Properties of Friction Stir Welded 3003-H17 Aluminum Alloy at High Travel Speeds

Abstract

Abstract As a new-type technology of solid state welding, friction stir welding (FSW) has a very good prospect for application. However, the welding speed is low in the practical application, and most of the time the welding speed is less than 500 mm/min, which hinders the large-scale commercial application of FSW. In this paper, 3003-H17 aluminum alloy plates of 5 mm thickness were butt welded by high speed FSW with travel speed at 1500 and 3000 mm/min and a constant tool rotation speed. The results show that 3003-H17 aluminum alloy can be successfully butt welded by high travel speed. And the UTS of weld joint decreases when the travel speed increases from 1500 mm/min to 3000 mm/min at a constant tool rotation speed of 2000 rpm and shoulder plunge depth of 0.2 mm. The joint efficiency reaches 87% at travel speed of 1500 mm/min, tool rotation speed of 2000 rpm and shoulder plunge depth of 0.2 mm.