R.M. Leal

Material flow in heterogeneous friction stir welding of aluminium and copper thin sheets

Abstract The aim of this investigation was to study material flow during dissimilar friction stir welding of AA 5083-H111 to deoxidised high phosphorus copper plates of 1 mm thickness. The welds were performed using different tool geometries and welding parameters. The positions of the copper and aluminium plates, relative to the advancing and retreating sides of the tool, were also changed. It was found that the tool geometry and relative position of the plates deeply influence the morphology of the aluminium and copper flow interaction zones, influencing the distribution of both materials in the weld and the formation of intermetallic compounds. The material accumulated under the tool during welding was found as another important aspect determining weld morphology.

Effect of shoulder cavity and welding parameters on friction stir welding of thin copper sheets

Abstract The aim of this investigation was to study the influence of shoulder cavity and welding parameters on torque, defect formation, microstructure and mechanical properties of friction stir welds in very thin sheets of deoxidised copper. Three types of tools were used: a flat shoulder tool and two tools with conical shoulder cavities of 3 and 6° respectively. The welding parameters analysed were tool rotation and traverse speeds. It was observed that the torque, the microstructure and hardness and the formation of defects in the welds are influenced mainly by tool rotation speed and, to a lesser extent, by the traverse speed and shoulder cavity. The tensile properties of welds carried out at high rotation speeds are little affected by the shoulder cavity.

Microstructural and mechanical characterisation of 5XXX-H111 friction stir welded tailored blanks

Abstract Friction stir welds in 1 mm thick plates of AA 5182-H111 and AA 5083-H111 aluminium alloys are analysed in this paper. The welds were produced using a large range of welding conditions, namely, different process control modes (position and load control), tool parameters (different geometries and dimensions) and process parameters (rotation speed, advancing speed and axial load). Visual inspection and metallographic and mechanical analysis demonstrate that it is possible to obtain consistently good quality welds in very thin plates under a large range of welding conditions. Important relations between base material properties, tool geometry and the final properties of the welds were established.

Mechanical Behaviour of FSW Aluminium Tailored Blanks

The mechanical behaviour of homogeneous and inhomogeneous FSW aluminium tailored blanks is analysed in this paper. The heterogeneity in mechanical properties across the different weld zones is discussed based on hardness testing results. Tensile and formability test results are also shown and the mechanical behaviour of the welds is discussed in relation to the base materials. Despite the hardness tests have indicated very small differences in hardness, between the welds and the base materials, and the tensile test results also showed similarities in mechanical behaviour, the formability tests revealed additional difficulties in forming the welded sheets.

Material flow in Friction Stir Welding

Friction stir welding (FSW) is a solid-state joining technique initially developed for aluminium alloys. The heat generated by a rotating tool softens the material in the vicinity of the tool. The material undergoes intense plastic deformation following quite complex paths around the tool, depending on the tool geometry, process parameters and material to be welded [1, 2]. The comprehension of the material flow is essential to prevent voids and other internal defects which may form during welding [3]. Several techniques have been used for tracking material flow during FSW such as metallography, the use of a marker material as a tracer or the flow visualization by FSW of dissimilar materials or even the X-ray and computer tomography [4, 5]. Some of these techniques are useless in the analysis of welds in homogenous materials or welds between materials of the same group. The aim of this investigation is tracking the material flow in FSW between 1mm thick sheets in aluminium alloys AA 5182-H111 and AA 6016-T4, currently used in automotive industry.

Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Friction Stir Welds in Aluminium Alloys 2024-T3, 5083-O and 6063-T6

The aim of this research is to study the effect of the welding process on the microstructure and mechanical properties of friction stir welded joints in aluminium alloys 2024- T3, 5083-O and 6063-T6. A small loss of hardness and strength was obtained in welds in alloys 2024-T3 and 5083-O as opposed to welds in alloy 6063-T6, where a substantial softening and a drop of strength were observed. In alloy 6063-T6 a strength efficiency of only 45 to 47% was obtained.

