FRICTION STIR WELDING BETWEEN SHEETS AND EXTRUDED PROFILES.

Some industrial application of the FSW process, especially in the naval and aeronautical fields, require the joining of more than two elements, for instance when two sheets have to be linked to a third body in order to realize a structural component. In this paper a study on the PIN shape and process parameters for joining thin aluminium sheets to an “I” shaped extruded profile is presented and discussed. A T-joint type configuration was obtained by welding two AA6082 alloy sheets and an extruded profile. Several PIN shapes were used in order to evaluate the process feasibility and their effect on metal flow and on defects appearance. Tensile tests and macroscopic optical analysis were carried out in order to characterize the joints and to relate the PIN shape and the process parameters to mechanical proprieties.