Study the Mechanical Properties and Numerical Evaluation of Friction Stir Processing (FSP) for 6061-T6 Aluminum Alloys

Abstract

Friction stir processing is a new method of changing the properties of a metal through intense, localized plastic deformation ,this process mixes the material without changing the phase (by melting or otherwise) and creates a micro structure with fine, equiaxedgrains, It is used to improve the micro structural properties of metals. In this paper , the enhancement of mechanical properties of friction stir welding specimens at variable rotation speeds (1100,1300 and 1500 rpm ) with constant feed speed(60 mm/min) for 6061-T6 aluminum alloy is studied by using the friction stir processing method at the same variable rotation speed and feed speed in order to transform a heterogeneous micro structure to a more homogeneous, refined micro structure. The best results of the weld gained at the parameter 60 mm/min weld speed and 1300 RPM rotation speed for the FSW and FSP where the efficiency reaches to 84.61% for FSW and 89.05% for FSP of the ultimate tensile strength of the parent metal .This research is developed a finite element simulation of friction stir processing (FSP) of 6061-T6 Aluminum alloy. Numerical simulations are developed for thermal conductivity, specific heat and density to know the relationship of these factors with peak temperature, The simulation model is tested with experimental results. The results of the simulation are in excellent comparison with the experimental results.

Keywords

• Aluminum Alloy (AA)
• friction stir welding (FSW)
• friction stir processing (FSP)
• rotating speed
• microstructure
• efficiency