Effect of welding speed on microstructure and mechanical properties of friction stir welded copper

The 3-mm-thick copper plates were friction stir welded at a low tool rotation rate of 600 rpm. The influence of welding speed on microstructure and mechanical properties of the joints was investigated. As the welding speed increased, the grain size of nugget zone first increased and then decreased, the thermo-mechanically affected zone became narrow and the boundary between these two zones got distinct, but the heat affected zone was almost not changed. The ultimate tensile strength and elongation of the joints increased first and decreased finally with increasing welding speed, but the effect was little when the welding speed is in the range of 25–150 mm/min. The defect-free joints were produced at lower welding speeds, and the fracture locations were outside the nugget zone on the retreating side. With increasing welding speed, the average hardness of nugget zone decreased first and then increased, but welding speed had little effect on the hardness of the other regions within the joints.