Review on friction stir welding of dissimilar magnesium and aluminum alloys: Scientometric analysis and strategies for achieving high-quality joints

Magnesium and aluminum alloys continually attract interest as lightweight structural materials for transport applications. However, joining these dissimilar alloys is very challenging. The main obstacle that hinders progress in dissimilar Mg-Al joining is the formation of brittle intermetallic compounds(IMCs). As a solid-state joining technique, FSW is an excellent candidate to attenuate the deleterious IMC effects in dissimilar Al-Mg joining due to the inherent low heat inputs involved in the process. However, the IMCs, namely Al_(3)Mg_(2) and Al_(12)Mg_(17) phases, have also been reported to form during Al-Mg dissimilar FSW;their amount and thickness depend on the heat input involved;thus,the weld parameters used. Since the heat dissipated in the material during the welding process significantly affects the amount of IMCs,the heat input during FSW should be kept as low as possible to control and reduce the amount of IMCs. This review aims to critically discuss and evaluate the studies conducted in the dissimilar Al/Mg FSW through a scientometric analysis and also with a focus on the strategies recently applied to enhance joint quality. The scientometric analysis showed that the main research directions in Mg/Al FSW are the technological weldability of aluminum and magnesium during FSW, structural morphology, and mechanical properties of dissimilar welded joints. Considering the scope of application of the aforementioned joints, the low share of articles dealing with environmental degradation and operational cracking is surprising. This might be attributed to the need for well-developed strategies for obtaining high-quality and sustainable joints for applications. Thus, the second part of this review is conventional, focusing mainly on the new strategies for obtaining high-quality Mg/Al joints. It can be concluded that in addition to the necessity to optimum welding parameters to suppress the excessive heat to limit the amount and thickness of IMC formed and improve the overall joint quality, strategies such as using Zn interlayer, electric current assisted FSW(EAFSW), ultrasonic vibration FSW(UVa FSW), are considered effective in the elimination, reduction, and fragmentation of the brittle IMCs.

Influence of welding parameters on material flow,mechanical property and intermetallic characterization of friction stir welded AA6063 to HCP copper dissimilar butt joint without offset

Joining of dissimilar aluminium-copper is an emerging area of interest for both research and industry due to its complex nature.Friction stir welding was attempted to evaluate the joint strength without offset at the butt line between AA6063 to HCP copper sheet under different combination of rotational speed of 800 and 1000 r/min and travel speed of 20 and 40 mm/min.Material flow was studied in detail for different combinations of parameters with optical microscopy and elemental mapping by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy（EDS）.The results were correlated with the microstructural characteristics and formation of intermetallics at the bond interface using microhardness test and X-ray diffraction（XRD） technique.Material flow clearly suggests that energy input at 800 r/min and 20 mm/min is sufficient to plasticize both the materials with formation of higher amount of thermodynamically stable and hard intermetallic phases Al4Cu9 and Al Cu4（slower cooling rate of 88 K/s） than that at 800 r/min and 40 mm/min（faster cooling rate of 154 K/s）,attributed maximum joint strength（~78.6% of aluminium base metal）.

Optimum traveling and rotation speeds in friction stir welding for dissimilar Al alloys

Aluminum alloys are subjected to large deformation and decreased strength due to the high expansion modulus caused by heat effects during friction stir welding （FSW）.The optimum conditions for friction stir welding of 5052-O and 6061-T6 Al alloys were determined.The optimum traveling and rotation speeds were identified to be 61mm/min and 1600r/min using various mechanical characteristic evaluation methods.

