Joint strength of friction stir welded AISI 304 austenitic stainless steels

In this study, AISI 304 (X5CrNi18-10) austenitic stainless steels were joined by means of friction stir welding. The welded joint strength of stainless steels was influenced by many factors, such as different tool rotational speeds, traverse speeds, compressive tool forces, and tool angles, etc. There is a strong interrelation among the friction stir welding design parameters. The effects of design parameters on the welded joint were analyzed using a genetic algorithm. Appropriate design parameter configurations led to fine-grained microstructures that resulted in higher tensile strength joints compared to the base material. The best design configuration that led to 1.16 times higher strength than the base material was achieved with 47.5 mm min(-1) traverse speed, a rotational speed of 1 180 min-1, compressive tool force of 7 kN and tool tilt angle of 2.0 degrees