Joint quality enhancement of AA6061-T6 friction stir weldment by reinforcing with pulverized glass waste using different reinforcement strategies

Abstract The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of different reinforcement strategies on the mechanical properties of pulverized glass waste (PGW) reinforced AA6061-T6 friction stir welded joint. Friction stir welding of PGW reinforced AA6061-T6 was carried out at an optimized processing parameters by using different reinforcement strategies including centre groove, parallel holes, centre holes, zig-zag holes and side holes arrangements. Thereafter, the microstructure and mechanical properties of weldments produced using each strategy were investigated. The results showed that all the reinforcement strategies utilized in this work produced harder joints than the unreinforced joint. The parallel holes (PH) strategy followed by the centre holes (CH) exhibited the highest hardness of 72 HRC B and 66 HRC B respectively. Only the joints produced using PH, CH and SH strategies exhibited higher or improved impact energy than the unreinforced. Though the joints produced using PH and CH reinforcement strategies have tensile properties that are close to that of the unreinforced joints, the unreinforced joints show higher tensile properties than the entire reinforced joints. Compared with other reinforcement strategies, better particle distribution was achieved through the use of PH and CH reinforcement strategies. Parallel holes and centre holes arrangements have been established as the most appropriate reinforcement strategies for producing high quality aluminium alloy composite welded joints.