; however, the tool shape influences the hardness more. For the validation of the models, BT-FSW experiments have been carried out for AA1050 using the applied processing parameters. Furthermore, regression models were developed to predict the Tw, TSL, and hardness. The calculated performance properties from the mathematical models were in an acceptable range compared to the measured experimental values.

The current work investigates the viability of utilizing a friction stir deposition (FSD) technique to fabricate continuous multilayer high-performance, metal-based nanoceramic composites. For this purpose, AA2011/nano Al2O3 composites were successfully produced using AA2011 as a matrix in two temper conditions (i.e., AA2011-T6 and AA2011-O). The deposition of matrices without nano Al2O3 addition was also friction stir deposited for comparison purposes. The deposition process parameters were an 800 rpm rod rotation speed and a 5 mm/min feed rate. Relative density and mechanical properties (i.e., hardness, compressive strength, and wear resistance) were evaluated on the base materials, deposited matrices, and produced composites. The microstructural features of the base materials and the friction stir deposited materials were investigated using an optical microscope (OM) and a scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with an EDS analysis system. The worn surface was also examined using SEM. The suggested technique with the applied parameters succeeded in producing defect-free deposited continuous multilayer AA2011-T6/nano Al2O3 and AA2011-O/nano Al2O3 composites, revealing well-bonded layers, grain refined microstructures, and homogeneously distributed Al2O3 particles. The deposited composites showed higher hardness, compressive strengths, and wear resistance than the deposited AA2011 matrices at the two temper conditions. Using the AA2011-T6 temper condition as a matrix, the produced composite showed the highest wear resistance among all the deposited and base materials.

Light-weight metal matrix composites, especially magnesium-based composites, have recently become more widespread for high-efficiency applications, including aerospace, automobile, defense, and telecommunication industries. The squeeze cast AZ91 base material (AZ91-BM) and its composites having 23 vol.% short carbon fibers were fabricated and investigated. The composite specimens were machined normal to the reinforced plane (Composite-N) and parallel to the reinforced plane (Composite-P). All the as-casted materials were subjected to different tests, such as hardness, compression, and wear testing, evaluating the mechanical properties. Dry wear tests were performed using a pin-on-disk machine at room temperature under different applied wear loads (1–5 N) and different sliding distances (0.4461×104–3.12×104 m). The microstructures and worn surfaces of the fabricated AZ91-BM and the two composite specimens were investigated using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with an energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) advanced analysis system. The wear debris was collected and investigated also under the SEM. The results showed significant improvement in hardness, compressive strength, and wear resistance of the composite specimens (Composite-N and Composite-P) over the AZ91-BM. The compressive strength and wear resistance are more fibers orientation sensitive than the hardness results. When the fiber orientation is parallel to the sliding direction (Composite-N), the weight loss is somewhat lower than that of the fiber orientation perpendicular to the sliding direction (Composite-P) at a constant wear load of 2 N and the sliding distances of 0.4461×104, 1.34×104 , and 2.23×104 m. In contrast, the weight loss of Composite-P is lower than Composite-N, especially at the highest sliding distance of 3.12×104 m due to the continuous feeding of graphite lubricant film and the higher compressive strength. Plastic deformation, oxidation, and abrasive wear are the dominant wear mechanisms of AZ91-BM; in contrast, abrasive and delamination wear are mainly the wear mechanisms of the two composites under the applied testing conditions.