Feasibility study of using friction stir extruded recycled aluminum rods for welding and additive manufacturing

Friction stir extrusion (FSE) is a promising process capable of producing rods by recycling aluminum chips without melting them. This work studied the use of these recycled rods for GTAW deposition and additive manufacturing. The rods are suitable for single-bead depositions or applications with reduced use of filler material. For additive manufacturing multilayer depositions, the component presented a density of 77% (23% porosity), so pollutant sources must be further reduced to improve quality. The work shows that porosity significantly changes along the height, being about 10% close to the substrate, and about 45% next to the upper surface.