Microstructural Characterization of FSW and FSSW Aluminum Alloy Plates

Friction Stir Welding (FSW) and Friction Stir Spot Welding (FSSW) are new
techniques of welding. Since the process of friction stir welding (FSW) differs from
friction stir spot welding (FSSW), the appearance and characteristics of the
microstructure would be probably different. Therefore, the differences need to be
characterized and documented. The main objective of the project is to characterize
the microstructure of friction stir spot welding (FSSW) aluminum alloy and friction
spot welding (FSW) aluminum alloy using Optical Microscopy (OM), Scanning
Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy
(FESEM). This work focused on the weldment area of the welded plates. Both FSW
and FSSW sampleswere prepared using the optimum parameters prior to undergoing
metallography process. Both thefriction stir welding (FSW) and friction stir spot
welding (FSSW) are found to produce microstructural variations across the weld,
due to the thermomechanical treatment involved in the process.Eventually, both
samples are undergone Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) to identify
elemental composition of both sample.