No description available.

No description available.

O processo de soldagem por atrito linear com mistura (FSW) é uma técnica recente para a soldagem no estado sólido de materiais, em particular para o alumínio e suas ligas. O processo foi inventado na Inglaterra em 1991. Neste processo, as partes a serem soldadas são fixadas e uma ferramenta especial realiza a soldagem de forma contínua. A ferramenta possui uma velocidade de rotação e, durante a sua translação, o material é misturado no estado sólido e, conseqüentemente, soldando as duas partes. A junta soldada por FSW de alumínio AA 6063-T6, com espessura de 3 mm foi caracterizada. A soldagem foi realizada com uma rotação da ferramenta de 710 rpm e com uma velocidade de translação de 5,3 mm/s. A ferramenta empregada é do tipo three flats, com diâmetro do ombro de 14 mm, diâmetro do pino de 3 mm e com ângulo de 90° com relação à horizontal. Os corpos de prova foram soldados em três condições: um passe, dois passes e dois passes com inversão de rotação do pino. Após a soldagem foram realizados os seguintes tratamentos térmicos: solubilização, envelhecimento e recozimento. A junta soldada foi caracterizada por macrografias, micrografias, microdureza, ensaios de calorimetria diferencial e EBSD. Os resultados mostraram que existem ZTMAs diferentes conforme a condição dos de passes. O número de passes tem influência nas componentes da textura alterando de Cubo para Latão e para Goss + Cobre. Os tratamentos térmicos de envelhecimento e recozimento produziram as maiores e menores durezas do cordão, respectivamente. Foi observada a sinergia entre os fatores número de passes e região do cordão no tamanho de grão do cordão. O lado de retrocesso, após o tratamento térmico, apresentou os grãos mais finos. / Friction stir welding (FSW) is a recent process for aluminium welding in solid state. This process was invented in England in 1991. The welding process is done with a special rotating tool that travels along the joint while the parts are fixed. The tool has a speed and a rotation and during its translation the material mixtures in solid state and the joint occurs. The objective of this paper is to show the metallurgical and mechanical characteristics of a 3 mm thick Aluminum AA 6063 T6 plate welded joint. The tool rotation speed was 710 rpm and the translation speed was 5.3 mm/s. The type of the tool used was three flats, with a shoulder diameter of 14mm and pin diameter of 3mm and perpendicular to the plate. The samples were welded in three conditions: one pass, two passes and two passes with pin rotation inversion in the second pass. The welded samples were also submitted to solution heat treatment, solution heat treatment followed by aging and annealing heat treatments. The welded joint was studied with these main experimental techniques: optical and scanning electron microscopy, microhardness, differential scanning calorimetry and electron backscatter diffraction for texture analysis. The results showed different TAZs according to the welding conditions. The number of passes has influence over the texture components changing from Cube to Brass and to Goss + Copper. The aging and solution heat treatments showed the highest and the lowest hardness, respectively. Synergy between the welding conditions and weld region was observed for the grain size results. The retreating side produced the finest grains after heat treating.

