Effect of pin profile and process parameters on microstructure and mechanical properties of friction stir welded Al-Cu joints

In friction stir welding (FSW), pin profile has more influence on material flow especially in welding of dissimilar materials with different yield strengths. In the dissimilar welding of aluminium and copper, the material flow behaviour is complex to understand and thus a study is needed to reveal the mechanism of flow behaviour and the resultant mechanical properties. Three pin profiles, whorl pin profile (WPP), plain taper pin profile (PTP) and taper treaded pin profile (TTP) were chosen. The effects of pin profile on the microstructure, microhardness and tensile properties were studied. Optical microscope, scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction and EDS analysis were used to characterize the microstructural features. Among the three pin profiles, PTP profile results in defect-free stir zone and maximum joint properties of yield strength of 101 MPa, tensile strength of 116 MPa and joint efficiency of 68% compared with the other pin profiles. However, the microhardness plots are more or less identical for all the pin profiles but follows fluctuating trend. This is attributed to the heterogeneous distribution of hard Cu particle. The superior joint properties are mainly attributed to the defect-free stir zone formation and dispersion strengthening.