CIRP Journal of Manufacturing Science and Technology 37 (2022) 267–277

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CIRP Journal of Manufacturing Science and Technology

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Evaluation of axial force, tool torque and weld quality of friction stir
welded dissimilar 6061/5083 aluminum alloys ]]
]]]]]]
]]

⁎
Hepeng Jia a, Kai Wu a, , Yu Sun a, Fengfeng Hu b, Gang Chen a
a
School of Mechanical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China
b
Aerospace Engineering Equipment (Suzhou) Co., Ltd., Suzhou 215104, China

a r t i cl e i nfo a bstr ac t

Available online 17 February 2022 In this research, the welding parameters of the friction stir welding (FSW) of dissimilar 6061/5083 alu­
minum alloys were optimized, and the significance of each welding parameter was determined. The effect
Keywords: of welding parameters on weld quality was obtained by testing the mechanical properties of welded joints.
FSW The influences of welding parameters on material mixing were studied through metallography and mi­
Mechanical properties
crohardness. The data acquisition system of axial force and tool torque was designed, and the relationships
Parameters
between the data and welding parameters were analyzed. The results showed that the materials were not
Axial force
Tool torque sufficiently mixed and thus void type defects were formed at higher traverse speeds. The optimum welding
parameters, namely rotational speed, traverse speed, and plunge depth were 2400 rpm, 1200 mm/min, and
0.25 mm, respectively.
© 2022 CIRP.

Introduction
FSW is a solid-state joining process, which avoids the weld de­
fects such as porosity formed in fusion joining techniques [1] and
has therefore been widely used in welding of aluminum alloys [2–6]
and Cu alloys [7,8]. This welding process also offers potential to join
higher melting temperature materials such as steels [1,9–11]. Com­
pared with traditional fusion welding, the FSW process has many
advantages. The heat-treatable 6061 aluminum alloy has good
formability and high structural strength, and the non-heat-treatable
5083 aluminum alloy (strain hardened) has high corrosion re­
sistance and excellent mechanical properties [12–14]. The welding of
dissimilar 6061/5083 aluminum alloys is usually used for aircraft
and ships structural components. However, FSW of dissimilar alu­
minum alloys still has limitations in welding. Jannet et al. [15]
compared the effects of fusion welding technology and FSW on the
welded joints of dissimilar 6061/5083 aluminum alloys. They found
that the mechanical properties and metallurgical properties of FSW
joints are preferable to conventional fusion welding technology.
Nonetheless, the material mixing of dissimilar aluminum alloys is
the main problem faced in the welding process of FSW. Because the
positional location of dissimilar aluminum alloys can change the
material flow behavior, the positional location has a significant
⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: wukai@njust.edu.cn (K. Wu).
impact on the weld quality of the welded joint [16]. Therefore, Ahn
et al. [17] reported the influence of different combinations of 6061/
5083 aluminum alloys on the material mixing and mechanical
properties.
Many researchers have conducted many studies to explore the
effect of welding parameters on the weld quality of dissimilar 6061/
5083 aluminum alloys. Rajaseelan and Kumarasamy [18] found that
the mechanical properties of dissimilar 6061/5083 aluminum alloys
welded joints were related to the microstructure. Aval et al. [19]
evaluated the influence of welding parameters on joints through
mechanical testing, microstructure, and residual stress measure­
ment. Kumar et al. [20,21] not only evaluated the influence of tra­
verse speed and rotational speed on mechanical properties and
material flow. Moreover, they also studied the result of the external
cooling environment on mechanical properties. Ilangovan et al. [22]
compared the effects of three different pin profiles on microhardness
(MH) and mechanical properties. They found that the threaded pin
profile tool can make dissimilar aluminum alloys flow better and
produce defect-free welded joints. Mohamed et al. [23] studied the
ultimate tensile strength (UTS), Elongation (%), and hardness values
of dissimilar 6061/5083 aluminum alloys under different welding
parameters. Tayebi et al. [24] explored the effects of the welding
parameters on mechanical properties, microstructure, and fracture
mode through numerical simulation and experimental methods.
Verma and Kumar [25] established a mathematical model between
welding parameters and mechanical properties and obtained the
optimum welding parameters with minimum cost. The optimized

