Experimental studies on friction stir welding of aluminium alloy 5083 and prediction of temperature distribution using arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian-based finite element method

The present work focused on welding aluminium alloy 5083 using the friction stir welding process. Suitable welding process parameters were identified to fabricate a defect-free butt joint with a tool rotational speed of 1600 rpm, traverse speed of 20 mm/min and tilt angle of 3°. The microstructure at the nugget zone, thermo mechanically affected zone, heat-affected zone and base metal zone are examined. Mechanical properties of the weldment exhibited promising results with an average joint efficiency and hardness of 75.70% and 94.0 ± 5.0 vickers hardness, respectively. Fractography revealed ductile mode of failure in base and weld metal tensile samples. Furthermore, a 3D thermomechanical finite element model was utilized to simulate the friction stir welding process using the selected process parameters. Arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian-based model aided in predicting residual stress distributions and thermal history during the friction stir welding process.