The use of extruded profiles as filling material in Friction Stir Welding (FSW)

In this paper, an innovative approach is presented for joining two sheets with an extruded profile all made by AA6082-T6 aluminum alloy. The tested configuration is the T-joint and the innovation presented in this paper is the use of a specially design appendix of the extruded profile as filler material during the friction welding. In particular three configurations were analyzed: without appendix, with I appendix and with T appendix. In the experiments, several process parameters and PIN shapes were investigated in order to determine optimal processing conditions able to produce an effective sound weld. Specimens were extracted from the joint and tensile tests were performed along the sheet direction thus allowing a comparison of the welded sections respect to the base material. It was found that the appendixes of the extrude profile are able to effectively fill the distance between the sheets and, in particular with the T shape, a gap up to 1,7 mm on the retreating side was successfully welded.