Effects of temper condition and post weld heat treatment on the microstructure and mechanical properties of friction stir butt-welded AA7075 Al alloy plates

In this study, AA7075-O and AA7075-T6 Al alloy plates were friction stir butt welded using two sets of weld parameters in order to investigate the effects of temper condition prior to joining and post weld heat treatment on microstructure and mechanical properties of the joints. Another goal of the work is to determine the possibility of restoring the loss of strength in the joint area experienced in welding of this alloy in the age-hardened condition by subsequent heat treatment. The study revealed that the friction stir welding resulted in a strength undermatching when the alloy joined in T6 condition while a significant strength overmatching was obtained in the joints produced in O temper condition. The post weld heat treatment led to a significant recovery in the strength of the joints produced in T6 condition, thus a significant increase in the joint performance. On the other hand, it led to a decrease in the joint performance value of the joints produced in O temper condition although the strength was increased. Furthermore, the post weld heat treatment resulted in abnormal grain growth in the joint area the degree of which depends on weld parameters used and the prior temper condition.     

Predictions of the optimized friction stir welding process parameters for joining AA7075-T6 aluminum alloy using preheating system

The scope of this investigation is to evaluate the effect of welding parameters on the mechanical properties and microstructural features of 3-mm-thick AA7075-T6 aluminum alloy subjected to gas heating system as a preheating source during friction stir welding. Toward this end, a gas heating system was designed to heat up the weld seam just ahead of rotating tool to soften the material before being stirred. Three welding parameters, five levels, and a central composite design (CCD) have been used to minimize the number of experimental conditions. The joining parameters such as tool rotational speed, welding speed, and shoulder diameter have a significant influence on determining the mechanical properties of the welded joints. It was found that using preheating system mostly can result in higher total heat input into the weld joint and effectively reduces the formation of defects when unsuitable process parameters were used. Also, an attempt has been made to establish the mathematical model to predict the tensile strength and microhardness of the joints. The optimal welding conditions to maximize the final responses were investigated and reported. The results show that the joint fabricated at a rotational speed of 1,050 rpm, welding speed of 100 mm/min, and shoulder diameter of 14 mm exhibited higher mechanical properties compared to other joints.     

Thermo-mechanical finite element model of friction stir welding of dissimilar alloys

A thermo-mechanical finite element model is developed based on Coupled Eulerian Lagrangian method to simulate the friction stir welding of dissimilar Al6061-T6 and Al5083-O aluminum alloys using different tool pin profiles. The model is validated using published measured temperatures and weld microstructure. The finite element results show that maximum temperatures at the weld joint were below the materials’ melting point. Placing the harder alloy (Al6061-T6) at advancing side led to a decrease in maximum process temperature and strain rate, but increased tool reaction loads. Featured tool pin produced better material mixing resulting in enhanced joint quality with reduced volumetric defects.     

Analyzing dissimilar friction stir welding of AA5754/AA7075

AA5754/AA7075 was butt-welded by friction stir welding, and the joint of each weld case was identified by ultimate tensile strength, percentage of elongation, and hardness. Moreover, the significance of each parameter was investigated, and a mathematical relation was constructed by regression analysis. A defect-free joint was achieved in the case of a weld produced with 1000 rpm of tool rotational speed, 80 mm/min of welding speed, and an 22-mm tool shoulder diameter. Most of the failures are located at the bottom of the pin and side of AA7075. The ultimate tensile strength (UTS) decreases with increasing welding speed (WS) or increasing tool rotational speed (TRS). Hardness distribution in the weld zones varied dependent on the nugget zone formation affected by TRS and WS. The present study also investigated the significance and contribution of each parameter on the UTS by analysis of variance (ANOVA). From the results of ANOVA, the conclusion reached is that the all the parameters have a great influence on UTS. The contributions are 41.41 % for WS, 17.58 % for diameter, and 13.28 % for TRS. Moreover, a full quadratic model was constructed between the parameters and the UTS value. The results show that the variation from the predicted values was between 0.41 % and 10.36 %. The strength of the model was analyzed by R-Sq. The achieved R-Sq is 0.892, which means that there is a strong relation between predicted and actual values.     

