Process forces during friction stir channeling in an aluminum alloy

An understanding of the material flow behavior during friction stir channeling (FSC) is essential to produce consistently stable and continuous channels in monolithic plates. In this study, channels were fabricated in Al6061-T6 alloy using FSC and the process forces were measured using a high frequency data acquisition system. Polar plots of the net resultant force acting on the tools are plotted and correlated with the process parameters and channel features. The magnitude and direction of the net forces acting on the tool are analyzed to understand the material flow behavior and the occurrence of channels in the nugget.