A novel approach to determine residual stress field during FSW of AZ91 Mg alloy using combined smoothed particle hydrodynamics/neuro-fuzzy computations and ultrasonic testing

The faults in welding design and process every so often yield defective parts during friction stir welding(FSW).The development of numerical approaches including the finite element method(FEM)provides a way to draw a process paradigm before any physical implementation.It is not practical to simulate all possible designs to identify the optimal FSW practice due to the inefficiency associated with concurrent modeling of material flow and heat dissipation throughout the FSW.This study intends to develop a computational workflow based on the mesh-free FEM framework named smoothed particle hydrodynamics(SPH)which was integrated with adaptive neuro-fiizzy inference system(ANFIS)to evaluate the residual stress in the FSW process.An integrated SPH and ANFIS methodology was established and the well-trained ANIS was then used to predict how the FSW process depends on its parameters.To verify the SPH calculation,an itemized FSW case was performed on AZ91 Mg alloy and the induced residual stress was measured by ultrasonic testing.The suggested methodology can efficiently predict the residual stress distribution throughout friction stir welding of AZ91 alloy.

Experimental Investigations of Axial Force Monitoring and Control for Friction Stir Welding Process

Friction stir welding( FSW) is a solid-state welding process that utilizes a rotating tool to induce gross material plastic deformation and join two parts together. A large number of studies have indicated that axial force control can be used to achieve good welding quality. However,in the welding process,due to workpiece's geometry error,improper clamping and other process variations,the axial force can vary significantly and produce welding defects.The control of force in the process of FSW is investigated. At first,the development and evaluation of a closed-loop control system is described,which is equipped with a custom real-time wireless force dynamometer for FSW. Then,an axial force controller is designed based on nonlinear force controllers for FSW. Experimental validations are carried out on an FSW platform. The experimental results demonstrate that the controller maintains the constant axial force and shows desirable dynamic behavior, even when the disturbance is encountered during the welding process.

STUDY ON THE TEXTURE OF A FRICTION STIR WELDED Mg-Al-Ca ALLOY

Macro-texture of an Mg-Al-Ca alloy prepared by friction stir welding （FSW） was investigated through pole figure measurement and X-ray diffraction （XRD） pattern analysis. It was found that at the top and bottom surfaces of friction stir zone （FSZ）, （0002） basal planes of magnesium tend to be arranged parallel to the plate surface. In the cross section of FSZ, no obvious texture had evolved and （0002） basal planes showed a random distribution.

High-cycle fatigue behavior of friction stir butt welded 6061 aluminium alloy

Friction stir welding （FSW） of 6061 aluminium alloy butt joint was carried out at each rotation speed of 600, 800, 1000, 1200 r/min for two different travel speeds, 80 and 100 mm/min, at a constant probe depth of 1.85 mm. The calculated energy input based on the FSW parameters studied shows that the ultimate tensile strength （UTS） of the butt joint is obtained within a certain range of energy input of 297 kJ to 354 kJ out of total range of energy input studied from 196 kJ to 405 kJ. The fatigue behaviors of high-strength and low-strength joints performed at different stress ratios, i.e., 0.5, 0.3, 0.1, -0.3, -0.5, indicate that the fatigue behaviors of both the welds are sensitive to the microstructural features, such as stir zone （SZ）, thermo mechanically affected zone （TMAZ） and heat affected zone （HAZ）. The observed fatigue strengths were discussed in terms of the microstructure, crack path behavior and fracture surface.

Effect of Post-weld Heat Treatment on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Friction Stir Welded SSM7075 Aluminium Alloy

7XXX series aluminium alloys generally present low weldability by fusion welding methods because of the sensitivity to weld solidification cracking, vaporization of strengthening alloys and other defects in the fusion zone. Friction stir welding（FSW） can be deployed successfully with aluminium alloys. We presented the effect of post-weld heat treatment（PWHT） on the microstructure and mechanical properties of SSM7075 joints. Semi solid plates were butt-welded by FSW at a rotation speed of 1110 r/min, welding speeds of 70 and 110 mm/min. Solution treatment, artificial aging, and T6（solution treatment and artificial aging combined） were applied to the welded joints, each with three samples. It was found that the T6 joints at the speed of 70 mm/min yielded the highest tensile strength of 459.23 MPa. This condition best enhanced the mechanical properties of FSW SSM7075 aluminium alloy joints.

