The development and application of friction stir welding (FSW) technology in steel structures in the shipbuilding industry provide an effective tool of achieving superior joint integrity especially where reliability and damage tolerance are of major concerns. Since the shipbuilding components are inevitably subjected to dynamic or cyclic stresses in services, the fatigue properties of the friction stir welded joints must be properly evaluated to ensure the safety and longevity. This research intends to fulfill a clear knowledge gap that exists nowadays and, as such, it is dedicated to the study of welded steel shipbuilding joints in GL-A36 steel, with 4 mm thick. The fatigue resistance of base material and four plates in as-welded condition (using several different parameters, tools and pre-welding conditions) were investigated. The joints culminate globally with defect-free welds, from which tensile, microhardness, and fatigue analyses were performed. The fatigue tests were carried out with a constant amplitude loading, a stress ratio of R=0.1 and frequency between 100 and 120 Hz. The experimental results show the quality of the welding process applied to steel GL-A36 which is reflected in the mechanical properties of joints tested.

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Friction Stir Welding has proven its merits for welding of aluminium alloys and is focused in expanding its material database to steel and titanium and also to assess new joint configurations. The use of welded structures in shipbuilding industry has a long tradition and continuously seeks for innovation in terms of materials and processes maintaining, or even, reducing costs. Several studies have been performed in the past years on FSW of steel. However, just recently were reported defect-free welds, free of martensite with stable parameters in steel without Primer. FSW of steel with primer has not been addressed. This work aims to fulfil a knowledge gap related to the use of friction stir for welding shipbuilding steel by analysing the effect of welding parameters on the metallurgical characteristics and mechanical properties of welds obtained with an innovative FSW tool in joining steel plates with a primer. Welds were performed in 4mm thick GL-A36 steel plates painted with a zinc based primer followed by a detailed microscopic, chemical and mechanical analysis. The results that matching fatigue properties are obtained using this technique, in FSW of shipbuilding steel with Primer.