Variants of friction stir welding for joining AA 6063 pipes

Friction stir welding is now established as one of the major welding processes applicable for several industrial applications. Researchers are striving for improving the quality of the welds by experimenting with improvised techniques and process parameters. Underwater friction stir welding and vibration assisted friction stir welding are the major advancements in the regard of friction stir welding. The articles comparing the new variants of friction stir welding are rare. I this article, a comparison among conventional friction stir welding, underwater friction stir welding, vibration assisted friction stir welding and underwater vibration assisted friction stir welding is conducted. The findings illustrated that tensile strength and hardness of underwater friction stir welding and underwater vibration assisted friction stir welding are higher than conventional friction stir welding and vibration assisted friction stir welding process. Frictional heating and sudden cooling have resulted in quality joints. The joint characteristic of underwater friction stir welding is better than vibration assisted friction stir welding.