Corrosion Characterization of Friction Stir Weld Joints of Dissimilar Aluminum Alloys

Friction Stir Welding is a solid state welding process used in aero-space, automobile and machine tool industry. However, corrosion of the friction stir weld zones is still a major drawback that needs to be addressed immediate-ly; hence the current work focuses on the corrosion characterization of the fric-tion stir weld joints of dissimilar aluminium alloy. In the present research, fric-tion stir welding is carried out at different set of parametric conditions and the weld joints are characterized for weight loss corrosion in sodium chloride saline medium. The friction stir weld joints of dissimilar aluminium alloys are ob-tained using three sets of process parameters viz., tool profiles of straight cylin-der, taper cylinder, and straight triangular; tool rotational speed of 800 rpm, 1000 rpm, and 1200 rpm; tool feed rate of 100 mm/min, 120 mm/min, and 140 mm/min; tool offset of 0.5 mm, 0 mm, and -0.5 mm. The corrosion characterization is carried out for friction stir weld joint using immersion tests. The results give an overview of the variation in the corrosion with time, and the effect of process parameters on the corrosion behavior of weld joints.