Tensile properties and fracture locations of friction-stir-welded joints of 2017-T351 aluminum alloy

Friction stir welding (FSW) is a new and promising welding process that can produce low-cost and high-quality joints of heat-treatable aluminum alloys because it does not need consumable filler materials and can eliminate some welding defects such as crack and porosity. In order to demonstrate the friction stir weldability of the 2017-T351 aluminum alloy and determine optimum welding parameters, the relations between welding parameters and tensile properties of the joints have been studied in this paper. The experimental results showed that the tensile properties and fracture locations of the joints are significantly affected by the welding process parameters. When the optimum revolutionary pitch is 0.07 mm/rev corresponding to the rotation speed of 1500 rpm and the welding speed of 100 mnVmin, the maximum ultimate strength of the joints is equivalent to 82% that of the base material. Though the voids-free joints are fractured near or at the interface between the weld nugget and the thermo-mechanically affected zone (TMAZ) on the advancing side, the fracture occurs at the weld center when the void defects exist in the joints. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.