FRICTION STIR WELDING OF ALUMINUM ALLOYS: SIMILAR AND DISSIMILAR MATERIALS

H. G. SVOBODA; L. N. TUFARO

Handbook of Welding: Process, control and simulation

Nova Science

Lugar: Hauppauge; Año: 2021;

Friction Stir Welding (FSW) is a process that has revolutionized the welding technology in the last thirty years. As a solid-state process has several advantages in comparison with the fusion welding processes, especially for aluminum alloys. In the last years there have been a lot of industries interested in applying it, but the transportation industry takes advantage, particularly in aerospace and aeronautical, railway, shipbuilding and automotive, for structural applications. This process can be applied to a lot of materials, nevertheless, FSW has been widely used to join aluminum alloys. The analysis of the welding parameters on the microstructural evolution and mechanical properties has been deeply studied, as well as heat and material flow, tool materials and design, types of joints, defects, residual stresses, numerical modelling, among other aspects. In the last years, the need of dissimilar welding has positioned FSW as an interesting alternative for these types of joints, being an active field of research and development. In this chapter, the state of the art of FSW of aluminum alloys in similar and dissimilar joints is reviewed, remarking the main aspects of the technology, the recent advances and the perspectives for the future.