ABSTRACT
Friction Stir Welding (FSW) was utilized to butt-join 2024-T4 aluminum alloy plates of 1.9 mm thickness, using tools with conical and tapered hexagonal probe profiles. The characteristic effects of FSW using tools with tapered hexagonal probe profiles include an increase in the heat input and a significant modification of material flow, which have a positive effect on the metallurgical characteristics and mechanical performance of the weld. The differences in mechanical properties were interpreted through macrostructural changes and mechanical properties of the welded joints, which were supported by numerical simulation results on temperature distribution and material flow. The material flow resulting from the tapered hexagonal probe was more complicated than that of the conical probe. If in the first case, the dynamic viscosity and strain rate are homogeneously distributed around the probe, but in the case of the tapered hexagonal probe tool, the zones with maximum values of strain rates and minimum values of dynamic viscosity are located along the six tapered edges of the probe.
ABSTRACT
In wire arc additive manufacturing of Ti-alloy parts (Ti-WAAM) gas metal arc welding (GMAW) can be applied for complex parts printing. However, due to the specific properties of Ti, GMAW of Ti-alloys is complicated. In this work, three different types of metal transfer modes during Ti-WAAM were investigated: Cold Metal Transfer, controlled short circuiting metal transfer, and self-regulated metal transfer at a direct current with a negative electrode. Metal transfer modes were studied using captured waveform and high-speed video analysis. Using these modes, three walls were manufactured; the geometry preservation stability was estimated and compared using effective wall width calculation, the microstructure was analyzed using optical microscopy. Transfer process data showed that arc wandering depends not only on cathode spot instabilities, but also on anode processing properties. Microstructure analysis showed that each produced wall consists of phases and structures inherent for Ti-WAAM. α-basketweave in the center of and α-colony on the grain boundary of epitaxially grown ß-grains were found with heat affected zone bands along the height of the walls, so that the microstructure did not depend on metal transfer dramatically. However, the geometry preservation stability was higher in the wall, produced with controlled short circuiting metal transfer.
ABSTRACT
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.
