Microstructure,Corrosion and Mechanical Properties of Medium-Thick 6061-T6 Alloy/T2 Pure Cu Dissimilar Joints Produced by Double Side Friction Stir Z Shape Lap-Butt Welding

A novel double side friction stir Z shape lap-butt welding(DS-FSZW)process was proposed to achieve excellent mechanical properties of Al/Cu medium-thick dissimilar joints.The influence of welding parameters on weld microstructure and properties of DS-FSZW joint were systematically investigated.It indicated that defect-free medium-thick Al/Cu DS-FSZW joint could be achieved under an optimal welding parameter.DS-FSZW joint was prone to form void defects in the bottom of the second-pass weld.The recrystallization mechanisms at the top and middle of the weld nugget zone(WNZ)were continuous dynamic recrystallization(CDRX)and geometric dynamic recrystallization(GDRX).While the major recrystallization mechanism at the bottom of the WNZ was GDRX.DS-FSZW joint of the optimal welding condition with 850 r/min-400 mm/min was produced with a continuous thin and crack-free IMCs layer at the Al/Cu interface,and the maximum tensile strength of this joint is 160.57 MPa,which is equivalent to 65.54%of pure Cu base material.Moreover,the corrosion resistance of Al/Cu DS-FSZW joints also achieved its maximum value at the optimal welding parameter of 850 r/min-400 mm/min.It demonstrates that the DS-FSZW process can simultaneously produce medium-thick Al/Cu joints with excellent mechanical performance and corrosion resistance.

Three-Dimensional Reconstruction of Welding Pool Surface by Binocular Vision

Current research of binocular vision systems mainly need to resolve the camera’s intrinsic parameters before the reconstruction of three-dimensional(3D)objects.The classical Zhang’calibration is hardly to calculate all errors caused by perspective distortion and lens distortion.Also,the image-matching algorithm of the binocular vision system still needs to be improved to accelerate the reconstruction speed of welding pool surfaces.In this paper,a preset coordinate system was utilized for camera calibration instead of Zhang’calibration.The binocular vision system was modified to capture images of welding pool surfaces by suppressing the strong arc interference during gas metal arc welding.Combining and improving the algorithms of speeded up robust features,binary robust invariant scalable keypoints,and KAZE,the feature information of points(i.e.,RGB values,pixel coordinates)was extracted as the feature vector of the welding pool surface.Based on the characteristics of the welding images,a mismatch-elimination algorithm was developed to increase the accuracy of image-matching algorithms.The world coordinates of matching feature points were calculated to reconstruct the 3D shape of the welding pool surface.The effectiveness and accuracy of the reconstruction of welding pool surfaces were verified by experimental results.This research proposes the development of binocular vision algorithms that can reconstruct the surface of welding pools accurately to realize intelligent welding control systems in the future.

Review: Progress and Trends in Ultrasonic Vibration Assisted Friction Stir Welding

This paper aims to reviewthe state-of-the-art of ultrasonic vibration assisted friction stir welding(UVAFSW) process. Particular attention has been paid on the modes of ultrasonic exertion,experimental results and effects of ultrasonic vibrations on process effectiveness and joint quality. The trends of various aspects with and without ultrasonic vibrations in FSW process are studied and presented. The influence of ultrasonic vibrations on welding loads, temperature history, weld morphology, material flow, weld microstructure and mechanical properties are revisited. Ultrasonic assisted FSW offers numerous advantages over the conventional FSW process. The superimposing of high-frequency vibrations improves various phenomena of the process and the physical,metallurgical,mechanical and tribological properties of the welded joint. The ultrasonic assisted FSW process has a potential to benefit the industry sector. A checklist listing the materials and process parameters used in the documented studies has been presented for quick reference.

A Review on Friction Stir Welding of Steels

Friction Stir Welding(FSW)is the most promising solid-state metals joining method introduced in this era.Compared to the conventional fusion welding methods,this FSW can produce joints with higher mechanical and metallurgi-cal properties.Formerly,FSW was adopted for low melting metals like aluminum alloys.In recent years it has made significant progress in friction stir welding of steels since unfavourable phase transformations occurred in welds due to the melting of the parent and filler metals in fusion welding can be eliminated.The main advantage of FSW over traditional fusion welding is the reduction in the heat-affected zone(HAZ),and the joints exhibit excellent mechanical and corrosion resistance properties.This article reviews the progress in the relevant issues such as the FSW tool mate-rials and tool profiles for joining steels,microstructure and mechanical properties of steels joints,special problems in joining dissimilar steels.Moreover,in-situ heating sources was used to overcome the main limitations in FSW of hard metals and their alloys,i.e.,tool damages and insufficient heat generation.Different in-situ heating sources like laser,induction heat,gas tungsten arc welding assisted FSW for various types of steels are introduced in this review.On the basis of the up-to-date status,some problems that need further investigation are put forward.

