Development of processing windows for friction stir spot welding of aluminium Al5052 /copper C27200 dissimilar materials

Friction stir spot welding technique was used to join dissimilar combinations of aluminium alloy (Al5052) with copper alloy (C27200) and friction stir spot welding windows such as tool rotational speed–dwell time and tool rotational speed–plunge depth diagrams for effective joining of these materials were developed. Using a central composite design model, empirical relations were developed to predict the changes in tensile shear failure load values and interface hardness of the joints with three process parameters such as tool rotational speed, plunge depth and dwell time. The adequacy of the developed model was verified using ANOVA analysis at 95% confidence level. Response surface methodology was used to optimize the developed model to maximize tensile strength and minimize interface hardness. A high tensile shear failure load value of 3850 N and low interface hardness value of HV 81 was observed for joints made under optimum conditions, and validation experiments confirmed the high predictability of the developed model with error less than 2%. The operating windows developed shall act as reference maps for future design engineers in choosing appropriate friction stir spot welding process parameter values to obtain good joints.