Effect of Friction Stir Welding Tool on Al–SiC Composites by Varying Tool Pin Profile and Tool Material

Efficient joints can be accomplished through the friction stir welding (FSW) process with the selection of appropriate tool profile, tool material and D/d ratio. This experiment to weld Aluminium 6061 with 10% silicon carbide reinforcement was carried out in a CNC FSW machining set-up, the tool materials being H13 and OHNS, the tool profiles plain pentagon, plain taper and threaded cylinder and the D/d ratio, a common 2. The different welding parameters chosen were 1000 rpm tool rotation speed and 25 mm/min travel speed with an axial load varying between 3.8 and 4.3 kN. The joint produced with the threaded cylinder tool, compared with the rest of the tools, exhibited the maximum tensile strength of 150 MPa and hardness of 41 HRC and was found to be defect-free with a uniform grain size distribution.