Methodology
FSW is green technology due to its energy efficiency,
environment friendliness, and versatility. FSW overcomes
many of the problems associated with traditional joining
techniques. FSW produces welds of high quality in difficult-
to-weld materials such as aluminum and is a fast-becoming
process of choice for manufacturing lightweight transport
structures for boats, trains, and airplanes . FSW has been
widely used in the manufacturing of rocket-fuel tanks. These
tanks are made up of high-strength aerospace aluminum
alloys which are difficult to join by conventional welding
techniques. FSW offers significant cost gains by reducing
production times especially in case of difficult to join
materials. FSW process utilizes a non-consumable rotating
welding tool to generate frictional heat and plastic
deformation at the welding location. Due to low welding
temperature, mechanical distortion is practically eliminated,
with minimal Heat Affected Zone (HAZ), and an excellent
surface finish. The FSW process is effective on flat plated,
cylindrical components and even parts of irregular thickness .
The quality of the FSW joints largely depends on the process
parameters such as rotational speed, welding speed, and
different tool pin profiles, namely cylindrical (straight, taper,
and threaded) and square (straight and tapered). Several
studies concluded that joining of high strength aluminum
alloys and dissimilar metals using FSW has become an
economical alternative to the conventional fusion welding
process. However, microstructural characteristics and
mechanical behavior of joints depending on the FSW process
variables play a vital role in the successful application of the
FSW in Aerospace and Space applications. Recently, friction
stir processing (FSP) was developed for microstructural
modification of metallic materials . In FSW, a joint between
sheets or plates is produced in a ‘solid state’ using a
combination of rotation and translation motion to a
nonconsumable rotating tool along the line of a joint. Friction
stir welding process . The heating is accomplished by friction
between the tool and the workpiece and plastic deformation
of the workpiece. The localized heating softens the material
around the pin and a combination of tool rotation and
translation leads to movement of material from the front of
the pin to the back of the pin. Because of various geometrical
features of the tool, the material movement around the pin
can be quite complex. During the FSW process, the material
undergoes intense plastic deformation at elevated
temperature, resulting in the generation of fine and equiaxed
recrystallized grains. The fine microstructure in friction stir
welds produces good mechanical properties. Welding of
aluminum alloys using conventional arc welding is difficult
due to the formation of the oxide layers, especially at weld
nugget and shrinkages during the solidification process.
Researchers worked on many facets of joining similar and
dissimilar aluminum alloys using different joining techniques
and came up with their own recommendations [2-8].
Researchers observed marginal improvement in the
mechanical properties of the welded joint with conventional
welding techniques. On the other hand, observed minimum
distortions and lower residual stresses in weld nugget while
joining Al alloys with FSW . And, hence, FSW is widely
preferred for joining aluminum alloys being an economical
alternative to produce high-quality welds. However,
obtaining high strength welded joints without the
detrimental and visible effects still needs attention
considering the effect of hybrid FSW techniques, tool
material, and geometry, process parameters (tool rotation,
welding speed, and plunge depth), and post welding
treatments. This study presents state of the art on the
evaluation of FSW performances while joining similar and
dissimilar aluminum alloys to give proper attention to the
various researcher works. This study also presents attempts
made by the researchers on modeling and parametric
optimization of FSW with a view to finding scope for
application of advanced optimization techniques and
development of predictive models for mechanical properties
of welded joints. Initially, literature available on the different
welding techniques to join similar dissimilar aluminum alloys
is presented with their deliberations. A comprehensive
literature review on FSW and its variant processes; hybrid
FSW (Hybrid-FSW) is presented with a view to understand
the applicability of the process for difficult-to-join materials
and to have a joint with better mechanical properties.
Further, attempts made by various researchers to
comparatively evaluate welding performance with FSW and
hybridFSW are presented. Researchers works on FSW/hybrid-
FSW considering different tool materials and geometries are
also presented as a selection of tool geometry and tool
material are very crucial and play an important role in
obtaining quality joint with better mechanical properties
Further, researcher works that were attempted to
evaluate the welding performance are presented to
understand the effect of FSW process parameters and joining
technique (conventional or hybrid) on joint tensile strength,
fatigue strength, microhardness, microstructure, corrosion
resistance, and residual stresses. The joint efficiency and joint
strength play a key role, especially in aerospace and defense
applications. Most of the researchers observed enhancement
in the mechanical properties and behavior of microstructure
with post-weld treatments. With this view, literature
available on post-weld treatments, their procedure, and
important results are presented. Further, attempts made by
researchers to model and optimize performance measures
are presented with a view to having more understanding of
parametric effect during FSW of aluminum alloys. Finally,
important observations from various researcher work during
FSW of similar and dissimilar aluminum alloys are
summarized and concluded