Abstract
A series of friction stir welds was produced between heat treated Al–Mg–Si and strain hardened Mg–Al–Zn alloy sheets. Weld evaluation by transverse tensile testing showed a wide range of strengths and all the failures occurred along the weld interface. The formation of intermetallic compounds in the weld joints was investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy imaging, and elemental analysis techniques. Micro and nanoindentation characterization methods were used to evaluate the mechanical properties at the interface, including the fracture toughness. The fracture toughness measurements by a Vickers indenter introduced Palmqvist type cracks at all four corners of the indents and cube corner indenter resulted in the intermetallic chipping. The fracture toughness (K IC) calculation by both the micro and nanoindentation methods showed very low values, which is the primary reason for the brittle failure of the dissimilar weld joints and concomitant low tensile strengths.
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Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the financial support of the Center for Friction Stir Processing which is a National Science Foundation I/UCRC supported by Grant No. EEC-0437341. The authors thank Dr. Wei Tang and Daniel Wilhelm, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA for their help in preparing the weld joints.
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Venkateswaran, P., Xu, ZH., Li, X. et al. Determination of mechanical properties of Al–Mg alloys dissimilar friction stir welded interface by indentation methods. J Mater Sci 44, 4140–4147 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-009-3607-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-009-3607-4