The aim of the study was to analyse mechanical properties and microstructure of joints obtained using friction stir welding (FSW) technology. The focus of the study was on overlap linear FSW joints made of 1.4541 DIN 17441 steel sheets with thickness of 1.2 mm. Tools used during friction stir welding of steel joints were made of W-Re alloy. The joints were subjected to visual inspection and their load bearing capacity was evaluated by means of the tensile strength test with analysis of joint breaking mechanism. Furthermore, the joints were also tested during metallographic examinations. The analysis performed in the study revealed that all the samples of the FSW joints were broken outside the joint area in the base material of the upper sheet metal, which confirms its high tensile strength. Mean load capacity of the joints was 15.8 kN. Macroscopic and microscopic examinations of the joints did not reveal significant defects on the joint surface and in the cross-sections.

Welding strength is very important in safe use of polypropylene sheets. The determination of welding parameters and design of the welding tool has an impact on the weld strength. The welding parameters can be determined experimentally. In this study, Charpy impact test is used to determine suitable welding parameters in welding of polypropylene sheets with FSW method. At the same time, the weld zone microstructure is examined and Shore hardness measurements are made. The impact tests were performed on samples cut from the welded sheets. The impact tests values and hardness values were presented graphically. According to the test results, some welded parts behaved similar to the matrix material. In some welding parameters, Charpy impact test values were obtained close to values of the main materials. The suitable welding parameters were determined for polypropylene sheets welding.

This work presents a numerical simulation of aviation structure joined by friction stir welding, FSW, process. The numerical simulation of aviation structure joined by FSW was created. The simulation uses thermomechanical coupled formulation. Th model required creation of finite elements representing sheets, stiffeners and welds, definition of material models and boundary conditions. The thermal model took into account heat conduction and convection assigned to appropriate elements of the structure. Time functions were applied to the description of a heat source movement. The numerical model included the stage of welding and the stage of releasing clamps. The output of the simulation are residual stresses and deformations occurring in the panel. Parameters of the global model (the panel model) were selected based on the local model (the single joint model), the experimental verification of the local model using the single joint and the geometry of the panel joints.

Aluminum 6082-T6 panels were joined by friction stir welding utilizing a bobbin tool. A thermal simulation of the process was developed based upon machine torque and the temperature dependent yield stress utilizing a slip factor and an assumed coefficient of friction. The torque-based approach was compared to another simulation established on the shear layer methodology (SLM), which does not require the slip factor or coefficient of friction as model inputs. The SLM simulation, however, only models heat generation from the leading edges of the tool. Ultimately, the two approaches yielded matching temperature predictions as both methodologies predicted the same overall total heat generation from the tool. A modified shear layer approach is proposed that adopts the flexibility and convenience of the shear layer method, yet models heat generation from all tool/workpiece interfaces.

Considering the developing role of the friction stir welding in manufacturing industry, a complete study on the process is necessary. Studies on each stage of the process in particular, provide a better understanding of friction stir welding, and specially friction stir spot welding. In this study, plunge stage has been studied by experimental methods for investigating the temperature distribution around the tool during the plunge stage and microstructure changes of the workpiece. Experiments were performed on aluminium 7050 plates with coincident measurement of temperature. In the study, the tool which has a triangle pin is used. The results of this study are used as initial conditions for theoretical analysis of welding process. The results show that the temperature distribution around the tool is quite asymmetric. The asymmetric distribution of temperature is due to nonuniform load distribution underneath the tool and tilt angle of it. The temperatures of the points behind the tool are higher compared with points located forward the tool. Microstructural studies showed that four regions with different microstructures are formed around the tool during the process. These areas were separated based on differences in grain size and elongations. Grains near the tool are elongated in a particular direction that show the material flow direction.

The article discusses the basic issues related to the technology of friction stir welding (FSW). A short description of technology is provided. The following section provides the analysis of effect of technological parameters (tool rotation and welding speed) on the mechanical properties of the prepared joint (strength, ductility, microhardness). In both cases the analysis refers to aluminum alloys (6056 and AA2195-T0). The comparative analysis showed the phenomenon of the increase in weld strength along with the increase in the rotational speed of the tool during welding. Similarly, with the increase in welding speed, an increase in weld strength was observed. Some exceptions have been observed from the above relations, as described in the article. In addition, examples of material hardness distribution in the joint are presented, indicating their lack of symmetry, caused by the rotational movement of the tool. The analyses were performed basing on the literature data.