Microstructural and mechanical properties of dissimilar friction stir welds between AA6082-T6 and AA7075-T651

In the present work, similar and dissimilar friction stir welds have been produced on 6-mm-thick plates of AA6082-T6 and AA7075-T651. The microstructural characteristics and the mechanical response of both similar and dissimilar welds were investigated aiming to determine the major differences between them. Material mixing of the dissimilar weld nugget, which was created after the welding process, was studied in order to determine the produced different areas and their dominant alloying elements in this zone. Microstructural investigation was made in the welding zones of similar and dissimilar friction stir welds and indications of partial dynamic recrystallization were observed in the thermomechanically affected zone of the similar welds. Transverse and longitudinal microhardness distributions determined the heat affected zone as the weaker area in the welded specimen. After tensile testing, the fracture of the similar and the dissimilar welds at heat affected zone demonstrated the good bonding and weld quality of the similar and dissimilar weld nuggets.     

T6态7075铝合金的温拉深成形研究

温热成形是铝合金板料成形的重要方法。通过改造后的极限拉深比试验与方形盒试验,研究了T6态的7075板料在不同温度下的等温以及非等温拉深性能,并通过对成形后材料强度进行单向拉深试验,分析了经过温成形后材料强度和硬度的变化。结果表明,T6态铝合金在140～220℃左右拉深性能最好,且成形后可以保持足够的强度和硬度,所以最佳的温拉深成形温度为140～220℃。     

In-process heat treatments to improve FS-welded butt joints

Friction-stir welding (FSW) is a relatively new but already well known solid-state welding process whose main advantage with respect to fusion welding processes is the possibility to successfully weld light alloys, traditionally considered difficult to weld or unweldable. Despite the good mechanical performances that can be obtained, there exists the possibility to further improve the joints’ effectiveness through post-welding heat treatments that are however time and cost-expensive and, therefore, not best suited for industrial applications. In the present paper, the authors report the results of an experimental campaign, developed on FSW of AA7075-T6 aluminum alloy, aimed to investigate the possibility to enhance the joint performances through in process heat treatments. Welded joints were developed under three different conditions, namely, free air, forced air, and with water flowing on the surface of the joint itself. The influence of the external refrigerants was investigated at the varying of the specific thermal contribution conferred to the joint. Both mechanical and metallurgical investigations were developed on the welded joints highlighting both improvements of mechanical performances of the joints and reductions in the softening of the material when external refrigerants are used.     

Research on the mechanism of flash line defect in coining

In the present article, the effect of friction stir welding (FSW) parameters on the weldability and the characteristics of dissimilar weld of aluminum alloys, called AA2024-T4 and AA7075-O are investigated. A number of FSW experiments are carried out to obtain high-quality welds by adjusting the rotational and welding speeds. The weldability and blending of two materials are evaluated by using the macrostructural analysis to observe whether making a notch in a threaded cylindrical tool will lead to a better blend rather than the threaded taper tool or it will have no effects. The mechanical properties of the welds are studied through microhardness distribution and tensile tests. Furthermore, the microstructure analysis is performed to study the influence of the pin profile and the rotational speed on the grain size. Moreover, in the present study, one of the most major goals is to obtain high-quality welds by spending as little expenditure as possible. Therefore, it prevents using complicated and insupportable high welding speed equipments.     

Study on governing parameters of thermal history during underwater friction stir welding

Underwater friction stir welding (FSW) could widely extend the submarine applications of solid-state welding methods. Since, in the case of underwater FSW, the temperature field exhibits profound effects on the acquired weld properties, studying the corresponding governing parameters is of high priority. With this end in view, in order to explicate the heat generated by the FSW tool, the applied forces on the FSW tool, as the unknown parameters in the heat generation equation, are obtained. Subsequently, the heat transfer of the surrounding fluid, which dictates the heat transfer through the workpiece is investigated. The results reveal that upon comparison to FSW in air medium, both translational and axial forces considerably increase leading to greater heat generated by the underwater FSW tool. However, the peak temperature in each point during underwater welding declines dramatically (40 %) compared to the in-air welding, which can be attributed to the extreme boiling heat transfer of water on both the workpiece and FSW tool. This behavior may be the main reason for the acquired mechanical properties of the underwater-welded AA7075-T6 plates as a precipitating hardening alloy. The mentioned heat transfer is non-uniform over the workpiece and comprises different types including nucleation and transition boiling as well as free convection. Furthermore, the study of the mechanical characteristics revealed that underwater welding leads to joints with more strength and lower ductility compared to those obtained by in-air welding.     

