Experimental investigation of Al 5083 alloy using friction stir welding process through taguchi method

In this paper, an attempt is made to fabricate similar Al 5083 alloy joints using different types of tools. Tool shoulder profile (i.e. flat (FT), concave (CC), and convex (CV)), tool rotational speed (RS) (900, 1120, and 1400 rpm), and weld speed (WS) (30, 40, and 50 mm/min) parameters are considered on the measurements of microstructure and mechanical performance characteristics of the weld joints. A Taguchi technique was selected for the planning and design of experiments, and to evaluate the performance characteristics and fit of the model, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed. Maximize the mechanical properties of the FSW joints were investigated in the study. The FSW joints attained were subjected to calculations of tensile strength (TS), yield strength (YS), elongation, impact energy, micro-hardness, and microstructure properties. The experimental results indicated that the CC shoulder profile, 1400 rpm tool rotational speed (RS), and 50 mm/min welding speed (WS) had the most significant effect on the TS. Additionally, the optimum values of TS and YS were found at 265 MPa and 158 MPa, then the experimental conditions for TS and YS were observed at A2B2C2 having CC tool, middle values of tool rotational speed, and welding speed.