Evaluation of Weld Quality Through Non-Destructive Testing and Weld Property Analysis of Friction Stir Welded AA2014 Under Submerged Condition

Abstract

Aluminum Alloy2014 is one of the strongest aluminum alloys and is a copper-based alloy that has a high strength-to-weight ratio. Poor corrosion resistance, porosity, cracking, and element loss makes the alloy difficult to weld in gas and arc welding techniques. To overcome these difficulties, the most suitable method for joining aluminum alloy2014 is Friction Stir Welding. Due to its high strength, aluminum alloy2014 is joined using Friction Stir Welding in aerospace industries in fuel tanks of spaceships and other automotive industries in making complex shapes. In the current study, aluminum alloy2014 alloy is friction stir welded under submerged conditions employing graphene nanofluid. The welding was carried out under the optimized process parameter of tool rotational speed 1200 rpm and a transverse speed of 72 mm/min. A hardened square pin tool of length 5.5 mm and diameter of 4 mm is used for joining the aluminum alloy2014. The graphene nanofluid is developed using the two-step method constituting water as the base fluid. Water is suspended with 0.5 wt% of graphene nanoparticles. In this investigation, Radiography analysis, surface roughness, microhardness, tensile behavior and Facture analysis under two different conditions, normal welding and submerged welding was determined.