Optimization of process parameters using taguchi for friction stir welding of dissimilar aluminum alloys

Abstract

Friction stir welding (FSW) is a major welding system employed to join aluminum alloys. This welding method is governed by so many variable parameters. These parameters control the quality and reliability of the welds. This paper gives attention to the optimization of two most prominent of these variable parameters which are the rotational speed and the travel speed of the tool through Taguchi technique of design of experiments. The friction stir welding was done on the 7075-T651 and 6101-T6 aluminum alloys with L16 orthogonal array of Taguchi method for the welding trials. 1550 rpm and 20 mm/min rotational speed and travel speed, respectively, were established to produce the maximum hardness at the nugget zone, while 950 rpm and 50 mm/min gave the optimum conditions for the ultimate tensile strength. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) gave rotational speed as the parameter with highest influence for achieving optimum tensile strength but gave tool travel speed in the case of hardness optimization.