Introduction Welding is a metal joining process in which similar or dissimilar metals or alloys are joined with or without the

application of pressure,with or without the application of filler materials. Friction Stir Welding (FSW) is a solid state joining process that involves joining of metals without fusion or filler materials. The frictional heat is produced from a rapidly rotating nonconsumable high strength tool pin that extends from a cylindrical shoulder. The process is particularly applicable for aluminium alloys but can be extended to other products also. Friction stir welding (FSW) was invented at The Welding Institute (TWI) of UK in 1991 as a solid-state joining technique, and it was initially applied to aluminium alloys. The difficulty of making high-strength, fatigue and fracture resistant welds in aerospace aluminium alloys, such as highly alloyed 2XXX and 7XXX series, has long inhibited the wide use of welding for joining aerospace structures. These aluminum alloys are generally classied as non-weldable because of the poor solidication microstructure and porosity in the fusion zone. Also, the loss in mechanical properties as compared to the base material is very signicant. These factors make the joining of these alloys by conventional welding processes unattractive. Some aluminum alloys can be resistance welded,but the surface preparation is expensive, with surface oxide being a major problem so a relatively new technique was developed which was named as friction stir welding. The basic concept of FSW is that a non consumable rotating tool with a specially designed pin and shoulder is inserted into the abutting edges of sheets or plates to be joined and traversed along the line of joint .The tool serves two primary functions which are heating of work piece and movement of material to produce the joint.the heating is accomplished by friction between the tool and the work piece and plastic deformation of work piece.the localised heating softens the material around the pin and a combination of tool rotation and translation leads to movement of material from the front of the pin to the back of the pin. As a result of this process a joint is produced in solid state. Because of various geometrical features of the tool, the material movement around the pin can be quite complex . During FSW process, the material undergoes intense plastic deformation at elevatedtemperature, resulting in generation of fine and equiaxed recrystallized grains. The fine microstructure in friction stir welds produces good mechanical properties,.. FSW is considered to be the most significant development in metal joining in a decade due to its energy efficiency, environment friendliness, and versatility. As compared to the conventional welding methods, FSW consumes considerably less energy. No cover gas or flux is used, thereby making the process environmentally friendly. The joining does not involve any use of filler metal and therefore any aluminum alloy can be joined without concern for the compatibility of composition, which is an issue in fusion welding. friction stir welding can be applied to various types of

joints like butt joints, lap joints, T butt joints, and fillet joints. Recently friction stir processing (FSP) was developed by Mishra as a generic tool for microstructural modification based on the basic principles of FSW. In this case, a rotating tool is inserted in a monolithic workpiece for localized microstructural modification for specific property enhancement Working principle In friction stir welding (FSW) a cylindrical, shouldered tool with a profiled probe is rotated and slowly plunged into the joint line between two pieces butted together.The parts have to be clamped onto a backing bar in a manner that prevents the abutting joint faces from being forced apart. Frictional heat is generated between the wear resistant welding tool and the material of the work pieces. This heat causes the latter to soften without reaching the melting point and allows traversing of the tool along the weld line. The maximum temperature reached is of the order of 0.8 of the melting temperature of the material. The plasticized material is transferred from the leading edge of the tool to the trailing edge of the tool probe and is forged by the intimate contact of the tool shoulder and the pin profile. It leaves a solid phase bond between the two pieces. The process can be regarded as a solid phase keyhole weldingtechnique since a hole to accommodate the probe is generated.and then filled during the welding sequence. The non-consumable tool has a circular section except at the end where there is a threaded probe or more complicated flute; the junction between the cylindrical portion and the probe is known as the shoulder. The probe penetrates the work piece whereas the shoulder rubs with the top surface. The tool has an end tap of 5 in 6 mm diameter and a height of 5 to 6 mm (may vary with the metal thickness). The tool is set in a positive angle of some degree in the welding direction. The design of the pin and shoulder assembly plays a major role on how the material moves during the process. Different types of tools used Tool mounted on the machine