Experimental Study and Numerical Modeling of Friction Stir Spot Welding of Pure Copper Lap Joint

Friction stir spot welding (FSSW) is an appropriate process to join materials that are difficult to weld using fusion welding, such as copper. In this paper, an experimental study to weld lap joint of pure copper plates having a dimensions of 100 × 30 × 2 mm is performed, successful spot weld is obtained at tool rotational speed of 1200 rpm, feed rate of 20 mm/min for dwell time of 2 seconds. The tool used in the FSSW has a threaded pin of 5 mm diameter, length of 3.7 mm, and a scrolled shoulder of 11.52 mm diameter. Tensile test and microhardness were performed for the joint and it showed reasonable weld strength. In addition, a numerical model was developed, and the estimated temperatures as well as weld macrostructure matched very well with experimental results.