Experimental study on the role of tool geometry in determining the strength & soundness of wrought Az80a Mg alloy joints during FSW process

An investigation was conducted to find out the influencing role of the geometry of the FSW tool on the tensile strength, corrosion resistance, wear rate of the wrought AZ80A Mg alloy joints during the FSW process. FSW tools with two uniquely different geometries, namely stepped cylindrical shoulder tool and stepless cylindrical shoulder tool were employed at different combinations of speeds of rotation and traversing speed. Comprehensive observations & investigations were also carried out regarding the tensile strength, wear losses & corrosion resistance of the fabricated joints. The joints fabricated using stepped cylindrical shoulder tool exhibited appreciable tensile strength values at combinations of higher traversing feeds and low values of rotational speeds of the FSW tool. At the same time, the joints possessing fine sized refined grains in their nugget zone have been found to exhibit higher wear losses.