Energy utilisation and generation during friction stir spot welding

Abstract

Energy utilisation during spot welding is investigated using a combination of calorimetry, peak temperature measurement and plunge testing. When a steel tool, clamp and anvil support is used, only 12·6% of the energy generated during the spot welding is transferred into the welded Al 6111 sheets. In contrast, when a mica clamp and anvil support are used, 50% of the energy generated during spot welding transfers into the welded Al 6111 sheets. Only a small percentage of the energy generated during the friction stir spot welding operation is required for stir zone formation. During plunge testing of 6·3 mm thick Al 6061-T6 material, less than 4·03% of the energy which is generated during friction stir spot welding is required for stir zone formation. The remainder of the energy generated dissipates into the tool assembly, clamp, anvil support and the aluminium sheets which are being welded. The rotating pin produces around 70% of the energy generated during spot welding of 6·3 mm thick Al-6061 material, with the remainder being contributed by the tool shoulder.

Keywords

FRICTION STIR SPOT WELDING ENERGY UTILISATION

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

, Gerlich

and North

T. H.

: SAE Technical Series 2005-01–1255.

Gerlich

, Su

, North

T. H.

and Bendzsak

G. J.

: Mater. Forum, 2005, 29, 290–294.

Gerlich

, Su

and North

T. H.

: J. Mater. Sci., 2005, to be published.

Frigaard

, Grong

, Bjorneklett

and Midling

O. T.

: Int. Conf. on ‘Friction stir welding’, Thousand Oaks, CA, USA, 1999, Cambridge, The Welding Institute (CD ROM).

Chao

Y. J.

and Qi

: Int. Conf. on ‘Friction stir welding’, Thousand Oaks, CA, USA, 1999, Cambridge, The Welding Institute (CD ROM).

Zhang

and Alpas

A. T.

: Acta Mater., 1997, 45, 513–528.

Chen

and Alpas

A. T.

: Wear, 2000, 246, 106–116.

Lin

S. C.

and Ashby

M. F.

: Acta. Metall., 1987, 25, 1–24.

Wang

, Qu

and Shao

: Proc. Int. Conf. on ‘Modeling and simulation in metallurgical engineering and materials science’, Beijing, China, June 1996, Chinese Society for Metals, 754–758.

10.

Bowden

F. P.

and Ridler

K. E. W.

: Proc. R. Soc. Lond., Series A, 1936, 154, (883), 640–656.

11.

Bowden

F. P.

and Thomas

P. H.

: Proc. R. Soc. Lond., Series A, 1954, 223, (1152), 29–40.

12.

Bendzsak

G. J.

, North

T. H.

and Smith

: Int. Conf. on ‘Friction stir welding’, Gothenburg, Sweden, June 2000, Cambridge, The Welding Institute (CD ROM).

13.

North

T. H.

, Bendzsak

G. J.

, Smith

C. B.

and Luan

G. H.

: Proc. 7th Int. Symp. ofJWS, Kobe, Japan, 2001, JWS, 754–758.

14.

Gerlich

, Su

and North

T. H.

: Sci. Technol. Weld. Joining, 2005, 10, 647–652.

15.

Wells

A. A.

: Weld. J., 1952, 31, 263s–267s.

16.

Fuerschbach

P. W.

and Knorovsky

G. A.

: Weld. J., 1991, 70, 287s–297s.

17.

Dupont

J. N.

and Marder

A. R.

: Weld. J., 1995, 74, 406s–416s.

18.

Bendzsak

G. J.

: Unpublished research, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Toronto, August 2005.

19.

Russell

M. J.

and Shercliff

H. R.

: Proc. Int. Conf. on ‘Friction stir welding’, Thousand Oaks, CA, USA, 1999, Cambridge, The Welding Institute (CD ROM).

20.

Colegrove

: Proc. 2nd Int. Conf. on ‘Friction stir welding’, Gothenburg, Sweden, 2000, Cambridge, The Welding Institute (CD ROM).

21.

Schmidt

, Hattel

and Wert

: Model. Simul. Mater. Sci. Eng., 2004, 12, 143–157.