Mechanical and microstructural behavior of friction stir welded dissimilar aluminum alloy

Aluminium and its alloys generally has low weldability by traditional fusion welding process. The development of the Friction Stir Welding (FSW) has provided an alternative improved way of producing aluminium joints, in a faster and reliable manner. FSW process has several advantages in particular the possibility to weld dissimilar aluminium alloys. This paper presents the mechanical and metallurgical properties of dissimilar joints of aluminum alloy AA6351-T6 and AA5083-H111 alloy produced by friction stir welding is analyzed. Three different welding speeds (50mm/min, 63mm/min, and 75mm/min) have been used to weld the joints. The effect of welding speed on tensile properties are analyzed and it is found that the welding speed of 63mm/min produced better tensile strength than other welding speed. The asymmetric pattern of material flow and different grain size of the various zones is observed.