Mechanics of Composite Materials

, Volume 53, Issue 4, pp 515–524 | Cite as

Improving the particle distribution and mechanical properties of friction-stir-welded composites by using a smooth pin tool

  • Huijie Liu
  • Yanying Hu
  • Yunqiang Zhao
  • Hidetoshi Fujii
Article
First Online:
Received:
Revised:
  • 87 Downloads

Friction stir welding (FSW) is a very promising technique for joining particle-reinforced aluminum-matrix composites (PRAMCs), but with increase in the volume fraction of reinforcing particles, their distribution in welds becomes inhomogeneous. This leads to an inconsistent deformation of welds and their destruction at low stresses. In order to improve the weld microstructure, a smooth pin tool was used for the friction stir welding of AC4A + 30 vol.% SiC particle-reinforced aluminum-matrix composites. The present work describes the effect of welding parameters on the characteristics of particle distribution and the mechanical properties of welds. The ultimate strength of weld reached, 309 MPa, was almost 190% of that of the basic material. The mechanism of SiC particle conglomeration is clearly illustrated by means of schematic illustrations.

Keywords

aluminum-matrix composites friction stir welding mechanical properties microstructure conglomeration mechanism 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Notes

Acknowledgement

The authors wish to express sincere thanks to the National Natural Science Foundation of China for the financial support (Grant No. 51435004) and to Osaka University for the experimental support.