Progress in Thermomechanical Analysis of Friction Stir Welding

This article reviews the status of thermomechanical analysis of the friction stir welding(FSW)process for establishing guidelines for further investigation,filling the available research gaps,and expanding FSW applications.Firstly,the advantages and applications of FSW process are introduced,and the significance and key issues for thermomechanical analysis in FSW are pointed out.Then,solid mechanic and fluid dynamic methods in modeling FSW process are described,and the key issues in modeling FSW are discussed.Di erent available mesh modeling techniques including the applications,benefits and shortcomings are explained.After that,at different subsections,the thermomechanical analysis in FSW of aluminum alloys and steels are examined and summarized in depth.Finally,the conclusions and summary are presented in order to investigate the lack of knowledge and the possibilities for future study of each method and each material.

Mechanism of Metal Transfer in DE-GMAW

Modification of conventional gas metal arc welding （GMAW） process is of great potential to achieve high productivity with low cost and strong usability. Double-Electrode GMAW （DE-GMAW） is such a modified arc welding process which is formed by adding a bypass torch （gas tungsten arc welding torch） to a conventional GMAW system. The mechanism of metal transfer in DE-GMAW was proposed and verified in this paper. Experiments show that the critical current is decreased so that spray transfer can be obtained at a lower current level in DE-GMAW. Analysis of this significant change in metal transfer phenomena is conducted, and explanation is given out. It is found that the bypass arc in DE-GMAW lifts the anode point on the droplets such that the electromagnetic force becomes larger and squeezes the droplets so that spray transfer can take place under welding current lower than that in conventional GMAW.

Review：Mg and Its Alloy--Scope, Future Perspectives and Recent Advancements in Welding and Processing

This review article aims to analyze and evaluate the advantages, shortcomings, technological advancements and hereafter prospects in welding and processing of magnesium and its alloys. Studies have accounted that replacing other metals with Mg alloys will bring about in monumental weight reduction with significant addition in strength that could lead to dramatic transformation of metallic era of 21st century and onwards. However,wide application of Mg and its alloys depends on the development of advanced welding &joining technologies. The current paradigm and progress in welding,joining and processing of magnesium and its alloys are reviewed,and research trend in this field is briefly discussed.

Intermetallic Compounds Formation in Dissimilar Friction Stir Welding of Mg/Cu Alloys

Joining dissimilar Mg/Cu alloys was still an intractable problem because of the excessive intermetallic compounds(IMCs)and poor mechanical properties using conventional welding methods.In the present study,friction stir welding was employed for the butt joining of dissimilar AZ31B Mg-alloy and T2 pure Cu plates.Defect-free Mg/Cu joints were obtained with Mg-RS and Cu-AS configuration,at a welding speed of 50 mm/min and tool rotating speeds of 325 r/min,625 r/min and 925 r/min.At the joining interface,both Mg_(2)Cu and MgCu_(2) IMC phases were observed,with a clear,uniform and continuous IMCs layer composed of two sub-layers,layer-A of Mg+Mg_(2)Cu and layer-B of Mg_(2)Cu+MgCu_(2).The maximum ultimate tensile strength of the Mg/Cu friction stir welding joint reached 130 MPa at 925 r/min due to enhanced mechanical interlocking between Mg and Cu,as well as sufficient metallurgical bonding at the joining interface with an IMCs layer thickness in the range of 1.0-2.0μm.

Evolution of microstructures and intermetallic compounds at bonding interface in friction stir welding of dissimilar Al/Mg alloys with/without ultrasonic assistance

Complete understanding of the evolution behaviors of the microstructures and intermetallic compounds(IMCs)along the interface materials flow path in friction stir welding(FSW)of dissimilar Al to Mg alloys is of great significance.In this study,conventional FSW and ultrasonic vibration enhanced FSW(UVeFSW)experiments of Al/Mg alloys were performed,and the instantaneous evolution features of the interface materials around the tool were"frozen"by using the"sudden stop"and simultaneous cooling techniques.The microstructures and IMCs formation at different locations around the exit hole were observed and characterized by scanning electron microscope,energy dispersive spectrometer and transmission elec-tron microscope.It was found that before the materials started to deposit near the back of the tool,“IMC+Mg+IMC+Al”multilayer microstructure and simple IMC layer with(β+γ)sequentially emerged on the Al/Mg interface.With the application of ultrasonic vibration,the multi-layered interface structure only appeared at the middle stage of materials flow around the pin,and ultrasonic vibration just began to play a suppression role on the growth of two sub-layers IMC at a position where the materials deposit.With assistance of ultrasonic vibration in UVeFSW,the tool drove a larger volume of Mg alloy to move toward the retreating side,and the final IMCs thickness was thinner than that in FSW.

