FG Füge- und Schweißtechnik
Knowledge of the properties of dissimilar welds is of great significance for the development of multi-material lightweight structures. In this study, stainless steel (1.4301) and aluminum alloy (6082-T6) sheets were welded in overlap configuration in keyhole mode. The resulting weld metals were investigated with respect to their mechanical properties. Several samples were cut out of different locations along the welds and their cross-sections were subjected to indentation testing and energy dispersive X-ray (EDS) analysis. Young's modulus E, yield stress σy, and strain hardening exponent n, were determined by means of reverse analysis of the indentation load (P) – depth (h) curves, allowing construction of true stress – true strain relations. An essential increase in yield stress in comparison to the one of the base alloys was observed inside the weld metal. In contrary, Young's modulus and strain hardening exponent of the welds were almost identical to corresponding values of the base steel metal. Due to the sensitivity of yield stress to the aluminum content, slight variations of the welding parameters lead to significant changes in elastic-plastic behavior of the weld metal.
The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of the high welding speed on the mechanical properties and their relations to microstructural characteristics of butt friction stir welded joints with the use of 6082-T6 aluminum alloy. The aluminum sheets of 2.0 mm thick were friction stir welded at low (conventional FSW) and high welding speeds (HSFSW) of 200 and 2500 mm/min, respectively. The grain size in the nugget zone (NZ) was decreased; the width of the softened region was narrowed down as well as the lowest microhardness value located in the heat-affected zone (HAZ) was enhanced by HSFSW. The increasing welding speed resulted in the higher ultimate tensile strength and lower elongation, but it had a slight influence on the yield strength. The differences in mechanical properties were explained by analysis of microstructural changes and tensile fracture surfaces of the welded joints, supported by the results of the numerical simulation of the temperature distribution and material flow. The fracture of the conventional FSW joint occurred in the HAZ, the weakest weld region, while all HSFSW joints raptured in the NZ. This demonstrated that both structural characteristics and microhardness distribution influenced the actual fracture locations.