Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Effect of high rotational speed on temperature distribution, microstructure evolution, and mechanical properties of friction stir welded 6061-T6 thin plate joints

  • ORIGINAL ARTICLE
  • Published:
The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

High rotational speed friction stir welding (FSW) was successfully employed to weld 6061-T6 aluminum alloy thin plates. The effect of high rotational speed and fast transverse speed on temperature distribution, microstructure evolution, and tensile properties of friction stir welded 6061-T6 joints was investigated in detail. The high rotational speed with fast transverse speed had a significant influence on the peak temperature in the nugget zone (NZ). Increasing the rotational speed and decreasing the transverse speed could obviously improve the peak temperature in the NZ, but exhibit little effect on the heat-affected zone under high rotational speed FSW. The NZ was characterized as a significant refinement of the equiaxed grain. The number of precipitates, subgrains, and low angle grain boundaries in the NZ of high rotational speed FSW joint increased significantly due to moderate heat input and strain rate. The weld zone was seriously softened at low rotational speed, whereas it was alleviated at high rotational speed and was affected slightly by rotational speed and transverse speed. The excellent mechanical properties of the friction stir welded 6061-T6 joints were obtained at a combination of high rotational speed and fast transverse speed. The maximum tensile strength reached 301.8 MPa, 85.8% of the base material.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Miller WS, Zhuang L, Bottema J, Wittebrood AJ, De Smet P, Haszler A, Vieregge A (2000) Recent development in aluminium alloys for the automotive industry. Mater Sci Eng A 280:37–49

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Çam G, İpekoğlu G (2017) Recent developments in joining of aluminum alloys. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 91:1851–1866

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Zhan XH, Chen JC, Liu JJ, Wei YH, Zhou JJ, Meng Y (2016) Microstructure and magnesium burning loss behavior of AA6061 electron beam welding joints. Mater Des 99:449–458

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Peng D, Shen J, Tang Q, Wu CP, Zhou YB (2013) Effects of aging treatment and heat input on the microstructures and mechanical properties of TIG-welded 6061-T6 alloy joints. Int J Min Met Mater 20:259–265

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Scialpi A, De Filippis LAC, Cavaliere P (2007) Influence of shoulder geometry on microstructure and mechanical properties of friction stir welded 6082 aluminium alloy. Mater Des 28:1124–1129

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Simar A, Bréchet Y, Meester BD, Denquin A, Gallais C, Pardoen T (2012) Integrated modeling of friction stir welding of 6xxx series Al alloys: process, microstructure and properties. Prog Mater Sci 57:95–183

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Malopheyev S, Vysotskiy I, Kulitskiy V, Mironov S, Kaibyshev R (2016) Optimization of processing-microstructure-properties relationship in friction-stir welded 6061-T6 aluminum alloy. Mater Sci Eng A 662:136–143

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Ramulu PJ, Narayanan RG, Kailas SV (2013) Forming limit investigation of friction stir welded sheets: influence of shoulder diameter and plunge depth. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 69:2757–2772

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Ramulu PJ, Narayanan RG, Kailas SV, Reddy J (2013) Internal defect and process parameter analysis during friction stir welding of Al 6061 sheets. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 65:1515–1528

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Li DX, Yang XQ, Cui L, He FZ, Shen H (2014) Effect of welding parameters on microstructure and mechanical properties of AA6061-T6 butt welded joints by stationary shoulder friction stir welding. Mater Des 64:251–260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Hou JC, Liu HJ, Zhao YQ (2014) Influences of rotation speed on microstructures and mechanical properties of 6061-T6 aluminum alloy joints fabricated by self-reacting friction stir welding tool. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 73:1073–1079

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Liu FJ, Fu L, Chen HY (2017) Microstructures and mechanical properties of thin plate aluminum alloy joint prepared by high rotational speed friction stir welding. Acta Metall Sin 53(3):1651–1658

    Google Scholar 

  13. Liu HJ, Hou JC, Guo H (2013) Effect of welding speed on microstructure and mechanical properties of self-reacting friction stir welded 6061-T6 aluminum alloy. Mater Des 50:872–878