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cirpj.2022.02.003
1755-5817/© 2022 CIRP.
H. Jia, K. Wu, Y. Sun et al. CIRP Journal of Manufacturing Science and Technology 37 (2022) 267–277

results were 135.83 MPa for UTS and 4.35% for Elongation. Ghaffar­ Table 1
pour et al. [26–28] analyzed the effects of welding parameters on Chemical composition (wt%) of the materials.
UTS and Elongation using experimental design method and response Materials Si Fe Cu Mn Mg Cr Zn Ti Al
surface methodology. The predicted value was consistent with the 5083-H111 0.4 0.4 0.1 0.6 4.2 0.05 0.25 0.15 Bal.
measured value, and the optimized parameters of the welded joint 6061-T6 0.8 0.7 0.4 0.15 1.2 0.35 0.25 0.15 Bal.
with UTS of 221 MPa and Elongation of 6.1% were obtained. Hilmy
et al. [29] determined the best control factors to obtain a better joint
of UTS and MH for dissimilar 6061/5083 aluminum alloys. Devaiah
Table 2
et al. [30] evaluated the effects of welding parameter combinations Properties of the materials.
on the yield strength (YS) and Elongation of welded joints in line
Materials YS/MPa UTS/MPa Elongation/% MH/HV
with the orthogonal matrix and determined the significance of tilt
angle, rotational speed, and traverse speed through analysis of var­ 5083-H111 125 275 13 85
6061-T6 240 290 7 105
iance. Ramesh et al. [31] designed an orthogonal matrix experiment
to obtain the influence of welding parameters on welding strength.
Moreover, Gupta et al. [32] proposed methods of grey relational
analysis and principal component analysis. They performed multi-
objective optimization on the welding parameters of dissimilar also determine the value of tool torque and force [36]. In compar­
6063/5083 aluminum alloys to obtain the optimal welding para­ ison, this work uses motor signals and force sensors to obtain the
meters. Therefore, the welding of dissimilar aluminum alloys is data in the welding process. Fig. 2 shows the data acquisition system
complicated, and welding parameters are crucial to the weld quality. of axial force and tool torque. The electrical signal generated by the
This article primarily studied the influence of welding parameters servo motor on the main shaft is transmitted to the inverter, and
on mechanical properties, metallography, and microhardness. YS, UTS, then the data from the inverter is sent to the Panel PC through the
Elongation, and MH were measured to evaluate the mechanical prop­ control system. The data acquisition board receives the signal from
erties, and the microstructure of the welded joint was analyzed to the axial force sensor through the filter, and the automatically ac­
determine the influence of welding parameters on welding defects. The quired data is sent to the PC. The Panel PC and PC program can
data acquisition system for tool torque and axial force was designed to display and store the data, and then the data can be sorted and
observe the trend of torque and force. The influence of welding para­ analyzed.
meters on tool torque and axial force was evaluated. This work has studied and analyzed the influence of welding
parameters on weld quality using the Taguchi method. Welding
parameters include rotational speeds of 2000, 2400, and 2800 rpm,
Materials and methods traverse speeds of 1200, 1500, and 1800 mm/min, and plunge depths
of 0.20, 0.25, and 0.30 mm. A total of nine parameter combinations
The FSW equipment digital platform was used for welding, as shown were developed by selecting an orthogonal array. The parameters
in Fig. 1. The experimental materials are 6061-T6 aluminum alloy and and ranges are shown in Table 3.
5083-H111 aluminum alloy, with sizes of 400 mm × 150 mm× 3 mm. Three tensile samples and one metallographic sample were taken
Butt welding was performed along the direction perpendicular to the from each group of welding plates by electro-discharge machining.
rolling direction. 6061-T6 aluminum alloy is on the advancing side (AS), The mechanical performance test was carried out on the universal
and 5083-H111 aluminum alloy is on the retreating side (RS). A welding testing machine, and the error of YS, UTS, and Elongation was re­
tool with a right-hand thread on the pin surface and three involute duced by calculating the average value. The samples were prepared
grooves on the shoulder is used for experiments. The tool was welded at by conventional metallographic techniques and etched with Keller's
a tilt angle of 2.5°, with a pin length of 2.65 mm, a pin bottom diameter etchant to reveal the metallography features. The structural char­
of 3 mm and a shoulder diameter of 14.0 mm. Table 1 provides the acteristics of the joints were observed under the optical microscope.
composition of materials, and Table 2 provides the properties of the The MH was determined using a Vickers hardness tester. The MH
materials. Properties include YS, UTS, Elongation, and MH. data was obtained under an experimental load of 0.2 kg.
The torque and axial force can be measured by a rotating dy­ The Taguchi method can be used to determine the number of
namometer placed on the spindle [33–35]. Induction motors can trials and optimal welding parameters in FSW. Use this method to
conduct an FSW experiment under reasonable welding parameter
conditions to analyze the comprehensive effect of various para­
meters on the weld quality. The signal-to-noise (S/N) can reflect the
fluctuation of the quality index. In this research, the "higher is
better" among the three S/N analysis forms is selected as the ob­
jective function, and the equation is as follows:

