Material stirring during FSW of Al–Cu: Effect of pin profile

Friction stir welding (FSW) joins the material in solid state, and it gets evolved as a new and effective technique to join dissimilar materials such as aluminum and copper. FSW tool design and configuration critically affect the joint quality. This study has evaluated the effect of different pin profiles used during FSW of AA5754 Al alloy and commercially pure copper in a butt configuration on the microstructure, material movement, and microhardness for the different joints. The joining is performed through the different pin profiles of cylindrical, taper, cylindrical cam, taper cam, and square shape at the rotational and welding speed of 900?rpm and 40?mm/min respectively. Among all joints, the square pin profile provides good joining and microhardness. Square tool pin profile facilitates good amount of mixing at nugget zone, which consequently increases the hardness. The material movement in square tool pin profile joint is also studied on the longitudinal plane to understand the effect of pulsating and stirring action on the material mixing pattern in dissimilar FSW. It is evident that the softer material in the stir zone gets more stirring, and the flow lines are clearly visible for the stirred material.     

Investigation on dissimilar underwater friction stir lap welding of 6061-T6 aluminum alloy to pure copper

Friction stir welding (classical FSW) is considered to offer advantages over the traditional fusion welding techniques in terms of dissimilar welding. However, some challenges still exist in the dissimilar friction stir lap welding of the aluminum/copper (Al/Cu) metallic couple, among which the formation of the Al–Cu intermetallic compounds is the major problem. In the present research, due to the fact that the formation and growth of the intermetallic are significantly controlled by the thermal history, the underwater friction stir welding (underwater FSW) was employed for fabricating the weld, and the weld obtained by underwater FSW (underwater weld) was analyzed via comparing with the weld obtained under same parameters by classical FSW (classical weld). In order to investigate the effect of the external water on the thermal history, the K-type thermocouple was utilized to measure the weld temperature, and it is found that the water could decrease the peak temperature and shorten the thermal cycle time. The XRD results illustrate that the interface of the welds mainly consist of the Al–Cu intermetallic compounds such as CuAl₂ and Cu₉Al₄ together with some amounts of Al and Cu, and it is also found that the amount of the intermetallic in the underwater weld is obvious less than in the classical weld. The SEM images and the EDS line scan results also illustrate that the Al–Cu diffusion interlayer at the Al–Cu interface of the underwater weld was obviously thinner than that of the classical weld.     

Effects of Tilt Angle on the Properties of Dissimilar Friction Stir Welding Copper to Aluminum

In the present investigation, dissimilar materials such as electrolytic tough pitch copper, and aluminum 6061-T651 were welded by friction stir welding technology. Effects of tool tilt angle on the mechanical and metallurgical properties were studied experimentally for dissimilar material systems. In the present study, the tool tilt angle was varied from 0° to 4° with an interval of 1°, while the other parameters such as rotational speed, welding speed, tool pin offset, and workpiece material position were kept constant. Macrostructure analysis, tensile test, macro hardness measurement, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive x-ray spectrographic tests were performed to evaluate the weld properties of dissimilar copper–aluminum joints. The results revealed that a defect free dissimilar copper–aluminum friction stir welding was achieved by tilt angles 2°, 3°, and 4°. The maximum tensile strength was reported to be 117 MPa and the macro hardness was reported to be 181 VH (in the nugget zone) at a tilt angle of 4°. The macro hardness was increased as the tilt angle increases from 0° to 4°. In addition to this, the thermo-mechanically affected zone (at the copper side) was found to be the weakest zone for a dissimilar copper–aluminum friction stir welding system.     

旋转速度与焊接速度对铝铜异种材料搅拌摩擦焊接头成形的影响

目的为了获得较好的铝铜异种材料搅拌摩擦焊焊缝,研究旋转速度与焊接速度对焊缝成形的影响规律。方法采用对接的方式对4mm厚的纯铝和紫铜进行搅拌摩擦焊,对比了不同旋转速度和焊接速度对铝铜异种金属焊缝表面的影响,并对焊缝内部成形变化进行了分析。结果旋转速度和焊接速度对焊缝的成形影响较大,当旋转速度为1200 r/min,焊接速度为10 mm/min时,焊缝表面成形美观,焊缝表面相对较为光滑,焊缝内部存在相互交叠的片层结构和漩涡状结构,焊缝内部未见明显缺陷;与旋转速度1200 r/min,焊接速度10mm/min相比,在焊接旋转速度减小或者焊接速度变大时,由于焊接热输入减小,造成焊缝表面出现沟槽、孔洞等焊接缺陷,同时搅拌针的旋转搅拌作用影响焊缝成形和焊缝内部缺陷的产生。结论选择合适的旋转速度和焊接速度能够获得宏观成形较好和内部缺陷较少的焊缝。     