Statistical analysis to predict grain size and hardness of the weld nugget of friction-stir-welded AA6061-T6 aluminium alloy joints

AA6061 aluminum alloy has gathered wide acceptance in the fabrication of light weight structures requiring high strength-to-weight ratio and good corrosion resistance. Friction-stir welding (FSW) process is an emerging solid state joining process in which the material that is being welded does not melt and recast. This process uses a non-consumable tool to generate frictional heat in the abutting surfaces. The FSW process and tool parameters play a major role in deciding the joint strength. Joint strength is influenced by grain size and hardness of the weld nugget region. Hence, in this investigation an attempt was made to develop empirical relationships to predict grain size and hardness of weld nugget of friction-stir-welded AA6061 aluminium alloy joints. The empirical relationships are developed by response surface methodology incorporating FSW tool and process parameters. A linear regression relationship was also established between grain size and hardness of the weld nugget of FSW joints.     

工艺参数对6061-T6铝合金真空扩散焊接接头形貌和性能的影响

在不同工艺参数下对化学清洗去除表面氧化膜的6061-T6铝合金进行真空扩散焊接,研究了焊接温度(500~560℃)、焊接压力(1.0~5.0MPa)和保温时间(0.5~3h)对焊接接头界面形貌和剪切强度的影响,得到了优化工艺参数。结果表明:随着焊接温度的升高、焊接压力的增大和保温时间的延长,接头焊缝变窄并最终消失,剪切强度和焊合率增大;但当保温时间延长到3h时,焊缝附近晶粒发生粗化,导致剪切强度降低,且接头发生较大变形;不同工艺参数下接头的剪切断裂形式均为脆性断裂;较优的真空扩散焊接工艺参数为焊接温度540℃、保温时间2h、焊接压力4.0MPa。     

Formability and forming force in incremental sheet forming of AA7075-T6 at different temperatures

Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology - The AA7075-T6 sheet recently received attention, owing to its low weight and strength for use fabricating automotive parts (e.g., body, motor case)....     

Influence of machine variables and tool profile on the tensile strength of dissimilar AA7075-AA6061 friction stir welds

Friction stir welding (FSW) of dissimilar alloys and materials is becoming progressively essential as it permits to take the benefits of both materials. Tensile strength is a measure of the weld quality, which mainly depends on machine variables and tool design. In this paper, FSW of dissimilar AA7075-AA6061 aluminium alloys was studied with respect to the welding speeds (rotational and axial), tool tilt angle and tool geometry by the response surface methodology (RSM) with central composite design (CCD). A reduced second-order polynomial equation was successfully developed and validated to adequately fit the observed results of the ultimate tensile strength (UTS). Respectable fitness and well agreement between the experimental and calculated values with an elevated regression coefficient and low deviation were detected for this model within the range of the operating variables. Five tools with concave shoulders and different probe profiles (cylindrical and tapered, smooth and threaded, flatted and non-flatted) and a self-designed backing plate and clamping system were fabricated for this study. It was found that the welding tool with a threaded truncated cone pin and single flat results in a sound weld with higher tensile strength, wide nugget area and smooth surface finish.     

