Observation of the Behavior of Fatigue Cracks in Friction Stir Welded Aluminum Alloy Joints

2008 ◽  
Vol 385-387 ◽  
pp. 797-800 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keiji Katsuki ◽  
Markus Gutensohn ◽  
Masahiro Endo ◽  
Dietmar Eifler

Friction stir welding (FSW) is a new solid-state welding process that can produce low-cost and high-quality joints of especially aluminum and mgnesium alloys. The welding zone consists of different regions with characteristic microstructuralal details such as a weld nugget, a thermo-mechanically-affected zone (TMAZ) and a heat-affected zone (HAZ). Tension-compression fatigue tests were performed using FSW aluminum alloy AA5454 sheet specimens at a stress ratio of –1. To investigate the propagation behavior of small fatigue cracks in those regions, an artificial defect was introduced into different defined locations in the FSW specimens as well as into the parent material specimens. The crack propagation rates depended on the defined locations and were a function of the hardness; that is, the lower the hardness was, the higher the propagation rate was. The crack paths were mostly perpendicular to the applied stress axis, but some crack paths exhibited deviations by the influence of the local anisotropy of the microstructure.

2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 53-64
Author(s):  
Michael Regev ◽  
Stefano Spigarelli

The poor weldability of AA2024 aluminum alloy limits its use for industrial applications. Being a non-fusion welding process, Friction Stir Welding (FSW) seems to be a promising solution for welding this alloy. FSW was applied in the current study in order to butt weld AA2024-T3 aluminum alloy plates and to study the creep behavior of the weld. Creep tests were conducted at 250 0C and 315 0C both on the parent material and on the friction stir welded specimens. A comprehensive Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) study together with High Resolution Scanning Electron Microscopy (HRSEM) study and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) analysis were conducted in order to investigate the microstructural processes. The parent material seems to contain two kinds of Curich precipitates - coarse precipitates having the size of a few microns each and uniformly dispersed fine nanosized precipitates. However, this microstructure was found to be unstable at the temperature range of 250-315 0C, secondary precipitation was found to take place, this secondary precipitation is responsible for grain boundary decoration and the appearance of secondary rod-shaped precipitates and for some degree of coarsening of the nanosized precipitates inside the grains. TEM study yielded that the material undergoes dynamic recrystallization (DRX) during creep as well as during the FSW process. Various stages of the development of dislocation networks into a cellular dislocation structure and finally into dislocation free recrystallized grains were recorded. The friction stir welded material, which has already recrystallized during welding, undergoes DRX during creep so that ultra-fine grains are being created concurrently. Precipitation processes at the friction stir welded material occur as well during creep. The instability of the microstructure during creep and exposure to high temperature plays an important role in the analysis of the creep results. The influence of the above microstructure changes occurring during creep on the creep behavior will be referred and discussed.


Author(s):  
Lewis N. Payton ◽  
Vishnu Vardhan Chandrasekaran ◽  
Wesley S. Hunko

A dimensionless correlation is developed based on Buckingham’s Pi-Theorem to estimate the temperature fields generated by the movement of a tool during the Friction Stir Welding of an aluminum alloy (6061-T6). Symmetrical thermocouple measurements are taken during a statistically designed experiment using different factor levels (RPM, Traverse, etc). Analytical comparison (using multivariate ANOVA) validates the predicted dimensionless correlation including the often-reported difference between the advancing versus retreating side of the Friction Stir Tool.


2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 29-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Tashkandi ◽  
J. A. Al-Jarrah ◽  
M. Ibrahim

AbstractThe main aim of this investigation is to produce a welding joint of higher strength than that of base metals. Composite welded joints were produced by friction stir welding process. 6061 aluminum alloy was used as a base metal and alumina particles added to welding zone to form metal matrix composites. The volume fraction of alumina particles incorporated in this study were 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 vol% were added on both sides of welding line. Also, the alumina particles were pre-mixed with magnesium particles prior being added to the welding zone. Magnesium particles were used to enhance the bonding between the alumina particles and the matrix of 6061 aluminum alloy. Friction stir welded joints containing alumina particles were successfully obtained and it was observed that the strength of these joints was better than that of base metal. Experimental results showed that incorporating volume fraction of alumina particles up to 6 vol% into the welding zone led to higher strength of the composite welded joints as compared to plain welded joints.


