Effect of Tool Profile on Mechanical Properties, Temperature, and RPM Using Micro Friction Stir Spot Welding (mFSSW) on Aluminum Alloy AA1100

Abstract

Micro friction stir spot welding (mFSSW) is a type of solid-state spot welding of nonconsumable tools using friction and force to join material of thickness less than 1 mm. This research aimed to investigate the shape of the tools for best welding results among the proposed tool’s profile. The material specimen was aluminum alloy AA1100, with a thickness of 0.42 mm. This study aims to measure the temperature and RPM of the welding process with thermocouples and tachometers. And then investigate the mechanical properties using the tensile shear test, microhardness, and macrostructural observation to find the welding zone and hook profile. Four tools’ profiles are named tool 1, tool 2, tool 3, and tool 4. The result of this study was that tool 3 (Shoulder 450μm) had the highest temperature, around 428˚ C, and the shear tensile test was 450 N (the highest). The macrostructural observation used to define the zone on the welding result there are stir zone (SZ), thermos-mechanically affected zone (TMAZ), and heat affected zone (HAZ).