Refill Friction Stir Spot Welding (RFSSW) is a new solid-state joining technology, which is suitable for joining similar and dissimilar overlap sheets connections, particularly in aluminium and magnesium alloys. This welding method is expected to have wide applications in joining of body parts in the automotive industry. In the present study, RFSSW has been used to join 1.0 mm gauge sheets of two material combinations: similar AA6111-T4 automotive aluminium alloy joints and a dissimilar aluminium AA6111-T4 to magnesium AZ31-H24 alloy combinations. The performance of the joints was investigated in terms of the effect of the welding parameters (including tool rotation rate, sleeve plunge depth, and welding time etc.) to improve current understanding and allow optimisation of the process for short welding-cycles when joining similar and dissimilar light alloys. The results of the investigations on similar AA6111 welds showed the ability to use a wide window of process parameters that resulted in joints with a successfully refilled keyhole and flat weld surface, even when using a welding time as short as 0.5 s. The joints in the as-welded condition showed strengths as high as 4.2 kN, when using welding parameters of 1500 rpm, 1.0 mm with a range of welding times from 0.55 to 2.0 s. All joints showed a nugget pull-out failure mode when using a sleeve plunge depth of 0.8 mm or more, as a result of increasing the joint area. The strength of the joints further improved and reached peak loads of 5.15 and 6.43 kN after natural and artificial ageing, respectively, for welds produced using optimised welding parameters of a 2500 rpm tool rotation rate, a 1.5 s welding time and a 1.0 mm plunge. This improvement in strength resulted from the improvement in the local mechanical properties in the HAZ and other regions, which results from a minimal HAZ due to the rapid weld cycle and the re-precipitation of GPZs and clustering on natural ageing, or β on artificial ageing. A modification to the RFSSW process was developed in this project to solve the problems faced when dissimilar welding Mg to Al. This modified process involved adding a final brief pin plunge stage to consolidate refill defects and it was successful in producing nearly defect-free joints with improved mechanical properties, using a wide range of the process parameters. The average peak load of the joints increased with increasing tool rotation rate, to reach a maximum value at 2500 rpm due to eliminating the weld defects by increasing the material plasticity. However, increasing the tool rotation rate further to 2800 rpm led to a decrease in the average peak failure load due to eutectic melting at the weld interface. The optimum welding condition was thus found to be: 2500 rpm, 1.0 s, and 1.0 mm, which gave an average peak failure load of 2.4 kN and average fracture energy of 1.3 kN.mm. These values represent an improvement of about 10 % and 27 %, respectively, compared to welds produced with the conventional RFSSW process, and about 112 % and 78 % of the Mg-Mg similar joints produced using the same welding conditions. A FE model developed in this project was successful in increasing understanding of the behaviour of the RFSSW joints when subjected to lap tensile-shear loading. The stress and strain distribution in the modelled samples showed that the highest concentration occurring in the region of the confluence of the SZ with the two sheets. With increasing extension, these regions of highest stress and strain propagated to the outer surfaces of the two sheets and then annularly around the weld nugget. This annular ring of high strain concentration agreed well with the failure path and results in the full plug pull-out fracture mode shown by the experimentally tested samples. The predicted force-extension curves showed high agreement with the experimental results, especially when including the effect of the hook defect and correction of compliance in the experimental results.

Friction Stir Welding (FSW) is a rapidly growing solid state welding process and has been a proven method for welding high strength aluminium alloys which were formerly not recommended for joining by conventional fusion welding methods. Based on the information acquired from previous studies, to obtain a defect free Friction Stir (FS) weld with suitable strength, three basic requirements need to be fulfilled (i) Filling of the cavity created behind the tool pin during its traverse and ensuring satisfactory contact of filled material with newly generated surface (on advancing side trailing edge of the pin) (ii) Disrupting and distributing the oxide layer at the initial weld interface (iii) Adequate level of mixing of both side material (Adjacent and Retreating side) in similar welding. In the case of dissimilar welding mixing is desired in controlled amount (to prevent or curtail formation of intermetallics) depending on material combination. Failure to achieve the first precondition results in void. Second and third precondition are interconnected for similar FSW as adequate mixing in weld helps in disruption and distribution of oxide layer at initial weld interface. Failure to achieve this, results in Joint Line Remnant (JLR). Metal to metal contact cannot be established due to the presence of JLR (aligned oxide particles) and subsequently initial interface is left unwelded which deteriorate the static and dynamic strength of friction stir welds. The problem aggravates while friction