Control of Material Flow During Friction Stir Welding Between Aluminum and Steel by Welding Tool Shape

Abstract

For the Friction stir welding (FSW) between aluminum and steel is important to fabricate vehicles with light weight and high strength for safety at low cost. For the fabrication of sound weld, it is necessary to control the material flow during FSW. In this study, the material flow during FSW was elucidated by numerical simulation by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis and simulation experiment by transparent Poly-vinyle chloride (PVC) as simulant of aluminum and tracer material. Based on this material flow analysis, several shapes of welding tool were examined for control of material flow during FSW. Scroll shoulder is effective for enhancement of stirring zone by increasing material velocity around the probe. Flute and fine screw probe promote the material flow in depth and horizontal direction. The welding tool with scroll shoulder and flute and fine screw probe achieved sound weld with highest tensile strength of 120.4 MPa.