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Friction stir welding (FSW) is a highly reliable joining process. However, there is still lack of optimized FSW parameters for different joint configurations. The present manuscript presents a set of optimization studies for different friction stir welding joint geometries of AA6082-T6 aluminium alloy: butt, lap and T joints. The optimization process was performed using Taguchi orthogonal arrays (OA) for designing experiments, analyses of the average effects (main effect plot) and variance (ANOVA). Welded joints were manufactured according to orthogonal arrays, selected using the Taguchi method, for each type of joint, and the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) was evaluated for statistical optimization. As a major asset for the current state of the art, this manuscript contribution is focused on the determination of the most relevant FSW parameters on UTS for a complete range of joints, as well as their interactions. In the particular case of lap and T joints, parameter optimization studies are lacking in the literature, and as such, this work aims at tackling the issue. The parameter combinations to achieve the best mechanical properties for each joint configuration were derived.

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Even though friction stir welding (FSW) has been shown to produce high performing butt joints, stress concentration at the weld edges in overlap FSW significantly reduces the performance of these joints. By combining FSW and adhesive bonding into a friction stir (FS) weld bonding, joint mechanical performance is greatly improved. Quasistatic and fatigue strength of the proposed FS weld‐bonding joints was assessed and benchmarked against overlap FSW and adhesive bonding. The characterization of the structural adhesive is also presented, including differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), as well as mechanical characterization with curing temperature. A small process parameter study was made to select proper FSW parameters for AA6082‐T6 overlap FSW and FS weld‐bonded joints. FS weld bonding achieved a significant increase in quasistatic and fatigue strength when compared with overlap FSW, with 79.9% of the fatigue strength of adhesive‐bonded joints at 106 cycles, whereas FSW had 41.6%.