Microstructures and mechanical properties of friction stir dissimilar AA2024-O/AA6061-T6 welded joints at varying tool rotational speeds
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Jun 30, 2025
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Abstract
Friction Stir Welding (FSW) is an innovative solid-state welding technique, especially for joints of unweldable metals or even dissimilar metals. In this study, FSW processes of two dissimilar metals, namely AA2024-O and AA6061-T6, were done at different tool rotational speeds of 910, 1500, and 2280 rpm whilst the welding speed was kept constant at 30 mm/min. This research was intended to improve the mechanical properties of the dissimilar FSW joints. A cylindrical pin-equipped tool was selected, and it was tilted at an angle of 2o during welding. Afterwards, microstructural observations, microhardness, and tensile tests were done. Results demonstrated that increasing tool rotation increased the peak temperature, accompanied by better mixing of different metals in the weld nugget zone (WNZ), hence resulting in improved microstructural homogeneity. The hardness distributions for all dissimilar FSW joints were characterized by the appearance of a high hardness region in the central part of WNZ, resulting in a peak of hardness. It was obtained that the FSW joint at 1500 rpm revealed the best ultimate tensile strength (UTS) around 170.38 MPa, which could be a result of precipitation hardening combined with a better homogeneity in WNZ.
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References
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[16] H. J. Zhang, M. Wang, Z. Zhu, X. Zhang, T. Yu, and Z. Q. Wu, “Nugget Structure Evolution with Rotation Speed for High-Rotation-Speed Friction-Stir-Welded 6061 Aluminum Alloy,” Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance, vol. 27, no. 3, pp. 1378–1386, 2018, doi: 10.1007/s11665-018-3228-7.
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[18] G. Çam, V. Javaheri, and A. Heidarzadeh, “Advances in FSW and FSSW of dissimilar Al-alloy plates,” Journal of Adhesion Science and Technology, vol. 37, no. 2, pp. 162–194, 2023, doi: 10.1080/01694243.2022.2028073.
[19] M. Ilangovan, S. Rajendra Boopathy, and V. Balasubramanian, “Effect of tool pin profile on microstructure and tensile properties of friction stir welded dissimilar AA 6061–AA 5086 aluminium alloy joints,” Defence Technology, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 174–184, 2015, doi: 10.1016/j.dt.2015.01.004.
[20] Y. Ni, Y. Liu, P. Zhang, J. Huang, and X. Yu, “Thermal cycles, microstructures and mechanical properties of AA7075-T6 ultrathin sheet joints produced by high speed friction stir welding,” Materials Characterization, vol. 187, no. February, 2022, doi: 10.1016/j.matchar.2022.111873.
[21] L. Buglioni, L. N. Tufaro, and H. G. Svoboda, “Thermal Cycles and Residual Stresses in FSW of Aluminum Alloys: Experimental Measurements and Numerical Models,” Procedia Materials Science, vol. 9, pp. 87–96, 2015, doi: 10.1016/j.mspro.2015.04.011.
[22] V. A. Karkhin, Thermal Processes in Welding. 2019.
[23] V. Drossou-Agakidou et al., “Administration of recombinant human granulocytecolony stimulating factor to septic neonates induces neutrophilia and enhances the neutrophil respiratory burst and β2 integrin expression results of a randomized controlled trial,” European Journal of Pediatrics, vol. 157, no. 7, pp. 583–588, 1998, doi: 10.1007/s004310050884.
[24] T. Edition, “Physical metallurgy,” Choice Reviews Online, vol. 43, no. 03, pp. 43-1586-43–1586, 2005, doi: 10.5860/choice.43-1586.