Fundamentals of friction stir spot welding

The recent spike in energy costs has been a major contributor to propel the use of light weight alloys in the transportation industry. In particular, the automotive industry sees benefit in using light weight alloys to increase fuel efficiency and enhance performance. In this context, light weight design by replacing steel with Al and/or Mg alloys have been considered as promising initiatives. The joining of structures made of light weight alloys is therefore very important and calls for more attention. Friction Stir Spot Welding (FSSW) is an evolving technique that offers several advantages over conventional joining processes. The fundamentals aspects of FSSW are systematically studied in this dissertation. The effects and influence of process inputs (weld parameters and tool geometry) on the process output (weld geometry and static strength) is studied. A Design of Experiments (DoE) is carried out to identify the effect of each process parameter on weld strength. It is found that the tool geometry, and in particular the pin profile has a significant role in determining the weld geometry (hook, stir zone size etc.) which in turn influences the failure mode and weld strength. A novel triangular pin tool geometry is proposed that suppresses the hook formation and produces welds with twice the static strength as those produced with conventional cylindrical pin tools. An experimental and numerical approach is undertaken to understand the effect of pin geometry on the material flow and failure mechanism of spot welds. In addition, key practical issues have been addressed such as quantification of tool life and a methodology to control tool plunge depth during welding. Finally, by implementing the findings of this dissertation, FSSW is successfully performed on a closure panel assembly for an automotive application --Abstract, page iii

A fundamental study on the structural integrity of magnesium alloys joined by friction stir welding

The goal of this research is to study the factors that influence the physical and mechanical properties of lap-shear joints produced using friction stir welding. This study focuses on understanding the effect of tool geometry and weld process parameters including the tool rotation rate, tool plunge depth and dwell time on the mechanical performance of similar magnesium alloy and dissimilar magnesium to aluminum alloy weld joints. A variety of experimental activities were conducted including tensile and fatigue testing, fracture surface and failure analysis, microstructure characterization, hardness measurements and chemical composition analysis. An investigation on the effect of weld process conditions in friction stir spot welding of magnesium to magnesium produced in a manner that had a large effective sheet thickness and smaller interfacial hook height exhibited superior weld strength. Furthermore, in fatigue testing of friction stir spot welded of magnesium to magnesium alloy, lap-shear welds produced using a triangular tool pin profile exhibited better fatigue life properties compared to lap-shear welds produced using a cylindrical tool pin profile. In friction stir spot welding of dissimilar magnesium to aluminum, formation of intermetallic compounds in the stir zone of the weld had a dominant effect on the weld strength. Lap-shear dissimilar welds with good material mixture and discontinues intermetallic compounds in the stir zone exhibited superior weld strength compared to lap-shear dissimilar welds with continuous formation of intermetallic compounds in the stir zone. The weld structural geometry like the interfacial hook, hook orientation and bond width also played a major role in influencing the weld strength of the dissimilar lap-shear friction stir spot welds. A wide scatter in fatigue test results was observed in friction stir linear welds of aluminum to magnesium alloys. Different modes of failure were observed under fatigue loading including crack propagation into the top sheet, into the bottom sheet, and interfacial separation. Investigation of the tested welds revealed that the voids in the weld nugget reduced the weld strength, resulting in lower fatigue life. A thin layer of IMCs formed along the faying surface which accelerated the fatigue failure. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries