Development of an optimal process for friction stir welding based on GA-RSM hybrid algorithm

Performance of Friction Stir Welding (FSW) as a solid-state process is approved in several engineering applications, especially aluminum industries. Identification of mechanical behavior of the associated welded zone is necessary due to these extensive applications of FSW. In this study, considering the effect of rotational and forward speed of welding tool on the mechanical properties of welded region, a hybrid optimization method based on combination of Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Response Surface Method (RSM) named here as GA-RSM is proposed to achieve maximum tensile and ultimate strength. The results of GA-RSM are validated by per-forming necessary experimental tests on two wide-used 2024 and 5050 aluminum alloys. The results show that GA-RSM could be an effective approach to achieve optimized process for FSW with minimum cost.