Friction Stir Welding of Precipitation Strengthened Aluminium Alloys: Scope and Challenges

Abstract

High strength aluminium alloys are very attractive for high structural efficiency in aerospace structures. However, the full potential of these alloys is not realised because of lower joint efficiencies. Most of the high strength aluminium alloys use precipitation strengthening as the primary strengthening mechanism. Heat flux during friction stir welding of precipitation strengthened aluminium alloys correlates with the joint efficiency. the best joint efficiency results are observed in a narrow intermediate heat flux region. the origin of this is discussed in terms of precipitate dissolution, reprecipitation and coarsening. Low intensity post-weld plastic deformation and design of dispersion containing aluminium alloys are suggested as approaches to enhance joint efficiency in friction stir welded structures. © 2011 Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.

Department(s)

Materials Science and Engineering

Comments

National Science Foundation, Grant 1157754

Keywords and Phrases

Aluminium alloys; Friction stir welding; High strength; Joint efficiency; Precipitation strengthened

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

1362-1718; 1362-1718

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2024 SAGE Publications; Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (UK), All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 May 2011

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