Developing an Empirical Relationship to Predict Tensile Strength of Friction Stir Welded AA2219 Aluminum Alloy

AA2219 aluminum alloy (Al-Cu-Mn alloy) has gathered wide acceptance in the fabrication of lightweight structures requiring a high strength-to-weight ratio and good corrosion resistance. Friction stir welding (FSW) process is an emerging solid state joining process in which the material that is being welded does not melt and recast. This process uses a nonconsumable tool to generate frictional heat in the abutting surfaces. The welding parameters such as tool rotational speed, welding speed, axial force, etc., and tool pin profile play a major role in deciding the joint strength. An attempt has been made to develop an empirical relationship between FSW variables to predict tensile strength of the friction stir welded AA2219 aluminum alloy. To obtain the desired strength, it is essential to have a complete control over the relevant process parameters to maximize the tensile strength on which the quality of a weldment is based. Therefore, it is very important to select and control the welding process parameter for obtaining maximum strength. To achieve this various prediction methods such as response surface method (RSM), analysis of variance (ANOVA), Student’s t-test, coefficient of determination, etc., can be applied to define the desired output variables through developing mathematical models to specify the relationship between the output parameters and input variables. Four factors, five levels central composite design have been used to minimize number of experimental conditions. The developed mathematical relationship can be effectively used to predict the tensile strength of FSW joints of AA2219 aluminum alloy at 95% confidence level.