University of Plymouth PEARL https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk 01 University of Plymouth Research Outputs University of Plymouth Research Outputs 2016-12 Semiautomatic friction stir welding of 38 mm OD 6082-T6 aluminium tubes Hattingh, DG http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/5455 10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2016.07.027 JOURNAL OF MATERIALS PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY All content in PEARL is protected by copyright law. Author manuscripts are made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the details provided on the item record or document. In the absence of an open licence (e.g. Creative Commons), permissions for further reuse of content should be sought from the publisher or author. Friction Stir Welding of 38 mm OD 6082-T6 Aluminium Tubes – Process Development and Microstructure D. G. Hattingh1 , L. G. von Welligh1 , D. Bernard1, L. Susmel2 , R. Tovo3, and M. N. James1, 4 1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth (South Africa) 2 Department of Civil & Structural Engineering, University of Sheffield, Sheffield (UK) 3 Department of Engineering, University of Ferrara, Ferrara (Italy) 4 School of Marine Science & Engineering, University of Plymouth, Plymouth (UK) e-mail:
[email protected];
[email protected] Keywords: Friction stir welding; 6082 aluminium alloy; small diameter tube; electron back-scatter diffraction; retracting pin tool Abstract This paper describes the development of a semi-automated friction stir welding (FSW) technique for joining 38 mm nominal outer diameter (OD) tubes of 6082-T6 aluminium alloy with 3.5 mm nominal wall thickness. Process development for this application of FSW required the integration of a rotational axis with the control system of the FSW machine as well as the development of a secondary human-machine interface (HMI) for this axis and also necessitated the design of a retracting tool pin in order to eliminate the exit hole of the pin.