S 1 n 1
= 10log10
N n i =1 yi2 (1)

where n is the total number, and yi is the experimental value.

Results and discussion

The welding plate photographs of the dissimilar 6061-T6/5083-

H111 aluminum alloys are shown in Fig. 3. The welding length of
each experiment is 365 mm. All welding experiments have achieved
a well-shaped weld surface with no or negligible flash. The weld
Fig. 1. Digital platform for FSW equipment. surface meets the weld quality requirements.

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Fig. 2. Data acquisition system of the welding process.

Table 3 tensile strength values of the joints with a thickness of 1.5 mm,
Welding parameters and ranges. 5 mm and 6 mm were 218.17 MPa [26,27], between 162.37 MPa [29]
Welding parameters Unit Level and 185.5 MPa [18], and between 169 MPa [22] and 197 MPa [20],
1 2 3
respectively. In contrast, the maximum UTS of the welded joint with
a thickness of 3 mm obtained in this work was 226.79 MPa, which is
Rotational speed (R) rpm 2000 2400 2800
higher than the results of other researchers. Moreover, the S/N
Traverse speed (T) mm/min 1200 1500 1800
Plunge depth (D) mm 0.20 0.25 0.30 ranges of YS, UTS, and Elongation are more pronounced. The S/N of
YS is in the range of 44.48–45.63, and the control experiments are
No.3 and No.8. The S/N of UTS is in the range of 45.79–47.11, and the
control experiments are No.3 and No.4. The S/N of Elongation is in
Mechanical properties the range of 9.97–11.89, and the control experiments are No.6 and
No.2. Therefore, the maximum and minimum S/N values of YS, UTS,
The welding parameters are assigned different levels of values in and Elongation correspond to different experiments. Finally, S/N can
the light of the L9 orthogonal array table. The final results of YS, UTS, be used to study the response of various welding parameters.
and Elongation of the experiment samples and the corresponding S/ The YS of the welded joint increased with increasing the rota­
N are recorded in Table 4. There have been some results for max­ tional speed, first increased and then decreased with increasing the
imum UTS values of welded joints of different thicknesses. The traverse speed, decreased with increasing the plunge depth, as

Fig. 3. Welded plate photographs of dissimilar 6061-T6/5083-H111 aluminum alloys.

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Table 4
Design matrix with experimental results.

No. Input parameters Output responses S/N ratio

R T D YS/MPa UTS/MPa Elongation/% YS UTS Elongation

1 2000 1200 0.20 171.91 212.25 3.82 44.71 46.54 11.64

2 2000 1500 0.25 176.98 218.79 3.93 44.96 46.80 11.89
3 2000 1800 0.30 167.59 194.72 3.38 44.48 45.79 10.58
4 2400 1200 0.25 172.58 226.79 3.41 44.74 47.11 11.66
5 2400 1500 0.30 180.17 216.43 3.73 45.11 46.71 11.43
6 2400 1800 0.20 190.91 213.50 3.15 45.62 46.59 9.97
7 2800 1200 0.30 180.38 211.44 3.28 45.12 46.50 10.32
8 2800 1500 0.20 191.15 212.52 3.35 45.63 46.55 10.50
9 2800 1800 0.25 183.25 202.87 3.22 45.26 46.14 10.16

