Characterisation of Tool Geometries for Friction Stir
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CHARACTERISATION OF TOOL GEOMETRIES FOR FRICTION STIR LAP WELDS OF ALUMINIUM AND COPPER TITLE PAGE By EWUOLA, OLUWATOYIN OLABISI A dissertation submitted to the FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTERS OF PHILOSOPHY In MECHANICAL ENGINEERING At the UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG SUPERVISOR: PROF E. T. AKINLABI CO-SUPERVISOR: MR D. M. MADYIRA NOVEMBER 2015 DECLARATION I understand what plagiarism means. Where I have used the works of others, I have adequately referenced. I have not submitted this work for academic credit at any other institution. This research work is fully mine. _______________________ EWUOLA Oluwatoyin Olabisi 201338860 _______________________ _______________________ Prof AKINLABI Esther T. Mr MADYIRA Daniel M. Supervisor Co-supervisor ii | P a g e ABSTRACT The patenting of the Friction Stir Welding (FSW) process in 1991 opened up a process that was known within a relatively small circle of researchers to the entire research community. As a ground-breaking process in the field of joining, FSW offered a chance for the types of joining that had been fraught with lots of difficulties using the prevalent traditional means of joining. Dissimilar metal joining had been plagued with more challenges compared to similar metal joining due to issues related to differences in thermal expansion and conductivity, wettability, melting properties, microstructural properties and other material properties. Fusion welding of some dissimilar materials such as Aluminium and titanium; Aluminium and Steel had been nearly impossible; the few welds that were successful resulted in defects (like wormhole, lack of penetration, porosity, cracks) and welding imperfections. Hence, the advent of FSW, a solid state welding technique, provided a way out of the many difficulties that arise in the joining of dissimilar metals. Aluminium and copper are also two of such dissimilar metals whose material properties make them useful for a wide range of applications. However, due to the wide differences in their material properties, both metals had been difficult to join using the fusion welding technology. Recently, lots of successes have been achieved in the joining of both dissimilar metals using FSW and a lot of these are recorded in the open literature. Nonetheless, most of the successes recorded in the FSW of aluminium and copper have been in the butt weld configuration. Literatures abound on the FSW of aluminium and copper in butt configuration, while there are iii | P a g e limited literatures in the open space on the FSW of both dissimilar metals in lap configuration. This suggests that the joining of both dissimilar metals in the lap configuration has either not been sufficiently researched or is faced with lots of difficulties and little successes. As a result, it is necessary to produce successful welds of both dissimilar aluminium and copper in the lap configuration and study the effects of the welding parameters on the quality of the produced welds. This research study presents the results of the FSW of aluminium and copper using the lap configuration and the characterisation of the produced welds. Welding was conducted by varying the input processing parameters in order to evaluate the relationship between the input processing parameters and the qualities of the welds produced. Welding was initially proposed to be done by three different tools (triflute, conical and concave). However, results from preliminary welds limited the final weld matrix to 15 welds produced by varying the rotational speed between 600 and 1200 rpm, traverse speed between 50 and 250 mm/min, plunge depth between 4.5 and 4.8 mm and only two tool profiles (conical and concave) were employed. The produced welds were characterized using microstructural and mechanical properties determination, electrical resistivity measurements and residual stress analysis. The relationships between the input welding parameters and the results of the characterisations were established where trends were observed based on the results from other studies. iv | P a g e Visual inspection of the surfaces of the produced welds revealed welds with good physical appearances and no surface defects observed in most of the produced welds. Weld defects were however observed in all the produced welds with voids being the most notable defect observed. The sizes of the voids were compared to the input processing parameters and it was observed that the sizes of the voids decreased with an increase in the plunge depth. Microstructural evaluation revealed an increase in the grain sizes with an increase in the distance from the weld center. All the four (4) microstructural zones (Heat Affected Zone, Thermomechanically Affected Zone, Stir Zone and unaffected Base Metal) were observed in all the produced welds. Grain deformation was observed in the grains of the copper even though they still maintained the equiaxed grain structure. However, only slight modification was observed in the grains of the aluminium. Tensile lap shear tests showed a dependence on the plunge depth and the traverse speed. Microhardness profiling revealed that the hardness values of the welds were similar to the hardness values of both parent materials suggesting that there were no intermetallic compounds in the produced welds (or present in very little concentrations). This was confirmed by both the XRD and the EDS analysis on the SEM. The electrical resistivity results were observed at the joint interface and found to increase with an increase in the heat input. Compressive stresses were observed for both the traverse and the longitudinal stresses. v | P a g e DEDICATION To God Almighty The creator of Heaven and Earth, my source, my inspiration, my father and my future To my Dad, Professor S. O. Ewuola Who always sees the best in me and desires me to actualize my potentials To the memory of my late mum, Mama Eunice Ibidunni Ewuola Who loves me more than any other woman could ever love me I love you all vi | P a g e ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Too numerous to mention, how does one appreciate those along the road of success? He alone deserves all the glory, honour and praise. He is the El-Shaddai, the Almighty God. I give you all the thanksgiving for the success of this phase and how you brought me this far Lord. They have helped me in one way or the other. I cannot even mention all of them since they are too many. I know I am a product of their influence no matter what. I therefore thank all who have assisted me along the way to get to this point. Whilst they are too numerous to mention, I will make a feeble attempt. Without the following, settling down in South Africa wouldn’t have been easy, conducting research would have been harder: Dr Mutiu, Dr Enoch, Tshepo Ntsoane, The entire MAMS Research Group, Postgraduate Association of UJ, The FEBE Tutor Center team of 2014, 2015 and 2016. Thank you all. Ms Tersia Davids, the Residence Assistant, Dr Bryan Doyle, for giving me the chance to be a super tutor and earn my living while here, Dr Zach Simpson, for trusting me to lead the bunch. For spiritual growth, Pastor Gee, Pastor Titi, Minister Kode, the Board of Ministers and the entire members of The Pacesetters Church, Johannesburg, The drama, follow-up and Technical teams of TPC, Pacesetters assembly of the Gospel Faith Mission International (Nigeria), Magodo assembly of the Gospel Faith Mission International (Nigeria), Pastor Oluwanimotele, Pastor Awodimila deserve mentioning. vii | P a g e Friends who encourage you along the way, Kiro, Flaky and the tall man beside her, Barrister Ologbonyo, Bro Femi Akinnubi, Seun Akande, Ope (who ensured I settled down nicely in a strange land), Victor, Otunba, Ife Adekoya, Yaya Barira, Bro Bukunmi (a brother indeed). Though we started out as friends, now we are family: Sis Bola, Queen, King, Angelina and the great man I only met after his departure, Bro Shina. For the calls and gifts even while in a strange land, Mum Komolafe, Mum Aina. For your support on every side, for your valuable insight and academic advise, for pushing our relationship beyond the barriers of academics, Prof Esther Akinlabi, I salute you. Uncle Stephen, Akin and Steph, thank you for being by my side. Oluwole (my brother from another mother) and his beautiful spouse Samira, you rock. My accomplishments are not without the influence of family. Victorola, Ifeoluwa, Senzyflash, Aristotle, Delegation, Rose baby, Nicebaby, Kirk, Sola, Sefunmi, mum AB, Gift, I’m glad we’re in that boat called family. Let’s do greater things together. Mum Goodness, I love you. Never stopped to encouraged me, never stopped believing in me, never stopped praying for me, never stopped checking my welfare, Dad, thank you. I am grateful. I pray I surpass your lofty expectations. My number one fan, number one critic, number one comfort, number one support, Iyawo mi, oto l’aye e. I pray we all continue to do better on every side.