Friction stir welding (FSW) of 1200-O aluminum alloy: Temperature distribution modeling and metallurgical characterization

In recent years, the Friction Stir Welding (FSW) process has emerged as an efficient technique for joining metals. This work evaluates a thermomechanical model developed to analyze FSW parameters on 3 mm thick 1200-O aluminum sheets, using tools with conical and cylindrical pins. The research was divided into two stages: virtual and experimental. The virtual model simulated the welding parameters and predicted the thermal and mechanical behavior of the joints. In the experimental stage, welding was carried out on an adapted conventional milling machine, with real-time thermal monitoring. Tensile, bending, microhardness and microstructural analysis tests revealed weld seams with good visual quality and tensile efficiencies of 64.82% for the conical pin and 66.06% for the cylindrical pin.