The Temperature and Hardness Distribution of the Friction Stir Welded AA6063 Pipe Butt Joint

Abstract

Friction stir welding of pipe was carried out on a modified CNC Bridgeport 2216 milling machine. An auxillary orbital clamping unit was utilized with this unit in order to enable this milling machine to friction stir weld in a butt joint configuration. Several good samples were produced using several selected welding parameter combinations. In the experiment, the frictional heat generated was measured and the hardness profile was then analyzed. In this work, the aluminum alloy 6063 pipe with 89mm outer diameter with 5mm wall thickness was used.