shown in Fig. 4. The high rotational speed can promote the plasticity
of the stir zone of dissimilar 6061-T6/5083-H111 aluminum alloys.
Therefore, the high rotational speed can form a dense structure that
resists plastic deformation between two aluminum alloys. Re­
ciprocally, a more considerable plunge depth will reduce the effi­
cient join between two aluminum alloys. YS can be increased only at
a proper traverse speed. Hence, the optimized welding parameters of
rotational speed, traverse speed, and plunge depth were obtained
based on YS analysis, viz., 2800 rpm, 1500 mm/min, and 0.20 mm.
The UTS of the welded joint first increased and then decreased
with increasing the rotational speed and the plunge depth, de­
creased with increasing the traverse speed, as shown in Fig. 5. The
lower traverse speed will make the dissimilar 6061-T6/5083-H111
aluminum alloys flow more thoroughly, thus obtaining a better
connection effect between the materials. Nevertheless, higher or
lower rotational speeds are not conducive to forming dense struc­
tures between two aluminum alloys. Similarly, a larger or smaller
plunge depth cannot achieve a dense structure between two alu­
minum alloys. Hence, the optimized welding parameters of rota­
tional speed, traverse speed, and plunge depth were obtained based
on UTS analysis, viz., 2400 rpm, 1200 mm/min, and 0.25 mm.
The Elongation of the welded joint decreased with increasing the
rotational speed, first increased and then decreased with increasing
the traverse speed and the plunge depth, as shown in Fig. 6. The
rotational speed and traverse speed significantly impact the weld
quality of dissimilar 6061-T6/5083-H111 aluminum alloys. Welded
joints with high Elongation are challenging to obtain under the
welding parameters of high traverse speed and high rotational
speed. The plunge depth is less sensitive to Elongation. Nonetheless,
when the plunge depth is 0.25 mm, dissimilar aluminum alloys can
form welded joints with better mechanical properties. Hence, the
optimized welding parameters of rotational speed, traverse speed,
and plunge depth were obtained based on Elongation analysis, viz.,
2000 rpm, 1500 mm/min, and 0.25 mm.
Welding parameters have different effects on YS, UTS, and
Elongation. High-strength welded joints are required to be obtained
under appropriate welding parameters. The mechanical properties
of the joints were comprehensively studied, and the relationships
between the parameters and YS, UTS, and Elongation were com­
pared. Hence, high-strength welded joints are obtained at low tra­
verse speeds. Finally, the optimized welding parameters of rotational
speed, traverse speed, and plunge depth were 2400 rpm, 1200 mm/
min, and 0.25 mm.
Metallography
Fig. 7 shows the macroscopic metallography of FSW joints of
dissimilar 6061-T6/5083-H111 aluminum alloys under various
welding parameters (No.1~No.9). FSW joints are divided into the
nugget zone (NZ), heat-affected zone (HAZ), thermo-mechanical
affected zone (TMAZ), and base material (BM) according to the dif­
ference macroscopic morphology in cross-section. The samples of
No.6 and No.9 experiments have obvious void defects, and the No.9
experiment has more serious void defects. Void defects were caused
by insufficient material flow or excessive heat input [29]. A higher
rotational speed is easier to produce more heat, which generates
more thermal stress after welding. The higher traverse speed makes
the frictional heat insufficient, and the material flow is difficult to
obtain sufficient mixing. Because the material is challenging to get
the adequate flow and void defects are easily caused in AS at high
traverse speed and high rotational speed. The appearance of the
joints in No.1, No.2, and No.8 experiments had no defects because
the low heat produced by friction did not make the material stir well
[27]. No.3, No.4, No.5, and No.7 experiments have an apparent mu­
tual fusion of dissimilar materials. Increasing the rotational speed
can make the two materials more mixed because the higher rota­
tional speed enhances the material mixing [20]. Therefore, the
combination of welding parameters has an important influence on
material mixing. A good welded joint can be formed only under the
condition of proper welding parameters.
The partial area of NZ in No.3, No.4, No.5, and No.7 experiments
was enlarged, as shown in Fig. 8. The material interface of dissimilar
aluminum alloys is evident. The materials between 6061-T6 alu­
minum alloy and 5083-H111 aluminum alloy have good mutual

Fig. 4. Response of welding parameters on YS.

