Microstructure and mechanical properties of stationary shoulder friction stir welding joint of 2A14-T62 aluminum alloy

2A14-T62 butt joint was successfully welded by stationary shoulder friction stir welding(SSFSW)method.The results showed that using a pin with small shoulder could broaden the process window,and under a rotation speed of 2000 r/min and welding speed of 30 mm/min,joint with smooth surface,small reduction in thickness and little inner defects was obtained.The weld nugget zone was approx-imately circular,which was a unique morphology for SSFSW.The heat-affected zone(HAZ)and thermo-mechanically affected zone(TMAZ)were both quite narrow due to the lower heat input and slight mechanical action of the stationary shoulder.The fraction of high angle grain boundaries(HAGBs)exhibited a“W”shape along horizontal direction(from advancing side to retreating side),and the minim-um value located at HAZ.The average ultimate tensile strength and elongation of the joint were 325 MPa and 4.5%,respectively,with the joint efficiency of 68.3%.The joint was ductile fractured and the fracture surface contained two types of dimples morphology in different re-gions of the joint.Microhardness distribution in the joint exhibited a“W”shape,and the difference along the thickness direction was negli-gible.The joint had strong stress corrosion cracking susceptibility,and the slow stain rate tensile strength was 139 MPa.Microcrack and Al2O3 particulates were observed at the fracture surface.

Variant selection in stationary shoulder friction stir welded Ti-6Al-4V alloy

Stationary shoulder friction stir welding of Ti-6Al-4V of 7 mm thickness was conducted with varying welding speeds and rotation speeds. Variant selection analysis was carried out based on the inherited α phase texture and the reconstructed 13 phase texture. The weld surfaces became significantly smoother with increasing welding speed and decreasing rotation speed. Heat input decreased greatly with increased welding speed and it decreased slightly with decreased rotation speed. The orientation relationship between the prior 13 grains was measured based on the reconstructed electron backscattered diffraction （EBSD） data. Weak Variant selection has occurred in all the welds because most of the prior 13 grains did not share { 110} poles. Strong links between crystal orientation of the prior 13 grains and hardness have been found.

Influence of a non-rotating shoulder on heat generation,microstructure and mechanical properties of dissimilar AA2024/AA7050 FSW joints

Friction stir welding （FSW） and stationary shoulder friction stir welding （SSFSW） were carried out for the butt joining of dissimilar AA2024-T3 and AA7050-T7651 aluminium alloys with thicknesses of 2 mm. A comparison between the two processes was performed by varying the welding speed while keeping the rotational speed constant, Through the analysis of the force and torque produced during welding and a simple analytical model, it was possible to show that in SSFSW there is more effective coupling with the tool and the heat produced is more efficiently distributed. This process decreases both the welding area and the diffusion at the interface of the two alloys compared with FSW. The minimum microhardness occurred at the advancing side （AS） at the interface between the thermo-mechanically affected zone （TMAZ） and the stir zone （SZ） in both processes, although the decrease was more gradual in SSFSW. This interface is also where all specimens failed for both welding technologies. An increase in tensile strength was measured in SSFSW compared with standard FSW. Furthermore, it was possible to establish the mechanical performance of the material in the fracture zone using digital image correlation.