In this work, experiments were carried out to quantify the behaviour of friction stir welded (FSW) AA5082-AA7075 butt joints under tensile loading and completely reversed fatigue loading. Different samples were prepared to identify optimum tool rotational and travel speeds to produce FSW AA5082-AA7075 butt joints with the maximum fatigue life. ANOVA was performed, which confirmed that both tool speed and tool rotational speed affect the tensile strength of the weld. The samples exhibit a considerable difference in their fatigue life and tensile strength. This difference can be accounted to the presence of welding defects such as surface defects and porosity. S-N curve plotted for the sample shows a significantly high fatigue life at the lower stress ranges. Fracture surfaces were also analysed under scanning electron microscope (SEM). Study of the fracture surface of the sample that failed under fatigue loading showed that the surface was mainly divided in two zones. The first zone was the area of fatigue crack growth where each stress cycle, slowly and gradually, helped in the growth of the crack. The second zone was the region of fast fracture where the crack growth resulted in the failure of the joint instantaneously. The fracture surface study of the sample that failed under tensile loading showed that the mode of failure was ductile in nature.

Sound joint of hollow-extruded 6005A-T6 aluminum alloy was achieved by friction stir welding and its high cycle fatigue performance was mainly investigated. As a result, the joint fatigue limit reaches 128.1 MPa which is 55% of the joint tensile strength. The fatigue fracture mainly occurs at the boundary between the stir zone and thermo-mechanically affected zone due to the large difference in the grain size. This difference is caused by the layered microstructure of the base material. The shell pattern with parallel arcs is the typical morphology in the fracture surface and the distance between arcs is increased with the increase of stress level. The specimen with the fracture located in the stir zone possesses a relatively low fatigue life.

In the present study, butt joints of aluminum (Al) 8011-H18 and pure copper (Cu) were produced by friction stir welding (FSW) and the effect of plunge depth on surface morphology, microstructure and mechanical properties were investigated. The welds were produced by varying the plunge depth in a range from 0.1 mm to 0.25 mm. The defect-free joints were obtained when the Cu plate was fixed at the advancing side. It was found that less plunging depth gives better tensile properties compare to higher plunging depth because at higher plunging depth local thinning occurs at the welded region. Good tensile properties were achieved at plunge depth of 0.2 mm and the tensile strength was found to be higher than the strength of the Al (weaker of the two base metals). Microstructure study revealed that the metal close to copper side in the Nugget Zone (NZ) possessed lamellar alternating structure. However, mixed structure of Cu and Al existed in the aluminum side of NZ. Higher microhardness values were witnessed at the joint interfaces resulting from plastic deformation and the presence of intermetallics.

2060-T8 Al-Li alloy was friction stir butt welded under natural and water cooling conditions. Microstructures and mechanical properties of the welding joints were mainly compared and discussed. By spraying water on the top surface of stir zone, the grain size was reduced, attributing to the improvement of microhardness. The maximum tensile strength under the water cooling reached 461.1 MPa. The joint fractured at the stir zone due to the thickness reduction and the joint softening. The fracture surface consisted of many dimples with various sizes, indicating the typical ductile fracture. The strategy to apply the low heat input at the welding stage and high cooling rate at the cooling stage during FSW is necessary to obtain a high-quality FSW joint.

The paper presents the results of research work on linear FSW (Friction Stir Welding) joining aluminum alloys AA2024-T3 of 0.5 mm in thickness. The study was conducted on properly adapted numerical controlled 3 axis milling machine using a ceramic tool and special designed fastening device. The tool dimensions have been estimated according to the algorithm shown in the literature [4]. All joints were made of end-to end (butt) configuration under different welding speed. The rotational speed of the tool and tool offset was constant. The effect of selected technological parameters on the quality of the joint was analyzed. Produced butt joint have been subjected to a static tensile testing to identify mechanical features of the materials of joints compared to parent materials. Measurements of micro hardness HV in the plastically formed stir zone of joint and in the parent material have been carried out. Axial and radial welding forces in the joining region were recorded during the tests and their dependency from the welding parameters was studied. Based on the results of strength tests the efficiency of joints for sheets of 0.5 mm in thicknesses oscillated up to 96% compared to the parent material. It has been found that for given parameters the correct, free of defects joints were obtained. The paper also presents the results of low-cycle fatigue tests of obtained FSW joints. The use of a ceramic tool in the FSW process allows to obtain welds with higher strength than conventional tools. The results suggests that FSW can be potentially applied to joining aluminum alloys.