A semi-empirical model for peak temperature estimation in friction stir welding of aluminium alloys

Process parameters and base material thermal properties strongly affect peak temperature evolution in friction stir welding (FSW). This work develops a semi-empirical model for peak temperature estimation during FSW of aluminium alloys. Several bead-on-plate runs were conducted on AA5083-H111, AA6082-T6 and AA7075-T6. Different rotational and welding speeds were tested while measuring the temperature with a thermocouple embedded in the tool. A polynomial model was proposed with the model's coefficients strongly correlating to the material thermal properties. Additionally, a threshold peak temperature was defined to avoid cold defects by combining temperature measurements with joint quality information obtained from X-ray scans. The efficiency of the model and the defined threshold are proven by applying them to the literature.