Design of tool system for the external nonrotational shoulder assisted friction stir welding and its experimental validations on 2219-T6 aluminum alloy

The nonrotational shoulder assisted friction stir welding (NRSA-FSW) is still in the feasibility study stage. To reveal details in the tool system designing and highlight advantages of this novel technology, the tool system for the NRSA-FSW was designed and utilized to weld high-strength aluminum alloy 2219-T6 for validations. Compared with the joints welded by the friction stir welding (FSW) without assistance of the nonrotational shoulder (NRS), the effect of the NRS on the weld formation and mechanical properties was illustrated. At a constant welding speed 100 mm/min, defect-free joints can only be obtained at the tool rotation speed 800 rpm by the FSW without assistance of the NRS, but the NRSA-FSW can produce defect-free joints in a wider range of tool rotation speeds 600–900 rpm. The NRS prevented all plasticized materials from escaping from the stirring zone, thus the weld nugget zone transformed from the basin-type formation to the spherical formation with increasing of the stirring effect when the tool rotation speed increased gradually. For joints welded by these two FSW processes, both the tensile strength and the elongation showed nearly the same trend with the tool rotation speed, but the NRSA-FSW can produce joints with the maximum tensile strength in a wider range. Compared with the maximum joint efficiency 71.2 % of the FSW without assistance of the NRS, the maximum tensile strength obtained by the NRSA-FSW also reached 69.0 % of the base material. All tensile specimens machined from defect-free joints fractured at the weakest region with minimum Vicker’s hardness; while for those joints with cavity defects, the fracture occurred at the defect location.     

Friction stir welding characteristics of 2219-T6 aluminum alloy assisted by external non-rotational shoulder

Friction stir welding (FSW) of 2219-T6 aluminum alloy assisted by external non-rotational shoulder was carried out, and effects of the welding speed on microstructures and mechanical properties were investigated in detail. Defect-free joints were obtained in a wide range of welding speeds from 50 to 300 mm/min. The microstructural deformation and weld formation were dominated by the rotating tool pin and subsize concave shoulder but the non-rotational shoulder exerted very little effects for all joints. Compared with the weld obtained by conventional FSW, less intense stirring effects in FSW assisted by external non-rotational shoulder can only generate a narrower thermomechanically affected zone, whose width decreased with increasing of the welding speed. Microstructures and Vickers hardness distributions showed that this new welding process is beneficial to improving the asymmetry and inhomogeneity, especially in the weld nugget zone. The maximum tensile strength was up to 69 % of the base material.     

静轴肩FSW铝合金6061-T4板的T形接头组织特征及动静载特性研究

利用自主开发的静止轴肩焊接工具及工装,在不同的焊接参数下均获得到了外观成形良好、无焊接缺陷的T形接头,并对接头内部成形、显微组织、硬度、静载强度和疲劳性能及疲劳失效机制进行了研究。研究结果表明铝合金静止轴肩搅拌摩擦焊T性接头内部质量良好,无缺陷,接头表面存在表面超细晶区,且焊核区内部由于流动状态不同导致组织及硬度存在一定差异,T形接头底板及筋板硬度较母材有不同程度的降低,底板和筋板拉伸试验均断裂于接头热影响区,在优化的参数下底板和筋板方向的接头系数均高于0.7,在2×10⁶疲劳寿命下的特征疲劳强度可达101.0 MPa,远高于IIW建议的设计准则。焊接速度对接头疲劳性能及疲劳失效机制影响较大,疲劳裂纹萌生于T形接头底板和筋板过渡处,低焊速时断裂机制为穿晶断裂,高焊速时由于晶界稳定性差,断口呈现穿晶断裂和晶间断裂的混合形貌。完成了铝合金T形接头的无缺陷焊接及组织性能研究,为铝合金静止轴肩搅拌摩擦焊T形接头在新型轻量化航天器密封舱结构中的应用提供了技术支撑。     

Effects of welding speed on microstructures and mechanical properties of AA2219-T6 welded by the reverse dual-rotation friction stir welding

