Development of a friction stir welding apparatus for aluminum pipe work
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Abstract
The development of specialized welder for friction stir welding of pipes is challenging. This is because a number of issues, including decreased contact area resulting from pipe curvature, improper positioning of the pipe clamping device, and pipe welding accessories, etc., frequently arise during friction stir welding of pipes. Therefore, in order to address the issues with pipe welding and enhance the quality of the welds, the objectives of this study were to design and build a friction stir welder for pipes and perform performance tests. The friction stir welder developed in this study was driven by a motor held in a spindle and a vertical milling machine, which was responsible for placement of the friction welder on the bench. This friction stir welder setup contributed to automatic adjustment of welding speed (mm/min) and the rotation speed (rpm). This friction stir welder consisted of 4 main components, which were the welding speed control unit, the dividing plate mounted on the vertical milling machine, a support for the compression during welding of the specimen, and a tailstock. The performance test was conducted using aluminum alloy AA6063 pipe with an outer diameter of 50.8 mm, an inner diameter of 38.85 mm, and a thickness of 5.1 mm at one rotation speed (710 rpm) and three welding speeds (1.5, 2.5 and 3.5 rpm). The welder had a right-hand threaded cylindrical pin with a pitch of 0.8 mm, a diameter of 5 mm, a pin length of 4.8 mm, and a shoulder diameter of 20 mm. The results showed that this welder could be used in the friction stir welding of pipes as intended. The microstructural characterization revealed grain distortion due to excessive frictional heat accumulation in the specimens. The frictional stir welding at a rotation speed of 710 rpm and a welding speed of 2.5 mm/min resulted in the highest tensile strength of 149.65 MPa and the highest hardness of 52.9 HV at the Stir Zone.
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