No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Aluminium and copper plates with 3 mm thickness were successfully friction stir lap welded at a lower rotation rate of 600 rev min 21 using a larger pin 8 mm in diameter. Good metallurgical bonding on the Al/Cu interface was achieved due to the formation of a thin, continuous and uniform Al-Cu intermetallic compound layer. Furthermore, many Cu particles consisting of pure Cu and intermetallic compound layers were generated at the lower part of the nugget zone, forming a composite structure with increased hardness. A lower rotation rate resulted in a decrease in annealing softening in the heat affected zone (HAZ), and a larger diameter pin increased the Al-Cu bonding area. These factors resulted in that the friction stir welded lap joint exhibited a high failure load of 2680 N with failure in the HAZ on the aluminium side.

Defect-free friction stir welds of 5-mm-thick pure copper plates were produced in relatively low heat input conditions. The characteristics of the microstructure and mechanical properties of the welded joints were investigated. The stir zone (SZ) exhibited equiaxed recrystallized grains, whose size decreased as the heat input was decreased. The percentage of high-angle grain boundaries (grain boundary misorientation angle >15 deg) in the SZ was quite high (90.2 to 94.5 pct) and increased as the heat input was increased. When the heat input was decreased, the percentage of the twin boundaries (TBs) dropped, and the number of the twin lamellas was reduced. Under a very low heat input condition, the typical characteristics of thermomechanically affected zone (TMAZ) were discernible; however, the TMAZ was characterized by a recrystallized grain structure at higher heat input conditions. The grains in the heat-affected zone (HAZ) were slightly coarsened compared to those in the parent material (PM), but the grain size varied a little under different parameters. The hardness of the SZ increased as the heat input was increased, and the lowest hardness appeared at the HAZs where the welds failed. The ultimate tensile strength (UTS) was similar to that of the PM under various heat input conditions, but the yield strength (YS) and elongation were lower. The YS increased as the lowest hardness value increased, and the elongation decreased due to the enhanced strain localization.