Friction Stir Welding of Dissimilar Metals — 34a — Elle Christensen, Todd R. Curtis, Dr. Bharat Jasthi

Friction Stir Welding (FSW) is a solid-state welding process that uses frictional heat and forging force to allow welding of similar and dissimilar materials that are hard or even impossible to be welded with arc-welding methods. Currently, the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) for the Army has an increasing interest for good lightweight to strength options for military vehicles in the arctic regions. Several methods have been attempted to improve the quality of welds during dissimilar friction stir welding of aluminum to steel, such as modifying parameters like tool penetration depth, rotational speed, welding speed, and dwell time. This project focuses on enhancing the bond along with reducing tool interaction with the harder material in aluminum to steel welds by introducing a new manufactured channel design that has been proposed to improve the tensile properties of the weld. This design may reduce tool wear and enhance mechanical interlocking at the weld interface. This study could potentially make aluminum to steel welds more applicable and manufacturable. Two joints were welded, cut, and prepared for comparative analysis of mechanical properties and metallurgical bonding and the results are being collected.

South Dakota School of Mines & Technology
Dr. Amlan Kar