Effect of Cavitation Peening on Fatigue Properties in Friction Stir Welded Aluminum Alloy AA5754

Friction stir welding (FSW) is an attractive solid-state joining technique for lightweight metals; however, fatigue properties of FSWed metals are lower than those of bulk metals. A novel mechanical surface treatment using cavitation impact, i.e., cavitation peening, can improve fatigue life and strength by introducing compressive residual stress into the FSWed part. To demonstrate the enhancement of fatigue properties of FSWed metal sheet by cavitation peening, aluminum alloy AA5754 sheet jointed by FSW was treated by cavitation peening using cavitating jet in air and water and tested by a plane bending fatigue test. The surface residual stress of the FSWed part was also evaluated by an X-ray diffraction method. It was concluded that the fatigue life and strength of FSWed specimen were improved by cavitation peening. Whereas the fatigue life at sigma(a) = 150 MPa of FSWed specimen was about 1/20 of the bulk sheet, cavitation peening was able to extend the fatigue life of the non-peened FSW specimen by 3.6 times by introducing compressive residual stress into the FSWed part. This is the first paper to demonstrate the improvement of fatigue properties of FSWed metallic sheet by cavitation peening.