铝/钢异种材料搅拌摩擦焊研究进展

由于铝、钢的物理化学性质存在巨大差异,铝/钢的连接是焊接领域的难点问题。搅拌摩擦焊是低热输入的固态连接方法,能够有效控制铝/钢金属间化合物的生长,且搅拌针强烈的搅拌作用可增加铝/钢异种材料机械咬合程度,得到高质量的铝/钢焊接接头,铝/钢搅拌摩擦焊已经成为了焊接领域的热点问题。文中综述了铝/钢搅拌摩擦焊国内外研究现状,涉及到接头形式、焊缝成形、焊接工艺和力学性能,着重介绍了铝/钢搅拌摩擦焊接头的连接机制,并围绕铝/钢搅拌摩擦焊存在的两大问题,对铝/钢搅拌摩擦焊新技术进行总结,并进一步提出了铝/钢搅拌摩擦焊的基础研究方向。     

Developments of mathematical models for prediction of tensile properties of dissimilar AA6061-T6 to Cu welds prepared by friction stir welding process using Zn interlayer

Amount of intermetallics formed at the weld interface in dissimilar friction stir welding may be reduced by use of suitable interlayer materials such as Zn. In the present investigation, mathematical models have been developed for prediction of tensile properties of dissimilar AA6061-T6 to pure Cu welds prepared by friction stir welding process with Zn interlayer. Experiments were planned as per Box–Behnken design of response surface methodology. Three-factor, three-level Box–Behnken design with 15 runs was employed. Three process parameters: tool rotation speed (710, 1000 and 1400 rpm), tool travel speed (28, 56 and 80 mm/min) and tool pin offset (+0.5, +1.0 and +1.5 mm towards AA6061-T6 sheet) were considered. Lacks of fit for the developed models were assessed using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Validities of the developed models were checked by conducting confirmation runs. Predicted and experimental results of confirmation runs were found in reasonable agreements. Microstructural characterization revealed typical microstructure composed of intercalation of base metals. It was observed by X-ray diffraction analysis that use of Zn interlayer coupled with tool offset of +1.0 and +1.5 resulted in elimination of intermetallics of Al–Cu system at the weld interface, improving dissimilar weld quality.     

工艺参数对Al-Mg异种金属搅拌摩擦焊-钎焊复合焊接接头力学性能的影响

目的研究工艺参数对Al-Mg异种金属搅拌摩擦焊-钎焊复合焊接接头力学性能的影响。方法采用搅拌摩擦焊-钎焊方法,在不同焊接工艺参数下焊接2A12-T4铝合金和AZ31镁合金。结果当焊接速度为23.5mm/min、旋转速度为375 r/min时,焊接接头的抗拉剪力达到最大,为5.5 kN,比搅拌摩擦焊接头的最大抗拉剪力的5.0 kN提高了10%。结论搅拌摩擦焊-钎焊复合焊接的工艺参数会显著影响铝/镁异种金属接头力学性能,通过优化工艺参数能够获得力学性能优异的铝/镁异种金属焊接接头。复合焊接接头的抗拉剪力随着焊接速度的增大呈现先增大后减小的趋势。     

Relationship between base metal properties and friction stir welding process parameters

Friction stir welding (FSW) is a solid state welding process for joining aluminum alloys and has been employed in aerospace, rail, automotive and marine industries for joining aluminium, magnesium, zinc and copper alloys. In FSW, the base metal properties such as yield strength, ductility and hardness control the plastic flow of the material under the action of rotating non-consumable tool. The FSW process parameters such as tool rotational speed, welding speed, axial force, etc. play a major role in deciding the weld quality. In this investigation, an attempt has been made to establish relationship between the base material properties and FSW process parameters. FSW joints have been made using five different grades of aluminium alloys (AA1050, AA6061, AA2024, AA7039 and AA7075) using different combinations of process parameters. Macrostructural analysis has been done to check the weld quality (defective or defect free). Empirical relationships have been established between base metal properties and tool rotational speed and welding speed, respectively. The developed empirical relationships can be effectively used to predict the FSW process parameters to fabricate defect free welds.     

