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The role of pin eccentricity in friction stir welding of Al-Mg-Si alloy sheets: microstructural evolution and mechanical properties

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Abstract

In friction stir welding, geometrical and motion features of the tool or pin greatly influence the interaction between the tool and workpiece as well as the resulting joint microstructure and mechanical properties. In order to enhance the material flow by optimizing the tool geometrical features, a new strategy was proposed in this study to introduce eccentric motion by offsetting the pin from the tool shoulder, and thin Al–Mg-Si aluminum alloy plates were friction stir welded by varying the pin eccentricity. The material flow and mixing characteristic were analyzed by optical microscope and tracer material method. The grain size and micro-texture of the stir zone were analyzed by electron backscatter diffraction. Uniaxial tensile tests and digital image correlation were conducted to evaluate the mechanical properties and observe the in situ strain evolution. The results show that pin eccentricity has a positive effect on promoting the material flow and grain refinement in the stir zone. The texture intensity was increased as pin eccentricity was introduced, and the dominant texture component converted from C {001} < 110 > (without eccentricity) to \(\mathrm{B}\)/\(\overline{\mathrm{B} }\){112} < 110 > when eccentric pin was used. However, no discerning change can be seen in the thermal history between samples. Despite the variation in softening of the stir zone with eccentricity, the ultimate tensile strength change was negligible. The average ultimate tensile strength reached approximately 198 MPa regardless of the pin eccentricity, and all joints fractured at the heat-affected zone. However, the softened stir zone caused by pin eccentricity resulted in an obvious increase in the joint elongation. It can be concluded that pin eccentricity significantly improved the material flow and grain refinement in the stir zone as well as enhanced the toughness of the weld joint.

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Funding

This study is financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (52175194, 52105215, 52075047) and Fundamental Research Funds for the Provincial Universities of Zhejiang (Grant No. RF-A2019008).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310023, China

    Wentao Hou & Zhongyu Piao

  2. Key Laboratory of Special Purpose Equipment and Advanced Processing Technology, Ministry of Education and Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310012, China

    Wentao Hou & Zhongyu Piao

  3. College of Materials Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, 211100, China

    Wentao Hou & Yifu Shen

  4. Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada

    Yuquan Ding, Nazmul Huda & Adrian Gerlich

  5. Sino-French Institute of Nuclear Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai, 519082, China

    Guoqiang Huang

  6. Faculty of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering Technology, University Malaysia Pahang, 26600, Pekan, Pahang, Malaysia

    Luqman Hakim Ahmad Shah

  7. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, 710072, China

    Zhikang Shen

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  1. Wentao Hou
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  2. Yuquan Ding
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  3. Guoqiang Huang
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  4. Nazmul Huda
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  5. Luqman Hakim Ahmad Shah
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  6. Zhongyu Piao
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  7. Yifu Shen
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  8. Zhikang Shen
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  9. Adrian Gerlich
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Wentao Hou and Yuquan Ding. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Wentao Hou, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Zhongyu Piao or Yifu Shen.

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Hou, W., Ding, Y., Huang, G. et al. The role of pin eccentricity in friction stir welding of Al-Mg-Si alloy sheets: microstructural evolution and mechanical properties. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 121, 7661–7675 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-022-09793-x

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