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Fig. 5. Response of welding parameters on UTS.
Fig. 6. Response of welding parameters on Elongation.
Fig. 7. The macroscopic metallography of joints under various welding parameters.
fusion. The traverse speed of the No.3 experiment was relatively
high, and only a tiny part of the materials in the NZ area was mixed,
but the materials in the other parts were poorly mixed. The NZ area
of No.4, No.5, and No.7 experiments had better material mixing.
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CIRP Journal of Manufacturing Science and Technology 37 (2022) 267–277
Furthermore, the material mixing of the No.5 experiment was not
sufficient, but the material mixing of the No.4 and No.7 experiment
was adequate. Therefore, the traverse speed has a significant impact
on the material mixing of dissimilar aluminum alloys. The results
show that the lower traverse speed is more conducive to the mixing
of dissimilar aluminum alloys.
In summary, the dissimilar 6061-T6/5083-H111 aluminum alloys
can better form a fusion structure with the welding parameters of
low traverse speed and high rotational speed.
Microhardness
To further study the MH of the cross-section of the FSW of the
dissimilar 6061-T6/5083-H111 aluminum alloys, the measurement
point distribution in Fig. 9 was used to determine the MH of each
group of experimental samples. There are 21 measuring points in
each row, and the distance between the measuring points is 1 mm.
The horizontal coordinate value of the middle point is 0, AS is the
negative direction, and RS is the positive direction. There are four
rows in total, the row spacing is 0.5 mm, and the first row is 0.6 mm
from the top edge.
The Vickers hardness is shown in Fig. 10. BM has the highest
hardness value, and the hardness of NZ, HAZ, and TMAZ shows a
fluctuating trend. The higher temperature will cause the material to
generate equiaxed grains with a minor size difference in the
stir zone.
The variation trend of the hardness of the four rows of the No.1
experiment is roughly the same, showing a "V" shape. The TMAZ on
the AS, the decreasing trend of hardness is synchronous. The varia­
tion trend of all experiments in the TMAZ on the AS is the same. In
contrast, the TMAZ on the RS, the increasing trend of hardness is not
synchronized. The material flow makes the dissimilar aluminum
alloys show a "slash" fusion, which can be seen from the cross-
section structure of the No.1 experiment. Thus, the positions where
MH increases in four rows are different.
In the TMAZ on the RS of No.2 experiment, the change of MH is
more complicated. Thus, the dissimilar aluminum alloy in this area
H. Jia, K. Wu, Y. Sun et al.
Fig. 8. A partial area of NZ in experiments No.3, No.4, No.5, and No.7.
Fig. 9. Vickers hardness measurement point in the cross-section of the joint.
has obtained a better material mixture. Furthermore, the variation
trend of No.2-Row 2 presents a "W" shape.
In the TMAZ on the RS of No.3 experiment, the change of MH is
not particularly complicated. The variation trend of No.3-Row 1
presents a "W" shape. Because Row 1 is the closest to the top edge.
Thus, the shoulder of the tool can significantly increase the fluidity
of the materials.
For the No.4 experiment, the change of MH is more complicated
in NZ and TMAZ on the RS. The variation trend of No.4-Row 1 shows
that the "W" shape is more prominent, while the variation trend of
No.4-Row 2 shows that the "W" shape is not apparent enough. Thus,
increasing the rotational speed is conducive to welded joints with
better mechanical properties.
For the No.5 experiment, in TMAZ on the RS, the MH changes
more regularly. In NZ, the MH of No.5-Row 1 is significantly larger
because more aluminum alloy 6061-T6 is in this area. Thus, in­
creasing the plunge depth is conducive to material flow and will
increase the mixing material of dissimilar aluminum alloys.
For the No.6 experiment, the variation trend of No.6-Row 1 and
No.6-Row 2 presents an apparent "W" shape. The maximum value in
NZ appears in AS. The variation trend of No.6-Row 3 and No.6-Row 4
is still a conspicuous "V" shape. Thus, the high rotational speed is
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CIRP Journal of Manufacturing Science and Technology 37 (2022) 267–277
beneficial to the material mixing of dissimilar aluminum alloys.
Nevertheless, the welding parameters of the No.6 experiment are
not conducive to the formation of welded joints with better struc­
tural strength.
In the No.7 experiment, the variation trend of No.7-Row 1, No.7-
Row 2, and No.7-Row 3 showed a "W" shape. The maximum value in
NZ is biased toward RS. Thus, under low traverse speed and high
rotational speed, the material of AS is favorable to flow to RS. The
welding parameters of the No.7 experiment are conducive to the
formation of welded joints with better structural strength.
In the No.8 experiment, the variation trend of No.8-Row 1 and
No.8-Row 2 was more complicated. In NZ and TMAZ on the RS, MH
appears to increase first, then decrease, then increase, then decrease.
Thus, the material mixing of dissimilar aluminum alloys is inter­
secting. Nevertheless, the welding parameters of the No.8 experi­
ment did not form a sound welded joint.
In the No.9 experiment, the variation trend of 4 lines of MH
showed a "V" shape. There is no obvious material mixing in dis­
similar aluminum alloys, and void defects appear in both AS and RS,
which can be found from the results of the combined cross-section
structure. Thus, the welding parameters of the No.9 experiment
cannot form a sound welded joint.
H. Jia, K. Wu, Y. Sun et al. CIRP Journal of Manufacturing Science and Technology 37 (2022) 267–277