Friction Stir Welding of Al Alloy Thin Plate by Rotational Tool without Pin

For friction stir welding (FSW), a new idea is put forward in this paper to weld the thin plate of Al alloy by using the rotational tool without pin. The experiments of FSW are carried out by using the tools with inner-concave-flute shoulder, concentric-circles-flute shoulder and three-spiral-flute shoulder, respectively. The experimental results show that the grain size in weld nugget zone attained by the tool with three-spiral-flute shoulder is nearly the same while the grain sizes decrease with the decrease of welding velocity. The displacement of material flow in the heat-mechanical affected zone by the tool with three-spiral-flute shoulder is much larger than that by the tool with inner-concave-flute shoulder or concentric-circles-flute shoulder. The above-mentioned results are verified by numerical simulation. For the tool with three-spiral-flute shoulder, the tensile strength of FSW joint increases with the decrease of welding velocity while the value of tensile strength attained by the welding velocity of 20 mm/min and the rotation speed of 1800 r/min is about 398 MPa, which is 80% more than that of parent mental tensile strength. Those verify that the tool with three-spiral-flute shoulder can be used to join the thin plate of Al alloy.     

Friction stir welding of dissimilar aluminum alloys AA2219 to AA5083 – Optimization of process parameters using Taguchi technique

The joining of dissimilar Al–Cu alloy AA2219-T87 and Al–Mg alloy AA5083-H321 plates was carried out using friction stir welding (FSW) technique and the process parameters were optimized using Taguchi L₁₆ orthogonal design of experiments. The rotational speed, transverse speed, tool geometry and ratio between tool shoulder diameter and pin diameter were the parameters taken into consideration. The optimum process parameters were determined with reference to tensile strength of the joint. The predicted optimal value of tensile strength was confirmed by conducting the confirmation run using optimum parameters. This study shows that defect free, high efficiency welded joints can be produced using a wide range of process parameters and recommends parameters for producing best joint tensile properties. Analysis of variance showed that the ratio between tool shoulder diameter and pin diameter is the most dominant factor in deciding the joint soundness while pin geometry and welding speed also played significant roles. Microstructural studies revealed that the material placed on the advancing side dominates the nugget region. Hardness studies revealed that the lowest hardness in the weldment occurred in the heat-affected zone on alloy of 5083 side, where tensile failures were observed to take place.     

Lap joint properties of FSWed dissimilar formed 5052 Al and 6061 Al alloys with different thickness

Lap joint friction stir welding (FSW) between dissimilar 5052-H112 (1 mm) and 6061-T6 (2 mm) Al alloys with different thickness was carried out with various tool rotation speeds and welding speeds according to the fixed location of each material on bottom or top sheet. Interface morphology was characterized by pull-up or pull-down from initial joint line. Amount of vertical material transports increased and thickness of 5052 resultantly lessened with increasing tool rotation and decreasing welding speed, which were the conditions of the weak bond. Higher stress concentration on the interface pull-up region, the penetration of unbonded region into the weld zone and the lessened thickness of 5052 Al part might be the reasons for lower fracture load. Higher fracture load was acquired at the lower tool rotation speed and higher welding speed when a thicker 6061 was fixed at retreating side on top sheet. Interface morphology was the most important factor determining the mechanical strength of lap FSW joints and can be manageable using FSW parameters.     

Hybrid fuzzy-grey-Taguchi based multi weld quality optimization of Al/Cu dissimilar friction stir welded joints

Nowadays aluminum alloys substitute copper in various applications for weight reduction and cost savings. This paper presents fuzzy-grey Taguchi technique for optimization of friction stir welding condition with seven weld quality attributes of dissimilar Al/Cu joints with the minimum number of experiments for effective productivity and product quality. Taguchi's L₁₆ orthogonal array was used to conduct the experiments. Fuzzy inference system was adapted to convert the multi quality characteristics into an equivalent single quality parameter which was optimized by Taguchi approach. Four parameters namely, rotational speed of the tool, welding speed, plunging depth and tool pin offset were varied in four levels for investigating the effects on the process output like tensile strength, compressive strength, percentage of elongation, bending angle, weld bead thickness and average hardness at the nugget zone. The hardness profile is consistent with the variation of the structure within the nugget zone (NZ). Confirmation experiment was conducted using predicted optimum parameter setting and it showed that the proposed approach could efficiently optimize weld quality parameters. The microstructural analyses were also performed for all the zones of the joints at both Al and Cu sides. It revealed the finer grain size at the NZ compared to the base material due to dynamic recrystallization.     