Influence of base material properties on copper and aluminium–copper explosive welds

ABSTRACT The influence of base material properties on the interfacial phenomena in copper and aluminium–copper explosive welds was studied. Two explosive mixtures with different detonation velocities were tested. Sound aluminium–copper joints with effective bonding were achieved by using an explosive mixture with a lower detonation velocity. High energy explosives led to extensive interfacial melting, preventing the production of consistent dissimilar welds. Unlike to the similar copper joints, the aluminium–copper welds presented very asymmetrical interfacial waves, rich in intermetallic phases and displaying a curled morphology. The interaction of the materials in dissimilar welding was found to be completely different depending on the positioning of each alloy in the joint, i.e. positioned as the flyer or as the baseplate.

Microstructure and Hardness of Friction Stir Welds in Pure Copper

The aim of present research was to study the effect of the position of the tool relative to the support backing plate of the FSW machine on the formation of defects and on alterations of the microstructure and mechanical properties of friction stir welds in phosphorus-deoxidised copper (Cu-DHP) thin sheets of 1 mm thick. The welds were carried out using position control conditions; distances between the tool and the backing plate of 0.1 mm, 0.075 mm and 0.05 mm were used. The formation of defects like continuous voids along the weld is very influenced by the tool position, though the heat-input plays an important role in the process. Large grain refinement was observed in the nugget of the welds; the change of the relative tool position has little effect on this grain refinement. Substantial hardening was observed in the thermomechanically affected zone (TMAZ) of the welds. The welds exempt of defects, such as continuous voids, attained a little tensile strength overmatch condition.

Grain size refinement of Copper DHP by Solid State Processing

Due to its good thermal and electrical conductivity, improved plastic properties and excellent corrosion and oxidation resistance, copper is being widely used worldwide. Nevertheless, for some particular applications [1, 2], it is still desirable to improve copper strength, wear and fatigue resistance properties. These characteristics can be enhanced by suitable modification of materials microstructure by using solid state processing techniques, such as Friction Stir Processing (FSP) [3]. This technique makes use of non-consumable rotating tools to induce heat and severe plastic deformation in the materials to be processed. The complex thermo-mechanical phenomena developed inside the stirred volume, promotes strong microstructural modifications, which cautiously controlled, enables deeply transforming the microstructure of the materials being processed. In fact, FSP thermo-mechanisms leads to significant grain refinement, which drove the use of this technique towards producing ultrafine grained structural metallic materials from aluminium and other ductile metallic alloys [3]. Due to the high macro and microstructural heterogeneity resulting from FSP methodologies, as well as the extremely refined structure resulting from it, the microstructural characterization of processed materials is an especially difficult task, which requires skilled researchers as well as important microscopy and microanalysis resources.

Imaging characterization of friction stir welds in the AA 5182-H111 aluminium alloy

The environmentally friendly friction stir welding (FSW) process is being increasingly used in joining similar and dissimilar aluminium and copper alloys and other soft materials. In this process a rotating tool promotes significant shear strain and frictional heating of the base materials, in order to stir them into a highly plasticized weld region, at the trailing side of the tool. Due to the intense plastic deformation, complex material flow patterns, such as vortices, swirls and whorls occur during welding. In dissimilar welds, these patterns are readily revealed by differential etching and the respective microstructures characterized. However, in similar welds, such as the welds between plates of AA 5182-H111 aluminium alloy, it is hard to distinguish the different features in the welds and characterize their microstructures. Fig. 1 illustrates optical and TEM micrographs of a weld in this alloy. In the optical image of the weld, at the top of the image, it is possible to distinguish three main areas signalized by numbers: the weld nugget (1), with a very fine grain structure with 2.8 um mean grain size, and a transition region (2) between the nugget and the base material (3), which is usually called the Thermomechanical Affected Zone (TMAZ).