Abstract
Preliminary work on a new research project frequently entails proof-of-concept tests and modeling. The current project is investigating friction stir processing to produce small macroscale aluminum solid cylinders. The tooling was designed to be used in a 2-HP Bridgeport Mill for initial proof of concept tests and then later used in a CNC mill. The work pieces for these first tests were A1100 annealed ½ in. (12.7 mm) diameter work pieces, the final diameters were ¼ in (6.35 mm), and 3/18 inches (9.53 mm). The nominal speeds of the mill were 850 and 1000 RPM and were limited by the power available and the age of the mill. The paper discusses tooling design, instrumentation, preliminary results, and analysis. Temperature was measured during the tests but force was not measured due to limits to the available instrumentation. The future directions of this project are discussed.
