A New Quality Monitoring System for Friction Stir Welded Joints of Aluminium Pipes

Abstract

Friction stir welding (FSW) of pipes is tedious due to complex geometry, and hence, research articles related to it are rare. Pipes have face defects will exhibit lower strength joints produced by FSW method. A reduction of 50% in strength is resulted due to the presence of a notch on the before-welded surface of the pipe. This issue can only be tested by different destructive/non-destructive tests after process not during. These tests come with additional costs to verify that the joint is free of these defects’ results. This paper proposes a new approach for controlling face defects behaviour during FSW process, not after. This approach depends on monitoring the measured current of machines used for FSW process. The efficiency of the approach was proved using visual inspection, hardness and tensile test for FSW welded joints. The ampere (current) consumption varied significantly in each of FSW stages clearly distinguishing the tool penetration, dwell time, traverse tool movement and tool pull out. The experimentation was successful in laying the foundation for the ampere consumption signifying the importance of weld quality.