Project Summary
Aircraft industries face an undiminished demand for materials with massive strength to weight ratio. Welding and joining are integral processes in any manufacturing indus-try. High energy-density laser welding and friction stir welding (solid state) (FSW) are estab-lished joining techniques for magnesium alloys as they tend to reduce typical effects such as under fill, sag, pores cracks etc., The research work aims to select aerospace grade Mg-Zn alloy (ZE41A) for carrying out friction stir welding thereby comprehending the correlation between the friction stir parameters and geometry of the tool with respect to the weld properties. The properties and results obtained from friction stir welding were compared with the properties of laser beam welding carried out previously on the same magnesium alloy of ZE41A. Two traverse and rotational speeds were considered as the governing criterion ultimately giving us four welds. Hardness tests were carried out on the specimens after welding and an interpretation was done on comparison to the laser beam welding results. Uniform hardness distribution was observed in friction stir welded samples and the samples are free from defects ultimately prescribing FSW as a promising welding technique for aerospace applications. This was published as a paper in Springer book volumes: Advances in Manufacturing Processes. It has been linked below.