Undergraduate Research on Friction Stir Welding of Copper-Aluminum Join

Abstract

The need for joining dissimilar materials is increasing rapidly in manufacturing industries. Therefore, a successful weld of dissimilar metals by Friction Stir Welding (FSW) process becomes a topic of interest for many investigators. FSW research topics have been used for Manufacturing Engineering students at Virginia State University as undergraduate research projects. The purpose of this study was to investigate intermetallic characteristics between aluminum and copper at the transition zone in the FSW process. The effects of process parameters on heat affected zone (HAZ) have been examined to find the optimal tool rotational speed, axial force, and transverse speed. A metallographic study was conducted to investigate the quality of intermetallic bonding at the interfaces. It was observed that using optimized process parameters for experimental setup resulted in a very good quality of the welds.

A Study on FSW Parameters of Joining Dissimilar Metals - Al and Fe

“… Material flow due to pin: layer by layer  Material flow due to shoulder: material from retreating side(RS) is transferred through the shoulder surface at the top of the advancing side (AS) [7].…”