Modeling the Effects of Tool Shoulder and Probe Profile Geometries on Friction Stirred Aluminum Welds Using Response Surface Methodology

The present paper discusses the modeling of tool geometry effects on the friction stir aluminum welds using response surface methodology. The friction stir welding tools were designed with different shoulder and tool probe geometries based on a design matrix. The matrix for the tool designing was made for three types of tools, based on three types of probes, with three levels each for defining the shoulder surface type and probe profile geometries. Then, the effects of tool shoulder and probe geometries on friction stirred aluminum welds were experimentally investigated with respect to weld strength, weld cross section area, grain size of weld and grain size of thermo-mechanically affected zone. These effects were modeled using multiple and response surface regression analysis. The response surface regression modeling were found to be appropriate for defining the friction stir weldment characteristics.

Numerical simulation for the comparison of thermal and plastic material flow behavior between symmetrical and asymmetrical boundary conditions during friction stir welding

An accurate description of the contact condition between the tool and the workpiece material is one of the most important issues for expounding the underlying multi-physics coupled mechanism during friction stir welding(FSW)process.In the present study,a novel asymmetrical boundary condition around the tool-workpiece contact interface is proposed for the FSW of AA2024-T4 alloy.A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics model is employed for the comparison of the coupled thermal and plastic material flow behavior between asymmetrical and symmetrical boundary conditions.Numerical results of heat generation,temperature distribution,tunnel defect formation and material flow streamline during the welding process are quantitatively analyzed.Besides,various experimental measuring methods are utilized to obtain information about temperature,thermal cycle,tool torque and horizontal cross-section around the exiting keyhole.It is revealed that the modeling results of heat flux density and temperature distribution around the pin,as well as material flow characteristics all change significantly for the two models with different boundary conditions.Particularly,the asymmetrical boundary condition is more capable of predicting temperature fluctuation,plastic material flow along the vertical direction,as well as tunnel defect formation during FSW.Therefore,the superiority of the model with asymmetrical boundary condition over the symmetrical one during the numerical simulation of FSW is elucidated.

Quality assessment of friction-stir-welded aluminum alloy welds via three-dimensional force signals

An online detection technology must be developed for realizing the real-time control of friction stir welding.In this study,the three-dimensional force exerted on a material during friction stir welding was collected synchronously and the relationship between the forces and welding quality was investigated.The results indicated that the fluctuation period of the traverse force was equal to that of the lateral force during the stable welding stage.The phase difference between two horizontal forces wasπ/2.The values of the horizontal forces increased with welding speed,whereas their amplitudes remained the same.The proposed force model showed that the traverse and lateral forces conformed to an elliptical curve,and this result was consistent with the behavior of the measured data.The variational mode decomposition was used to process the plunge force.The intrinsic mode function that represented the real fluctuation in the plunge force varied at the same frequency as the spindle rotational speed.When tunnel defects occurred,the fluctuation period features were consistent with those obtained during normal welding,whereas the ratio parameter defined in this study increased significantly.

Effects of traverse speed on weld formation,microstructure and mechanical properties of ZK60 Mg alloy joint by bobbin tool friction stir welding

ZK60B(Mg-6%Zn-0.6%Zr)alloy joints fabricated by bobbin tool friction stir welding(BTFSW)with various traverse speeds were investigated.The sound joint fabricated by the BTFSW was possible under the appropriate welding parameters.The severe plastic deformation during BTFSW resulted in dispersion and segregation of the Zr-rich particles within the stirred zone(SZ)followed by evolution of a bimodal grain structure with distributed bands of 0.8-1.7μm ultrafine grains and 4.1-7.1μm equiaxed grains.Micro-hardness of SZ is substantially reduced in contrast to that of parent metal(PM)in spite of the finer grain size owing to dissolution of Mg-Zn based precipitates having hardening effects on alpha-Mg matrix.With the decrease in traverse speed,randomization degree of the plasticized metal flow increases,which is evidenced by the randomized arc line pattern at the low traverse speed.Among all defect-free joints,the 200 mm/min joint exhibits the weakest isotropy of texture within SZ and the best tensile properties,which has reduced ultimate tensile strength and yield strength by 5.4% and by 22.2%,respectively,as compared to the PM.The randomized texture hinders the joint fracturing within SZ at low elongation.Therefore,a relatively high elongation of 10.8% was achieved,which corresponded to 72% of the PM value.

