Increasing the fatigue life of dissimilar friction stir spot welded Al/Cu joints by optimization of technological parameters

Friction stir spot welding is a new technique used in industries for spot joining dissimilar combinations. In this investigation, dissimilar combinations of Al5052 aluminium and C10100 copper are joined by using this technique with variations of important process parameters, such as the tool rotational speed, dwell duration, and plunging depth. A central composite design model is developed for establishing empirical relationships between the process parameters and the fatigue life of the joints (number of cycles to fracture). The analysis of variance is used for determining the significance of the developed model. The response surface methodology is used for maximizing the fatigue strength. By confirmation experiments, the model is validated, and the error is found to be within four percent.