2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-74
Author(s):  
Manigandan Krishnan ◽  
Senthilkumar Subramaniam

The force generation, joint mechanical and metallurgical properties of friction stir corner welded non-heat treatable AA 5086 aluminum alloy are investigated in this paper. The friction stir welding process is carried out with the plate thicknesses of 6 mm and 4 mm. The welding speed, tool rotational speed and tool plunge depth were considered as the process parameters to conduct the welding experiments. The machine spindle motor current consumption and tool down force generation during friction stir welding were analyzed. The microstructures of various joint regions were observed. The tensile samples revealed the tensile strength of 197 MPa with tool rotational and welding speeds of 1,000 rev/min and 150 mm/min respectively, which is 78 % of parent material tensile strength. A maximum micro hardness of 98 HV was observed at thermomechanically joint affected zone, which was welded with tool rotation of 1,000 rev/min and welding speed of 190 mm/min.


2016 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 118-122
Author(s):  
G. Gopala Krishna ◽  
P.Ram Reddy ◽  
M.Manzoor Hussain

In recent year’s aluminium and aluminium alloys are most widely used in many applications because of light weight, good formability and malleability, corrosion resistance, moderate strength and low cost. Friction Stir Welding (FSW) process is efficient and cost effective method for welding aluminium and aluminium alloys. FSW is a solid state welding process that means the material is not melted during the process. Complete welding process accomplishes below the melting point of materials so it overcomes many welding defects that usually happens with conventional fusion welding technique which were initially used for low melting materials. Though this process is initially developed for low melting materials but now process is widely used for a variety of other materials including titanium, steel and also for composites. The present butt jointed FSW experimental work has been done in two ways. Initially a comparison of tensile properties of friction stir (FS) welded similar aluminium alloy (AA6351 with AA6351) and dissimilar aluminium alloy (AA6351 with AA5083) combinations. Later the effect of impurities (copper and brass) in sheet form (0.1 mm thick) when used as insert in between two dissimilar aluminium alloy (AA6351 with AA5083) plates during FSW. Tensile tests were performed for these combinations and results were compared for with and without using strip material (copper and brass).


2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 72-83
Author(s):  
Kirill Kalashnikov ◽  
◽  
Andrey Chumaevskii ◽  
Tatiana Kalashnikova ◽  
Aleksey Ivanov ◽  
...  

Introduction. Among the technologies for manufacturing rocket and aircraft bodies, marine vessels, and vehicles, currently, more and more attention is paid to the technology of friction stir welding (FSW). First of all, the use of this technology is necessary where it is required to produce fixed joints of high-strength aluminum alloys. In this case, special attention should be paid to welding thick-walled blanks, as fixed joints with a thickness of 30.0 mm or more are the target products in the rocket-space and aviation industries. At the same time, it is most prone to the formation of defects due to uneven heat distribution throughout the height of the blank. It can lead to a violation of the adhesive interaction between the weld metal and the tool and can even lead to a destruction of the welding tool. The purpose of this work is to reveal regularities of welding tool destruction depending on parameters of friction stir welding process of aluminum alloy AA5056 fixed joints with a thickness of 35.0 mm. Following research methods were used in the work: the obtaining of fixed joints was carried out by friction welding with mixing, the production of samples for research was carried out by electric erosion cutting, the study of samples was carried out using optical metallography methods. Results and discussion. As a result of performed studies, it is revealed that samples of aluminum alloy with a thickness of 35.0 mm have a heterogeneous structure through the height of weld. There are the tool shoulder effect zone and the pin effect zone, in which certain whirling of weld material caused by the presence of grooves on tool surface is distinctly distinguished. It is shown that the zone of shoulders effect is the most exposed to the formation of tunnel-type defects because of low loading force and high welding speeds. It is revealed that tool destruction occurs tangentially to the surface of the tool grooves due to the high tool load and high welding speeds.


2020 ◽  
Vol 863 ◽  
pp. 85-95
Author(s):  
Truong Minh Nhat ◽  
Truong Quoc Thanh ◽  
Tu Vinh Thong ◽  
Tran Trong Quyet ◽  
Luu Phuong Minh

This study presents conducted heat simulations and experimental jointing flat-plate of aluminum alloy 6061 and SUS 304. Temperature is simulated by the COMSOL software in three states: (1) Preheat the Friction Stir Welding (FSW) by TIG welding, (2) Thermal contact resistance between Aluminium and steel, and (3) The welding process using stiring friction is simulated. The simulations intended to predicting the temperature which is used for preheat and welding process to ensuring the required solid-state welding. The temperature is also determined and checked by a thermal imager comparing with simulation results. Besides, the results of tensile strength is carried out. The Box - Behnken method is used to identify the relationship between the welding parameters (rotation, speed and offset), temperature and tensile strength. The maximum tensile strength is 77% compared to the strength of aluminum alloy. The optimal set of parameters for the process is n = 676 rpm, v = 46 mm / min and x = 0.6 mm. The optimizing welding parameters to achieving good quality of welding process are described. SEM images to determine some properties of welding materials. This is also the basis for initial research to identify some defects in welding of two different materials (IMC thickness and interconnected pores) and the cause of these defects.


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