References

  1. 1.
    L. Ceschini, I. Boromei, G. Minak, A. Morri, and F. Tarterini, “Effect of friction stir welding on microstructure, tensile and fatigue properties of the AA7005/10 vol.% Al2O3p composite,” Compos. Sci. Technol., 67, No. 3-4, 605-615 (2007)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. 2.
    Y. F. Sun and H. Fujii, “The effect of SiC particles on the microstructure and mechanical properties of friction stir welded pure copper joints,” Mat. Sci. Eng. a-Struct., 528, No. 16-17, 5470-5475 (2011)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. 3.
    D. Wang, Q. Z. Wang, B. L. Xiao, and Z. Y. Ma, “Achieving friction stir welded SiCp/Al–Cu–Mg composite joint of nearly equal strength to base material at high welding speed,” Mat. Sci. Eng., A.. 589, 271-274 (2014).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. 4.
    R. Gürler, “Fusion welding of SiC particulate-reinforced aluminum 392 metal matrix composite,” J. Mater. Sci. Lett., 17, No. 18, 1543-1544 (1998)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  5. 5.
    P. Bassani, E. Capello, D. Colombo, B. Previtali, and M. Vedani, “Effect of process parameters on bead properties of A359/SiC MMCs welded by laser,” Composites: Part a-Appl. S., 38, No. 4, 1089-1098 (2007).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. 6.
    N. B. Dahotre, T. D. McCay, and M. H. McCay, “Laser processing of a SiC/Al-alloy metal matrix composite,” J. Appl. Phys., 65, No. 12, 5072 (1989).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. 7.
    W. P. Weng and T. H. Chuang, “Interfacial characteristics for brazing of aluminum matrix composites with Al-12Si filler metals,” Metall. Mater. Trans. A., 28, No. 12, 2673-2682 (1997).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. 8.
    J. Huang, Y. Wan, H. Zhang, and X. Zhao, “TLP bonding of SiCp/2618Al composites using mixed Al–Ag–Cu system powders as interlayers,” J. Mater. Sci., 42, No. 23, 9746-9749 (2007).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. 9.
    R. S. Mishra and Z. Y. Ma, “Friction stir welding and processing,” Mat. Sci. Eng. R., 50, No. 1-2, 1-78 (2005).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. 10.
    D. R. Ni, D. L. Chen, D. Wang, B. L. Xiao, and Z. Y. Ma, “Influence of microstructural evolution on tensile properties of friction stir welded joint of rolled SiCp/AA2009-T351 sheet,” Materials & Design, 51, 199-205 (2013).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. 11.
    M. Amirizad, A. H. Kokabi, M. A. Gharacheh, R. Sarrafi, B. S. Amirkhiz, and M. Azizieh, “Evaluation of microstructure and mechanical properties in friction stir welded A356+15%SiCp cast composite,” Mater. Lett., 60, No. 4,:565-568 (2006).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  12. 12.
    G. J. Fernandez and L. E. Murr, “Characterization of tool wear and weld optimization in the friction-stir welding of cast aluminum 359+20% SiC metal-matrix composite,” Mater. Charact., 52, No. 1, 65-75 (2004).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  13. 13.
    M. Bahrami, M. K. Besharati Givi, K. Dehghani, and N. Parvin, “On the role of pin geometry in microstructure and mechanical properties of AA7075/SiC nano-composite fabricated by friction stir welding technique,” Materials & Design, 53, 519-527 (2014).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. 14.
    T. Feng, Z. Q. Yu, Y. Han, Y. A. Zhang, and Y. Z. Wang, “Friction stir welding microstructure of SiCp/2024Al MMC,” J. Aeronautical Mater., 33, No. 4, 27-31 (2013.Google Scholar
  15. 15.
    H. J. Liu, Y. Y. Hu, Y. Q. Zhao, and H. Fujii, “Microstructure and mechanical properties of friction stir welded AC4A+30vol.%SiCp composite,” Mater. Des., 65, 395-400 (2015).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. 16.
    H. J. Liu, J. C. Feng, H. Fujii, K. Nogi, “Wear characteristics of a WC–Co tool in friction stir welding of AC4A+30vol%SiCp composite,” Int. J. Mach. Tool Manu., 45, No. 14, 1635-1639 (2005).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. 17.
    Y. H. Zhao, S. B. Lin, L. Wu, and F. X. Qu, “The influence of pin geometry on bonding and mechanical properties in friction stir weld 2014 Al alloy,” Mater. Lett., 59, No. 23, 2948-2952 (2005).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. 18.
    H. Fujii, L. Cui, M. Maeda, and K. Nogi, “Effect of tool shape on mechanical properties and microstructure of friction stir welded aluminum alloys,” Mat. Sci. Eng. a-Struct., 419, No. 1-2, 25-31 (2006).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. 19.
    H. J. Liu, H. Fujii, M. Maeda, and K. Nogi, “Heterogeneity of mechanical properties of friction stir welded joints of 1050-H24 aluminum alloy,” J. Mater. Sci. Lett., 22, No. 6, 441-444 (2003).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  20. 20.