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Forcellese A, Martarelli M, Simoncini M (2016) Effect of process parameters on vertical forces and temperatures developed during friction stir welding of magnesium alloys. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 85:595–604

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Fehrenbacher A, Duffie NA, Ferrier NJ, Pfefferkorn FE, Zinn MR (2014) Effects of tool–workpiece interface temperature on weld quality and quality improvements through temperature control in friction stir welding. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 71:165–179

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Woo W, Feng Z, Wang XL, Brown DW, Clausen B, An K, Choo H, Hubbard CR, David SA (2007) In situ neutron diffraction measurements of temperature and stresses during friction stir welding of 6061-T6 aluminium alloy. Sci Technol Weld Join 12(4):298–303

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Arbegast WJ, Hartley PJ (1998) In: Proceedings of the fifth international conference on trends in welding research. Pine Mountain, GA, USA

  18. Mishra RS, Komarasamy M (2016) Friction stir welding of high-strength 7XXX aluminum alloys. Denton, TX, USA

  19. Arbegast WJ (2008) A flow-partitioned deformation zone model for defect formation during friction stir welding. Scr Mater 58:372–376

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. McQueen HJ, Blum W (2000) Dynamic recovery: sufficient mechanism in the hot deformation of Al (<99.99). Mater Sci Eng A 290:95–107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Kumar K, Kailas SV (2008) The role of friction stir welding tool on material flow and weld formation. Mater Sci Eng A 485:367–374

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Liu FJ, Fu L, Chen HY (2017) Microstructure evolution and fracture behaviour of friction stir welded 6061-T6 thin plate joints under high rotational speed. Sci Technol Weld Join. https://doi.org/10.1080/13621718.2017.1389837

  23. Hou JC, Liu HJ, Zhao YQ (2013) Influences of rotation speed on microstructures and mechanical properties of 6061-T6 aluminum alloy joints fabricated by self-reacting friction stir welding tool. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 73:1073–1079

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Nourani M, Milani AS, Yannacopoulos S (2015) On experimental optimization of friction stir welding of aluminum 6061: understanding processing-microstructure-property relations. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 79:1425–1441

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Woo WC, Balogh L, Ungár T, Choo H, Feng ZL (2008) Grain structure and dislocation density measurements in a friction-stir welded aluminum alloy using X-ray peak profile analysis. Mater Sci Eng A 498:308–313

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Lim SG, Kim SS, Lee CG, Kim SJ (2004) Tensile behavior of friction-stir-welded al 6061-T651. Metall Mater Trans A 35:2829–2835

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Simar A, Bréchet Y, de Meester B, Denquin A, Pardoen T (2007) Sequential modeling of local precipitation, strength and strain hardening in friction stir welds of an aluminum alloy 6005A-T6. Acta Mater 55:6133–6143

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Luo J, Mei Z, Tian W, Wang ZR (2006) Diminishing of work hardening in electro formed polycrystalline copper with nano-sized and uf-sized twins. Mater Sci Eng A 441:282–290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Afrin N, Chen DL, Cao X, Jahazi M (2007) Strain hardening behavior of a friction stir welded magnesium alloy. Scr Mater 57:1004–1007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Chen XH, Lu L (2007) Work hardening of ultrafine-grained copper with nanoscale twins. Scr Mater 57:133–136

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

The work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51575450); the Key areas of innovation team in Shaanxi Province (No. 2014KCT-12); the Natural Science Foundation of Shaanxi Province (No. S2016YFJZ0164); and the Research Fund of the State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing (No. 127-QP-2015).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, 710072, People’s Republic of China

    F. J. Liu, L. Fu & H. Y. Chen

  2. College of Energy Engineering, Yulin University, Yulin, 719000, People’s Republic of China

    F. J. Liu

  3. State Key Laboratory of Solidification, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, 710072, People’s Republic of China

    L. Fu & H. Y. Chen

Authors
  1. F. J. Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. L. Fu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. H. Y. Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to L. Fu.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Liu, F.J., Fu, L. & Chen, H.Y. Effect of high rotational speed on temperature distribution, microstructure evolution, and mechanical properties of friction stir welded 6061-T6 thin plate joints. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 96, 1823–1833 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-018-1736-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-018-1736-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation