Wear-Induced Changes in FSW Tool Pin Profile: Effect of Process Parameters
Abstract
Friction stir welding (FSW) of high melting point metallic (HMPM) materials has limited application due to tool wear and relatively short tool life. Tool wear changes the profile of the tool pin and adversely affects weld properties. A quantitative understanding of tool wear and tool pin profile is crucial to develop the process for joining of HMPM materials. Here we present a quantitative wear study of H13 steel tool pin profile for FSW of CuCrZr alloy. The tool pin profile is analyzed at multiple traverse distances for welding with various tool rotational and traverse speeds. The results indicate that measured wear depth is small near the pin root and significantly increases towards the tip. Near the pin tip, wear depth increases with increase in tool rotational speed. However, change in wear depth near the pin root is minimal. Wear depth also increases with decrease in tool traverse speeds. Tool pin wear from the bottom results in pin length reduction, which is greater for higher tool rotational speeds, and longer traverse distances. The pin profile changes due to wear and result in root defect for long traverse distance. This quantitative understanding of tool wear would be helpful to estimate tool wear, optimize process parameters, and tool pin shape during FSW of HMPM materials.
Pankaj Sahlot
Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Dr. Pankaj Sahlot is Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering Department at Pandit Deendayal Energy University Gandhinagar, India. In PhD, He worked on experimental and numerical study of tool wear during Friction stir welding (FSW) under the guidance of Dr. Amit Arora at IIT Gandhinagar, India. He also visited University of North Texas Denton, USA for six months as a visiting researcher during PhD. His research work related to experimental and numerical study of Friction Stir Welding processes has been published in various reputed journals and conferences. He received award for Academic Excellence from Prof. C. N. R. Rao during M.Tech at IIT Hyderabad, India.