Aspects Regarding FSW and SFSW Welding of Copper Cu99

Copper is used in various industrial fields due to its characteristics and properties. The very high thermal conductivity of copper makes it difficult to weld it using conventional fusion welding processes. Friction stir welding FSW is a solid-state joining process of metallic materials, which can be used to perform copper welded joints. Using a liquid working environment in FSW welding (submerged friction stir welding SFSW) causes the decrease of the process temperature, which can be beneficial for copper. The paper presents aspects and results obtained by ISIM Timisoara regarding FSW and SFSW butt welding of copper Cu99 2.5 mm thick, using the same type of the welding tool. The obtained results will be useful for the start of the experimental researches of processing in air and in liquid environment FSP and SFSP of copper Cu99, which will be performed in the Nucleu PN 23 37 01 02 project underway at ISIM Timisoara.