Numerical Analysis of Welding Residual Stress and Distortion in Laser+GMAW Hybrid Welding of Aluminum Alloy T-Joint

A 3-D finite element model is developed to predict the temperature field and thermally induced residual stress and distortion in laser＋GMAW hybrid welding of 6061-T6 aluminum alloy T-joint. And the characteristics of residual stress distribution and deformation are numerically investigated. In the simulation, the heat source model takes into account the effect of joint geometric shape and welding torch slant on the heat flux distribution and a sequentially coupled thermo-mechanical method is used. The calculated results show that higher residual stress is distributed in and surround the weld zone. Its peak value is very close to the yield strength of base metal. Besides, a large deformation appears in the middle and rear part of the weldment.

Numerical Simulation for the Optimization of Polygonal Pin Profiles in Friction Stir Welding of Aluminum

The tool with polygonal pin profile has been widely employed in friction stir welding(FSW) of aluminum, but there is hardly an effective optimization methodology existed as the thermomechanical characteristics affected by pins with various flats number have not been understood comprehensively. Therefore, the present work employs a 3-dimensional computational fluid dynamics(CFD) model to have an integrated observation of the FSW process with the effect of polygonal pin profiles. Both the heat generation modes due to contact friction at the tool–workpiece interface and volumetric viscous dissipation in the vicinity of the tool are considered. The model is utilized to give a quantitative analysis of the heat generation, temperature distribution, plastic material flow and welding loads during the FSW process for various tools with polygonal pin profiles, as well as a variety of shoulder diameters, welding speeds and tool rotation speeds. The calculated results of thermal cycles, tool torques and joint cross sections for some typical polygonal pins and welding parameters are all found to be compared well with the experimental ones, which demonstrates the feasibility and applicability of the present numerical model. Particularly, a methodology is developed for the optimization of the flats number by identifying the torque components in both parallel and vertical direction of the pin-side flat region. The results show that the optimized pin flats number increases with increasing tool rotation speed, while the influence of both welding speed and shoulder diameter can be supposed to be insignificant. Moreover, the dependability of the optimized results is also discussed by considering wear tendency and service life of the pin for multiple welding conditions.

Numerical Prediction of Intermetallic Compounds Thickness in Friction Stir Welding of Dissimilar Aluminum/Magnesium Alloys

An atomic diffusion model is developed to predict the thickness of intermetallic compounds(IMCs)at the interface of aluminum/magnesium alloys in dissimilar friction stir welding.Both the temperature and the strain rate associated with dislocation density at the checking point are used to determine the diffusion coefficients.The variations of the diffusion coefficients and the thickness of IMCs are quantitatively analyzed at selected characteristic time instants during welding process.It is found that the dislocation density can increase the diffusion coefficient and plays a dominant role in the IMCs formation during the plastic deformation stage.Especially in magnesium alloy and Al12Mg17,the diffusion coefficient is increased by two orders of magnitude or even nearly three orders of magnitude by considering the dislocation density.The temperature is the main influencing factor after the end of plastic deformation.The model is validated by comparing the predicted thickness of IMCs with the experimentally measured results.

Effect of droplet heat content distribution on humping formation in high speed GMAW

The momentum of strong backward flowing melt jet and the thermal action from transferred droplets are two dominating factors affecting the formation of humping bead in high speed gas metal arc welding （GMAW）. Appropriate describing the influ- ence of the distribution mode of droplet heat content in the weld pool is essential to understand the physical mechanism of humping bead formation. Based on the exper- imental results, four kinds of droplet heat content distribution modes are proposed and employed to calculate the transient evolution of the temperature field and weld pool during high speed GMAW process. Through making comparison of predicted and measured weld bead dimensions, a suitable and adaptive distribution mode of droplet heat content is found, i.e., droplet heat content is distributed in bottom layer of gouging region at the front of weld pool, and is averagely distributed in the whole layer at the rear of weld pool. The proposed mode is also validated by experimental observation of the weld pool images and measured by geometric dimensions of the weld bead.