stir welding materials with tenacious contaminant layer. Therefore, appropriate stirring (which entails large deformation and mixing) of initial weld interface is essential for successful FS welds. Hence, process aspects assisting mixing of adjacent (Advancing and Retreating side) materials need to identified and studied, which are missing in former studies. Experiments are conducted with classical FS tool (possessing frustum shaped/tapered circular pin) to analyse the effect of welding parameters (tool rotation speed, traverse speed, plunge depth, tool tilt and tool position w.r.t initial interface) and tool runout by changing these parameters over a range. Tool rotation speed, traverse speed, plunge depth and tool position with initial interface are changed continuously and tool tilt and tool runout are changed in discrete steps. Tool geometry is considered to be a prime parameter controlling the magnitude of mixing, as interaction of rotating tool with initial abutting base metal interface makes the process mechanism complex, unlike other solid state welding process, namely forge welding, diffusion welding, friction welding, explosive welding, ultrasonic welding and roll bonding. Furthermore, due to asymmetric nature of material flow in FSW process, the material located in different locations with respect to the tool is subjected to different levels of deformation. For this purpose experiments have been carried out to analyse the effect of different tool geometrical aspects on level of mixing and material flow. On the other hand, visualizing flow and mixing in metals is debatable as insertion of marker material in the weld line can alter the nature of material flow in the weld due to different material flow characteristics of the base and marker materials and introduction of additional interfaces. Further, using dissimilar materials for flow studies cannot be considered for comparison with similar friction stir welds as their flow properties are different. Therefore, an alternate experimental strategy is devised in these studies using physical modelling approach which is effective and helps in identifying and quantifying mixing observed under different tooling and process conditions. In the present investigation, plasticine of primary colours is adopted and the hue attribute of colour is used to study and quantify intermixing. Yellow and Blue plasticine are placed on advancing and retreating sides respectively. The degree of mixing is indicated by the intensity of generated green. Digital images of the cross section in weld nugget region are taken. To obtain hue component of these digital images the RGB color-maps are converted to HSV color-maps. Overall, these studies help in formulating the guidelines which are useful during tool design, and administering the process to obtain a defect free well mixed welds. Based on the experimental results following conclusions are derived. 1. Following process aspects: tool geometry, interface offset, tool rotation and tool runout demonstrate a significant impact on material mixing and breaking and dispersion of initial interface in weld nugget. Tool tilt, plunge depth, tool traverse exhibit negligible effect on degree of mixing. 2. Increase in tool rotation speed (with other parameters fixed) improves mixing substantially but can be increased to a certain limit after which voids emerge due to loss of weld nugget material in the form of flash. 3. Reducing the weld pitch (i.e. increasing tool rotation speed for a given tool traverse speed) reduces the size of the weld nugget and vice versa. Tool traverse speed largely affects advancing side material and rotation speed affects retreating side material. Therefore, for higher weld pitch advancing side material (yellow plasticine) dominates the weld nugget, whereas for lower weld pitch retreating side material (blue plasticine) dominates the weld nugget. 4. The extended macro-structural feature commonly observed in FS welds occurs under influence of plunge depth. Consequently, this macro-structural feature serves as the demarcation point between shoulder affected and pin induced material flow in FS weld. 5. The degree of mixing and subsequent elimination of JLR, improves, when original interface is offset on the advancing side w.r.t tool axis for all the tools investigated in the present study. Triangular and square pin generate larger pin induced mixing which intensifies further with interface on advancing side, indicating tools with such profiles to possess larger safe zone with better mixing characteristics 6. At zero interface offset with all the process parameters fixed, tapered triangular and square pin profile tools produce welds with maximum mixing. For pins with faces, material is transported in lumps around the pin. The size of lump increases with lesser number of faces on pin. Material in the vicinity of the pin experiences spinning/whirling movement. The volume of material experiencing spinning in a single tool revolution depends on (a) weld-pitch (lesser volume of material for smaller weld pitch and vice versa) and (b) number of faces on the pin (lesser volume of material for greater number of faces and vice versa). Therefore, circular pin which can be considered to be made of infinite faces, spinning of material occurs at micro level for relatively smaller weld pitch. 