Assessment of Friction Stir Welding on Aluminium 3D Printing Materials

Abstract

This review paper will discuss about the joining process of Aluminium 3D printing materials by using friction stir welding process. Currently, the studies on the joining of 3D printing materials by friction stir welding are very limited. Through this review, the joining materials characteristics such as weld efficiency, hardness and microstructure after friction stir welding process will be discussed to identify the behavior of weld joint materials. Understanding the friction stir welding process on 3D printing materials is importance in order to support the future advancement of 3D printing technology in terms of 3D printing part repairing activity and the secondary process such as the joining of 3D printing parts. In this paper, the fundamental concept of friction stir welding and powder bed fusion 3D printing is discussed. At the end of the review, the summary of friction stir welding process on Aluminium 3D printing materials concluded that the joining process is feasible to weld the materials with joint efficiency 83.3% and modify the base material characteristic of the 3D printing materials.