Reverse dual-rotation friction stir welding (RDR-FSW) is a novel FSW technology in which the tool pin and the assisted shoulder rotates reversely, thus it has the capability to obtain appropriate welding conditions through adjusting the rotating tool pin and surrounding assisted shoulder independently. In the present study, a RDR-FSW tool system was designed and successfully applied to weld high strength aluminum alloy 2219-T6, and the effects of welding speed on microstructures and mechanical properties were investigated in detail. At a constant rotation speed of 800 rpm for both the rotating tool pin and the reversely rotating assisted shoulder, defect-free joints were obtained at welding speeds ranging from 50 to 150 mm/min, while a cavity defect appeared at the three-phase confluction on the advancing side when the welding speed increased to 200 mm/min. With increasing of the welding speed, the width of the softened region decreased, but the minimum microhardness value increased gradually. When compared with the joints welded by the conventional FSW, there is only a minor variation of the Vickers hardness across the stirring zone in the joint welded by the RDR-FSW. The maximum tensile strength 328 MPa (73.7 % of the base material) was obtained at the welding speed of 150 mm/min, while the elongation reached its maximum 7.0 % (60.9 % of the base material) at the welding speed of 100 mm/min. All defect-free joints were fractured at the weakest region with the minimum Vickers hardness, while for the joint with cavity defects the fracture occurred at the defect location. The tensile fracture was in the ductile fracture mode.     

Residual stresses in friction stir welded parts of complex geometry

Residual stresses play a key role on the mechanics underlying the fatigue crack growth propagation of welded joints. Indeed, compressive residual stresses may induce a beneficial enhancement of the fatigue life under loading condition whereas tensile residual stresses may act to increase the stress distribution at crack tip, resulting in a life-threatening condition of the welded structure. In-process distortion and final geometry of welded joints are also affected by residual stresses. In this paper, the longitudinal residual stress distributions in friction stir welding (FSW) joints were investigated for butt and skin–stringer geometries, including lap and T configurations. To measure residual stresses, the cut-compliance and the inverse weight-function methodologies were adapted for skin–stringer FSW geometries via finite element analysis. AA2024-T4 and AA7075-T6 aluminum alloys were used to weld dissimilar skin–stringer joints whereas butt joints were made of AA2024. The effect of most relevant process parameters as well as the cooling during welding process was also investigated for a better understanding of welding residual stresses. Our findings suggest that FSW of complex skin–stringer geometries produces higher residual stresses than those of butt joints, and that the cooling water flux further reduces residual stresses. Changes of process parameters did not affect markedly residual stress distribution.     

Fundamental study on electron beam weld sections and strengths using AA6061-T6 aluminum alloy plate

This study was carried out to establish an electron beam welding process for a nuclear fuel plate assembly fabrication. A preliminary investigation for plate fuel fabrication was conducted with a consideration of weld performance using AA6061-T6 aluminum alloy made by the electron beam welding process. The optimum welding parameters for the fuel plate assembly were obtained in terms of the accelerating voltage, beam current and welding time. The soundness of the weld region between the side plate and the end fitting for the fuel plate assembly was proven by the intact of the weld metal on the fractured surfaces. The integrity of the welds by the electron beam welding process was also confirmed by the results of the tensile test, an examination of the cross sections and the fracture surfaces of the welded specimens.     

Stability of the friction stir welding process in presence of workpiece mating variations

This paper explores common process variations encountered in friction stir welding (FSW) and the limits to which acceptable joint strength is maintained while welding with a robotic FSW system. Part fit-up and mating variations are common in manufacturing, yet the limits to which a friction stir welding process can weld without major process adjustment are unclear. The effects on joint strength and mechanical properties of several of the most common mating variations (i.e., faying surface gap, misalignment, mismatch, etc.) are experimentally determined as individual effects as well as among common welding parameters. Experimental results on 5-mm-thick aluminum alloy 5083-H111 show that ultimate tensile strength, yield strength, and elongation begin to decrease from nominal weld conditions when either the tool offset distance from weld centerline or gap in abutted plates exceeds 25% of the average pin diameter (6?mm). In addition, vertical plate mismatch and lack of penetration can be tolerated up to 2.5% and 10%, respectively, before adverse effects on mechanical properties are observed. The work also indicates that of all the mating variations tested in this study, tool misalignment, followed by travel angle, has the most significant effect on the measured joint strength. Process stability testing has shown that the FSW process is able to endure part fit-up and mating variations within a defined tolerance, giving the practitioner an awareness of how well stock workpiece tolerances must be controlled before joint strength is adversely effected.