Parametric Optimisation of Friction-Stir-Spot-Welded Al 6061-T6 Incorporated with Silicon Carbide Using a Hybrid WASPAS–Taguchi Technique
Neeru Chaudhary, Sarbjit Singh, Mohinder Pal Garg, Harish Kumar Garg, Shubham Sharma, Changhe Li, Sayed M. Eldin, Samah Elsayed Elkhatib
Abstract
Friction stir spot welding (FSSW) is one of the most popular fusion joining processes. The process is a solid-state welding process that allows welding of weldable as well as non-weldable materials. As a part of this investigation, weld samples of Al6061-T6 were reinforced with silicon carbide (SiC) powder with an average particle size of 45 µm. Initially, a Taguchi L9 orthogonal array was developed with three factors, i.e., rotational speed of the tool, pre-dwelling time, and diameter of the hole that was filled with SiC before welding. The effects of the SiC particles and process parameters were investigated as tensile-shear load and micro-hardness. The optimisation of parameters in order to maximise the output responses-i.e., strength and hardness of the welded joints-was performed using a hybrid WASPAS-Taguchi method. The optimised process parameters obtained were a 3.5 mm guiding hole diameter, 1700 rpm tool rotation speed, and 14 s of pre-dwelling time.