Open AccessJournal Article
Material flow behavior during friction stir welding of aluminum
TLDR
In this paper, material movement within friction stir welds is either simple extrusion or chaotic mixing, depending on where within the weld zone the material originates, and two new techniques for visualizing material flow patterns are presented.Abstract:
Friction stir welding (FSW) is a new technique for joining aluminum alloys. Invented in 1991 at The Welding Institute (Ref. 1), this technique results in low distortion and high joint strength compared with other techniques, and is capable of joining all aluminum alloys. To date, the majority of research has concentrated on developing the tools and procedures for making reliable welds in a variety of alloys, on characterizing the properties of welds and on developing design allowables (Refs. 2-7). However, very little is known about material flow behavior during welding. The purpose of the current study is to document the movement of material during friction stir welding as a means of developing a conceptual model of the deformation process. In this paper, two new techniques for visualizing material flow patterns in friction stir welds are presented. Based on measured results in welds of 6061 and 7075 aluminum, material movement within friction stir welds is by either simple extrusion or chaotic mixing, depending on where within the weld zone the material originates. These results impact the development of welding procedures and suggest ways to model the process for predicting welding tool performance.read more
Citations
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Recent advances in friction-stir welding : Process, weldment structure and properties
TL;DR: In this article, the authors deal with the fundamental understanding of the process and its metallurgical consequences, focusing on heat generation, heat transfer and plastic flow during welding, elements of tool design, understanding defect formation and the structure and properties of the welded materials.
Journal ArticleDOI
On the formation of onion rings in friction stir welds
TL;DR: In this paper, the formation of onion rings is found to be a geometric effect due to the fact that cylindrical sheets of material are extruded during each rotation of the tool and the cutting through the section of the material produces an apparent "Onion Rings".
Journal ArticleDOI
A review of numerical analysis of friction stir welding
TL;DR: In this article, the authors review the latest developments in the numerical analysis of friction stir welding processes, microstructures of friction-stir welded joints and the properties of friction spat welded structures.
Book
Flow Patterns During Friction Stir Welding
TL;DR: In this article, the flow of metal during friction stir welding is investigated using a faying surface tracer and a nib frozen in place during welding, showing that material is transported by two processes: a wiping of material from the advancing front side of the nib onto a zone of material that rotates and advances with the nib.
Journal ArticleDOI
Friction stir welding: Process, automation, and control
Brian T. Gibson,D.H. Lammlein,Tracie Prater,William R. Longhurst,Chase Cox,Marjorie C. Ballun,K.J. Dharmaraj,George E. Cook,Alvin M. Strauss +8 more
TL;DR: In this article, the basic principles of friction stir welding (FSW) are discussed, including terminology, material flow, joint configurations, tool design, materials, and defects, with an emphasis on recent advances in aerospace, automotive, and ship building.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Properties of friction-stir-welded 7075 T651 aluminum
TL;DR: Friction stir welding (FSW) was used to weld 7075 T651 aluminum, an alloy considered essentially unweldable by fusion processes as discussed by the authors, which exposed the alloy to a short time, high-temperature spike, while introducing extensive localized deformation.
Journal ArticleDOI
Effects of friction stir welding on microstructure of 7075 aluminum
TL;DR: In this article, the microstructural changes effected by friction stir welding of 7075 Al. were evaluated and the authors concluded that friction-stir welding has the potential to avoid significant changes in microstructure and mechanical properties.
Patent
Friction stir welding
TL;DR: In this paper, the friction stir welding method is provided for welding two metal members 1 by using a rotary tool F including an agitation pin F2 and connected to the rotary shaft of a friction stir apparatus D.