Friction Stir Welding of Ti-6Al-4V was developed for 5mm thickness sheet. Various process parameters were used to produce the welds in order to establish empirical relationships between the welding conditions, defect formation and the resulting superplastic behavior of the joints. It was found that the weld parameters can be used to influence and control the degree of superplastic in the joints, but improper combinations of travel speed and spindle speed can lead to defect formation. The superplastic forming results of the welds were also compared to analytic and numeric process models in an attempt to establish predictable trends in the superplastic behavior of a friction stir weld based on the processing conditions used.
<< back