Fig. 10. Vickers hardness in the cross-section of all experiments.

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Fig. 11. The axial force under various welding parameters during the welding process.

Axial force Calculate the corresponding S/N by the average value. Table 5 shows
the average value and S/N value of the axial force for each experiment.
Table 5 The axial force in the No.3 experiment is the maximum value
The S/N ratio of axial force. (16.01 kN), and the S/N value is 24.09. The axial force in the No.1 ex­
No. Axial force/kN S/N ratio periment is the minimum value (13.89 kN), and the S/N value is 22.85.
1 13.89 22.85
The response of welding parameters on the axial force is shown
2 14.87 23.45 in Fig. 12. The axial force decreased with the rotational speed, and
3 16.01 24.09 the axial force increased with the traverse speed and plunge depth.
4 14.62 23.30 Generally, the relationship between axial force and rotational speed
5 15.60 23.86
was not significant [36]. The article found that rotational speed and
6 14.27 23.09
7 15.36 23.73 traverse speed influence the axial force is small, but plunge depth on
8 14.26 23.08 the axial force is significant. Therefore, controlling the contact area
9 14.65 23.32 between tool and material is crucial for the FSW of dissimilar 6061-
T6/5083-H111 aluminum alloys. That is, the plunge depth is an es­
sential factor affecting the weld quality. The results show that the
primary influencing factor of the axial force is plunge depth, while
The welding tool was slowly and evenly inserted the welded ma­ the secondary influencing factors of the axial force are rotational
terial at the welding starting point. After reaching the required plunge speed and traverse speed. The axial force was related to the heat
depth, continue to weld steadily at a given traverse speed. The welding generated by the welded material [37]. More heat will result in more
tool was lifted faster and accomplished welding at the welding ending plastic material [38]. Since the parameter value will cause various
point. The data of axial force during the welding process are shown in heat, the appropriate parameter combination is essential to the weld
Fig. 11. The axial force gradually increases with the contact area be­ quality. The axial force in the No.4 experiment is 14.62 kN, and the
tween tool and material during the preheating process of the starting force value is between the maximum and minimum values. The
point of the welding tool. Moreover, the variation trend of the axial improvement of the welding performance of the joint requires the
force in each experiment remains unchanged. In the smooth welding axial force to be within an appropriate range. Therefore, the axial
stage, since the welding parameter combination of each experiment is force of the welding process is crucial to the weld quality of dis­
different, the magnitude of the axial force is also different. At the similar aluminum alloys.
welding ending point, the minor trend of the axial force in each group
of experiments remains unchanged. Tool torque
The data of the smooth welding stage is selected for analysis to
study the relationship between welding parameters and axial force. The data of tool torque during the welding process are shown
in Fig. 13. The direction of the torque is opposite to the direction of

Fig. 12. Response of welding parameters on the axial force.