Dissimilar titanium/aluminum friction stir welding lap joints by experiments and numerical simulation

Dissimilar stir welding （FSW） lap joints were produced by friction out of Ti6A14V titanium alloy and AA2024 aluminum alloy sheets. The joints, welded with varying tool rotation and feed rate, were studied by ana- lyzing the maximum shear strength, Vickers microhardness and optical observations. A dedicated numerical model, able to take into account the presence of the two different alloys, was used to highlight the effects of the process parameters on temperature distribution, strain distribution, and material flow. The combined analysis of experimental measurements and numerical predictions allowed explaining the effects of tool rotation and feed rate on the material flow. It was found that tool rotation had a larger impact on the joint effectiveness with respect to feed rate. A competition between material mixing and heat input occurs with increasing tool rotation, resulting in higher joint strength when lower values of tool rotation are used.

Effect of position and force tool control in friction stir welding of dissimilar aluminum-steel lap joints for automotive applications

Widespread use of aluminum alloys for the fabrication of car body parts is conditional to the use of appropriate welding methods,especially if dissimilar welding must be performed with automotive steel grades.Friction stir welding(FSW)is considered to be a reasonable solution to obtain sound aluminum-steel joints.In this context,this work studies the effects of tool position and force control in dissimilar friction stir welding of AA6061 aluminum alloy on DC05 low carbon steel in lap joint configuration,also assessing proper welding parameter settings.Naked eye and scanning electron microscopy(SEM)have been used to detect macroscopic and microscopic defects in joints,as well as to determine the type of intermixture between aluminum and steel.The joint strength of sound joints has been assessed by shear tension test.Results point out that tool force control allows for obtaining joints with better quality and strength in a wider range of process parameters.A process window has been determined for tool force conditions to have joints with adequate strength for automotive purposes.

Corrosion Resistance of Friction Stir Welded Al–Cu–Li Alloy AA2099-T8

In order to study the eff ect of friction stir welding(FSW)on corrosion resistance of Al–Cu–Li alloy AA2099-T8,the microstructure and microhardness of FSW joints were characterized,and then,the corrosion behavior of the FSW joints was investigated by the immersion and potentiodynamic polarization tests in a 3.5%NaCl solution at room temperature.It is indicated that the alloy was softened by FSW,with the lowest hardness appearing at the boundary between the nugget zone and the thermo-mechanically aff ected zone.When exposed to the NaCl solution,the FSW joint was characterized by shallow pits and was free of severe localized corrosion,probably due to dissolution of T 1(A 2 CuLi)phase in the FSW joint.It is suggested that further work should be carried out to evaluate the galvanic coupling eff ect between the FSW joint and the base metal,as well as the stress corrosion cracking resistance of the FSW joint.

Deformation Characterization,Twinning Behavior and Mechanical Properties of Dissimilar Friction-Stir-Welded AM60/AZ31 Alloys Joint During the Three-Point Bending

The AZ31 and AM60 alloys were used for dissimilar friction stir welding(FSW)in this study.The microstructure characteristics of the joint and its three-point bending performance were investigated.The electron backscattered diffraction results showed that the grains in the nugget zone(NZ)were more uniform and refined to a certain extent after FSW,but the grain size of AM60 in the NZ was larger than that of AZ31.The texture was strong locally in the NZ and presented a symmetric distribution characteristic from the advancing side to the retreating side.There were special texture features in the joint,resulting in the occurrence of severe strain localization during the bending process compared with the base materials,which can be well explained by the calculated Schmid factor in terms of the assumed stress state for bending.The bending tests revealed that the joint presented good bending properties compared with AZ31 BM.The bending fracture morphologies suggested that the fracture tended to the NZ interface on the AZ31 side,which was mainly due to the higher SF for basal slip and dislocation concentration degree in the region,and the relatively lower bending strength of AZ31 metal.