12.3 – Friction Stir Welding of T-joints Fabricated with Three Parts

Compared with conventional welding processes, friction stir welding (FSW) requires different structural designs to produce T-joints. The friction stir welded T-joint is a type of welding connection with important or even critical applications. Among those being considered by industry or already in industrial practice, the reinforcement of skins using stiffeners for aircraft fuselages, or the body of railroad passenger cars can be mentioned as examples. New geometries to produce this type of joint are presented. For one of these solutions a metallurgical and mechanical characterization was performed using stress/strain and bending tests comparing the behaviour of base material and FSW butt joints. Numerical simulations of the bending tests of T-joints using the non-linear finite element code ABAQUS were performed and their results compared successfully with experimental data.