    H. J. Liu, H. Fujii, M. Maeda, and K. Nogi, “Tensile fracture location characterizations of friction stir welded joints of different aluminum alloys,” J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 20, No. 1, 103-105 (2004).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  21. 21.
    S. R. Ren, Z. Y. Ma, and L. Q. Chen, “Effect of welding parameters on tensile properties and fracture behavior of friction stir welded Al–Mg–Si alloy,” Scripta Mater., 56, No. 1, 69-72 (2007).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. 22.
    R. S. Mishra and M. W. Mahoney, Friction Stir Welding and Processing. Materials Park, Ohio: ASM International, 2007.Google Scholar
  23. 23.
    Y. S. Sato, M. Urata, H. Kokawa, K. Ikeda, and M. Enomoto, “Retention of fine grained microstructure of equal channel angular pressed aluminum alloy 1050 by friction stir welding.” Scripta Mater., 45, No. 1, 109-114 (2001).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  24. 24.
    A. Sato and R. Mehrabian, “Aluminum matrix composites: Fabrication and properties,” Metall. Trans. B., 7, No. 3, 443-451 (1976).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  25. 25.
    M. Guerra, C. Schmidt, J. C. McClure, L. E. Murr, and A. C. Nunes, “Flow patterns during friction stir welding,” Mater. Charact., 49, No. 2, 95-101 (2002).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  26. 26.
    L. M. Marzoli, A. V. Strombeck, J. F. Dos Santos, C. Gambaro, and L. M. Volpone, “Friction stir welding of an AA6061/Al2O3/20p reinforced alloy,” Compos. Sci. Technol., 66, No. 2, 363-371 (2006).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  27. 27.
    K. V. Jata and S. L. Semiatin, “Continuous dynamic recrystallization during friction stir welding of high strength aluminum alloys,” Scripta Mater., 43, No. 8, 743-749 (2000).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  28. 28.
    D. P. Field, T. W. Nelson, Y. Hovanski, and K. V. Jata, “Heterogeneity of crystallographic texture in friction stir welds of aluminum,” Metall. Mater. Trans. A., 32, No. 11, 2869-2877 (2001).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  29. 29.
    Y. Li, L. E. Murr, and J. C. McClure, “Flow visualization and residual microstructures associated with the friction-stir welding of 2024 aluminum to 6061 aluminum,” Mat. Sci. Eng. A., 271, No. 1-2, 213-223 (1999).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  30. 30.
    E. O. Hall, The deformation and ageing of mild steel: III Discussion of results,” Proc. Phys. Soc. Sect. B, 64, No. 9,747-753 (1951);CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  31. 31.
    J. C. McClure, W. Tang, L. Murr, X. Guo, Z. Feng, and J. E. Gould, “A thermal model of friction stir welding,” Proc. 5th Int. Conf. on Trends in Welding Research, Pine Mountain,GA1998. p. 590-595.Google Scholar
  32. 32.
    Y. J. Chao and X. Qi, “Heat transfer and thermo-mechanical analysis of friction stir joining of AA6061-T6 plates,” 1st Int. Symp. on Friction Stir Welding, Thousand Oaks,CA: Rockwell Science Center, 1999.Google Scholar
  33. 33.
    M. Russell and H. Shercliff, “Analytical modelling of microstructure development in friction stir welding,” 1st Int. Symp. on Friction Stir Welding, Thousand Oaks,CA: Rockwell Science Center; 1999.Google Scholar
  34. 34.
    O. Frigaard, O. Grong, O. Bjørneklett, and O. Midling, “Modeling of thermal and microstructure fields during friction stir welding of aluminum alloys,” 1st Int. Symp. on Friction Stir Welding, Thousand Oaks,CA: Rockwell Science Center; 1999.Google Scholar
  35. 35.
    P. A. Colegrove, 3-Dimensional Flow and Thermal Modelling of the Friction Stir Welding Process, University of Adelaide, Department of Mechanical Engineering; 2002.Google Scholar
  36. 36.
    M. W. Mahoney, C. G. Rhodes, J. G. Flintoff, W. H. Bingel, and R. A. Spurling, “Properties of friction-stir-welded 7075 T651 aluminum,” Metall. Mater. Trans. A, 29, No. 7, 1955-1964 (1998).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  37. 37.
    K. Colligan, “Material flow behaviour during friction welding of aluminum,” Weld J., 78, No. 7, 229-237 (1999).Google Scholar
  38. 38.
    A. P. Reynolds, “Visualisation of material flow in autogenous friction stir welds,” Sci. Technol. Weld Joining, 5, No. 2, 120-124 (2000).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  39. 39.
    H. B. Schmidt and J. H. Hattel, “Thermal modelling of friction stir welding,” Scripta Mater., 58, No. 5, 332-337 (2008).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2017

Authors and Affiliations

  • Huijie Liu
    • 1
  • Yanying Hu
    • 1
  • Yunqiang Zhao
    • 1
  • Hidetoshi Fujii
    • 2
  1. 1.State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and JoiningHarbin Institute of TechnologyHarbinP.R. China
  2. 2.Joining and Welding Research InstituteOsaka UniversityOsakaJapan

Personalised recommendations