Microstructure and XRD analysis of FSW joints for copper T2/aluminium 5A06 dissimilar materials

Copper (T2) and aluminium alloy (5A06) were welded by friction stir welding (FSW). The microstructure, mechanical properties and phase constituents of FSW joints were studied by metallography, tensile testing machine and X-ray diffraction. The results indicated that the high quality weld joint could be obtained when tool rotational speed is 950 rpm, and travel speed is 150 mm/min. The maximum value of tensile strength is about 296 MPa. The metal Cu and Al close to copper side in the weld nugget (WN) zone showed a lamellar alternating structure characteristic. However, a mixed structure characteristic of Cu and Al existed in the aluminium side of weld nugget (WN) zone. There were no new Cu-Al intermetallic compounds in the weld nugget zone.     

Tool geometry,rotation and travel speeds effects on the properties of dissimilar magnesium/aluminum friction stir welded lap joints

Lap joint friction stir welding (FSW) between dissimilar AZ31B and Al 6061 alloys sheets was conducted using various welding parameters including tool geometry, rotation and travel speeds. Tapered threaded pin and tapered pin tools were applied to fabricate FSW joints, using different rotation and travel speeds. Metallurgical investigations including X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD), optical microscopy images (OM), scanning electron microscopy equipped with an energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM–EDS) and electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) were used to characterize joints microstructures made with different welding parameters. Intermetallic phases were detected in the weld zone (WZ). Various microstructures were observed in the stir zone which can be attributed to using different travel and rotation speeds. Mechanical evaluation including lap shear fracture load test and microhardness measurements indicated that by simultaneously increasing the tool rotation and travel speeds, the joint tensile strength and ductility reached a maximum value. Microhardness studies and extracted results from stress–strain curves indicated that mechanical properties were affected by FSW process. Furthermore, phase analyses by XRD indicated the presence of intermetallic compounds in the weld zone. Finally, in the Al/Mg dissimilar weld, fractography studies showed that intermetallic compounds formation in the weld zone had an influence on the failure mode.     

Influence of welding parameters on lap joint between Al and Ti alloys using low power fiber laser

Fiber laser beam welding has always been a user‐friendly and flexible method to join dissimilar materials despite differences in thermal coefficient. Many industrial applications such as automotive has replaced the conventional joining methods towards this because of the flexibility and reduction in time consumption. In the present study, dissimilar titanium alloy; Ti6Al4 V and aluminum alloy; AA2024‐0 were laser welded through a lap joint technique using a low power Yb‐fiber laser without any additional filler. The influence of welding speed on weld morphology was investigated using optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The cross‐section of the joints revealed that the fusion zone (FZ) and heat affected zones (HAZ) are wider when welding speed decreases with lower laser power. This result shows that the low power fiber laser has sufficient energy to melt the base materials, forming a liquid bridge to facilitate the smooth flow of molten metal between the top and bottom layer. Therefore, at lower welding speeds with constant low laser power, it was shown that there are possibilities of laser welding between two non‐ferrous metals.     