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H. Jia, K. Wu, Y. Sun et al.
Fig. 13. The tool torque under various welding parameters during the welding process.
the tool torque. The variation trend of the tool torque is to in­
Table 6
The S/N ratio of tool torque.
No. Tool torque/N•m
1 -12.41
2 -13.49
3 -14.52
4 -10.83
5 -11.70
6 -12.13
7 -10.03
8 -10.35
9 -11.02
crease first and then decrease during the down-pressure pre­
heating process of the welding tool. The heat generation mainly
comes from the deformation heat of the welded material and the
friction heat produced by the welding tool and the welded ma­
terial. The heat generated is not enough to make the material have
better fluidity at the welding starting point. The material has a
relatively large viscosity, which increases the adhesion of the
welding tool, so the tool torque gradually increases. The material
has better fluidity as the heat increases, but the adhesion of the
welding tool will decrease so that the tool torque will decrease.
The tool torque will reach a stable value as the tool moves forward
[39,40]. The tool torque of the welding tool did not change sig­
nificantly during the smooth welding stage. However, the values
Fig. 14. Response of welding parameters on tool torque.
CIRP Journal of Manufacturing Science and Technology 37 (2022) 267–277
of each group of experiments were still considerably different. At
the welding ending point, the welding tool was lifted at a more
considerable uniform velocity, and the tool torque was gradually
reduced to no-load torque.
The data of the smooth welding stage is selected to analyze the
S/N ratio influence of welding parameters on the tool torque. The corre­
21.88 sponding S/N is calculated from the average value of the tool torque
22.60 for each experiment. Table 6 shows the average value and S/N value
23.24
of the tool torque for each experiment. The tool torque in the No.3
20.69
21.36 experiment is the maximum value (14.52 N m), and the S/N value is
21.68 23.24. The tool torque in the No.7 experiment is the minimum value
20.03 (10.03 N m), and the S/N value is 20.03.
20.30 Controlling torque can make the welded material be connected
20.84
adequately during the welding process [41]. The response of
welding parameters on tool torque is shown in Fig. 14. The tool
torque decreased with increasing the rotational speed. The ma­
terials are more susceptible to plastic deformation through the
tool when the rotational speed is increased [42]. Conversely, the
tool torque increased with the traverse speed and the plunge
depth. The traverse speed and plunge depth have a minor influ­
ence on the tool torque, but the rotational speed strongly affects
the tool torque. Therefore, the rotational speed control is crucial
for the FSW of dissimilar 6061-T6/5083-H111 aluminum alloys.
The rotational speed can determine whether the equipment can
work more smoothly and ensure the weld quality. The results
show that the primary influencing factor of the tool torque is ro­
tational speed, while the secondary influencing factors of the tool
torque are traverse speed and plunge depth.
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H. Jia, K. Wu, Y. Sun et al.
Conclusion
This article investigated the influence of the FSW parameters of
the dissimilar 6061-T6/5083-H111 aluminum alloys on the weld
quality and the optimization of the welding parameters, and the
following conclusions were drawn:
1. The dissimilar 6061-T6/5083-H111 aluminum alloys were more
conducive to material mixing under the condition of low traverse
speed. Appropriate welding parameters can form welded joints
that meet weld quality requirements.
2. The variation trend of the microhardness of the cross-section was
shown as "W" and "V" shapes. Material mixing has a significant
influence on microhardness. Welded joints can achieve the best
overall performance under the welding parameters with good
material mixing.
3. Through the comprehensive analysis of the joint performance of
all experiments, the optimized welding parameters of rotational
speed, traverse speed, and plunge depth were obtained, viz.,
2400 rpm, 1200 mm/min, and 0.25 mm.
4. The primary influencing parameter of the axial force was the plunge
depth, while the secondary influencing parameter was the traverse
speed and rotational speed. The primary influencing parameter of
tool torque was the rotational speed, while the secondary influen­
cing parameter was the traverse speed and plunge depth.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing fi­
nancial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
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