水下搅拌摩擦焊对铝/铜接头组织与性能的影响

目的 采用搅拌摩擦焊,对比分析大气环境和水下环境下铝/铜接头的组织与性能,以期获得力学性能更优异的铝/铜焊接接头。方法 利用搅拌摩擦焊,在焊接速度为40 mm/min、旋转速度为1 000 r/min的条件下,分别在大气环境和水下环境下对厚度为9 mm的6061铝合金板和T2纯铜板进行焊接。然后,对铝/铜界面、焊核区进行扫描电镜及能谱分析,并对铝/铜界面及焊核区进行物相分析,确定产物相组成。最后,对铝/铜试样进行拉伸及硬度检测。结果 铝/铜接头均无裂纹、气孔等缺陷。铜颗粒弥散分布在焊核区,铝/铜界面形成金属间化合物层。水下搅拌摩擦焊下界面元素扩散距离明显变短,且金属间化合物厚度更薄。铝/铜接头的金属间化合物为AlCu和Al4Cu9。大气环境焊接下接头的抗拉强度为130.6 MPa,断裂方式为脆性断裂;水下焊接下接头的抗拉强度为199.5 MPa,断裂方式为韧性断裂。水下环境下的接头硬度值更高,其中热影响区的硬度最低值约为65HV。结论 水下搅拌摩擦焊铝/铜接头无裂纹、气孔等缺陷。组织上,水下搅拌摩擦焊的铝/铜接头界面元素扩散距离更短,硬脆的金属间化合物更少;性能上,水下搅拌摩擦焊的铝/铜接头强度更高,抗拉强度达到199.5 MPa,达到母材的74.4%。     

Al-Cu双金属复合结构的扩散连接试验研究

应用扩散连方法进行了Al-Cu双金属复合结构的试验研究，比较了不同的焊接工艺，材料组合以及母材状态情况Al合金与Cu的连接性，观察了接头区域的微观组织结构，研究表明，固相扩散连接是一种适用于异种材料连接的有效方法，通过在连接区域形成Al-Cu金属间化合物，达到Al和Cu的有效连接，材料组合，母材原始状态以及连接工艺参数对Al合金与Cu的扩散连接存在着明显的影响。表面镀Ni工艺不但能够有效阻止Al和Cu之间形成脆性相，而且Al和Ni之间形成了良好的扩散连接，改善了接头性能。     

Microstructures and mechanical properties of friction stir welded dissimilar copper/brass joints

In this study, an experimental investigation has been carried out on microstructure and mechanical properties of friction stir welded copper/brass dissimilar joints. Effect of axial tool force to welding quality has been investigated under obtained optimal tool rotation rate and tool traverse speed conditions. The tool for the dissimilar copper/brass friction stir welding manufactured from X155CrMoV12–1 cold work tool steel with material number of 1.2379. The friction stir welding quality was investigated by welding surface inspections, microstructural studies, micro hardness measurements and tensile tests. The experimental studies have shown that constant axial tool force during pre‐heating and during welding process are very important. As a result, by using 2.5–3 kN of axial tool force during pre‐heating and 5.5 kN of axial tool force during welding process, copper/brass dissimilar joints with well appearance and higher mechanical strength can be obtained.     

Characterization of friction stir welded boron carbide particulate reinforced AA6061 aluminum alloy stir cast composite

Development of welding procedures to join aluminum matrix composite (AMCs) holds the key to replace conventional aluminum alloys in many applications. In this research work, AA6061/B₄C AMC was produced using stir casting route with the aid of K₂TiF₆ flux. Plates of 6 mm thickness were prepared from the castings and successfully butt joined using friction stir welding (FSW). The FSW was carried out using a tool rotational speed of 1000 rpm, welding speed of 80 mm/min and axial force of 10 kN. A tool made of high carbon high chromium steel with square pin profile was used. The microstructure of the welded joint was characterized using optical and scanning electron microscopy. The welded joint showed the presence of four zones typically observed in FSW of aluminum alloys. The weld zone showed fine grains and homogeneous distribution of B₄C particles. A joint efficiency of 93.4% was realized under the experimental conditions. But, FSW reduced the ductility of the composite.     

钛-铝异种材料的点焊技术研究新进展

钛合金和铝合金的应用在航空航天及汽车制造领域都在逐步增加,而Ti/Al异种金属复合结构中搭接连接无疑是不可避免的连接形式,因此对于钛/铝异种金属点焊技术的研究是非常必要的。由于Ti/Al两种材料的物理和化学性质存在巨大差异,导致两者的焊接尤为困难,目前能实现钛铝异种材料的高质量焊接的方法研究较少。先从钛和铝材料的本身特性入手,阐述目前3种常用的点焊技术:电阻点焊、搅拌摩擦点焊和超声波点焊的研究现状。主要涉及点焊接头成形、焊接参数、接头的组织特征以及力学性能,探究了各个方法的优缺点,并指出Ti/Al异种金属焊接质量的关键主要在于对金属间化合物的有效控制。为Ti/Al异种结构的连接提供合适的设计思路,并为新的连接方法提供借鉴思路。