7. For classical FS tool (tapered circular/frustum shape), there exists an optimum ratio (shoulder diameter/pin diameter) situated between 2.7 to 3.6 to produce void free well mixed welds. Tools with ratio of 2.7 and below possess a tendency to produce welds with void but with better mixing in weld region. Tools with ratio of 3.6 and above possess a tendency to produce void free welds but with poor mixing in weld region. Voids appear and grow under following circumstances (a) with increase in pin diameter (for a fixed shoulder diameter), (b) with decrease in shoulder diameter (for a fixed pin diameter), (c) with decrease in pin taper (for a fixed shoulder diameter and top diameter of pin). Pin length has no effect on void formation. However, it is obvious, length of root defect increases with decrease in pin length. The tooling guidelines established in this study through plasticine work can be extended to metallic friction stir welds of various thickness plates by proportionately increasing or decreasing the tool dimensions as long as they fall in the recommended range. 8. Smaller pin diameter tools exhibit higher optimum weld pitch (but with lower degree of mixing) when compared to larger pins (but with higher degree of mixing). Optimum weld pitch represents weld pitch resulting in void free welds. Consequently, tools with higher optimum weld pitch help in welding at a better rate. 9. Tool runout is replicated through tools with eccentric pins. It is interesting to note that, all the tools with pin eccentricities do not assist in mixing but tools with only certain eccentricities (0.3 and 0.6mm assisted in mixing in the present investigation). It implies that tool runout of certain values facilitate mixing in weld. On the other hand density of void increases with eccentricity of pin/tool runout. 10. In dissimilar FSW investigated with plasticine A, B, C and D possessing different flow stresses (flow stresses ascending in the order of A, B, C and D) and strain rate sensitivity of 0.24, 0.22, 0.19 and 0.18 respectively, following inferences are drawn (i) For combination A and B, weldability improves when plasticine B is on Advancing Side (AS) and A is on Retreating Side (RS). The level of mixing also improves when interface is on AS (w.r.t tool axis) for this handedness. On the contrary, severe discontinuities emerge when plasticine B is on RS and A is on AS, especially when interface is closer to the tool pin axis. (ii) For combination A and C, weldability improves when C is on AS and A is on RS. The level of mixing also enhances when interface is on AS (w.r.t tool axis) for this handedness. (iii) For combination A and D, joining is poor for both the handedness. However, nature of defect is different in both the combinations. Cracks are observed when A is located on AS and voids emerge when D is located on AS. On the other hand, placing A on AS results in weld thinning. (iv) For combination B and C, there is no appreciable change in terms of weldability and level of mixing. Both the handedness in this combination yielded fairly similar results. (v) For combination B and D, though discontinuities do not emerge with change in handedness, mixing in weld improves when B is on AS unlike to its location on RS. (vi) For combination C and D, there is no appreciable change in terms of defect formation and level of mixing with change in handedness. Both the handedness in this combination yield fairly similar results.

O processo de soldagem por atrito linear com mistura (FSW) é uma técnica recente para a soldagem no estado sólido de materiais, em particular para o alumínio e suas ligas. O processo foi inventado na Inglaterra em 1991. Neste processo, as partes a serem soldadas são fixadas e uma ferramenta especial realiza a soldagem de forma contínua. A ferramenta possui uma velocidade de rotação e, durante a sua translação, o material é misturado no estado sólido e, conseqüentemente, soldando as duas partes. A junta soldada por FSW de alumínio AA 6063-T6, com espessura de 3 mm foi caracterizada. A soldagem foi realizada com uma rotação da ferramenta de 710 rpm e com uma velocidade de translação de 5,3 mm/s. A ferramenta empregada é do tipo three flats, com diâmetro do ombro de 14 mm, diâmetro do pino de 3 mm e com ângulo de 90° com relação à horizontal. Os corpos de prova foram soldados em três condições: um passe, dois passes e dois passes com inversão de rotação do pino. Após a soldagem foram realizados os seguintes tratamentos térmicos: solubilização, envelhecimento e recozimento. A junta soldada foi caracterizada por macrografias, micrografias, microdureza, ensaios de calorimetria diferencial e EBSD. Os resultados mostraram que existem ZTMAs diferentes conforme a condição dos de passes. O número de passes tem influência nas componentes da textura alterando de Cubo para Latão e para Goss + Cobre. Os tratamentos térmicos de envelhecimento e recozimento produziram as maiores e menores durezas do cordão, respectivamente. Foi observada a sinergia entre os fatores número de passes e região do cordão no tamanho de grão do cordão. O lado de retrocesso, após o tratamento térmico, apresentou os grãos mais finos. / Friction stir welding (FSW) is a recent process for aluminium welding in solid state. This process was invented in England in 1991. The welding process is done with a special rotating tool that travels along the joint while the parts are fixed. The tool has a speed and a rotation and during its translation the material mixtures in solid state and the joint occurs. The objective of this paper is to show the metallurgical and mechanical characteristics of a 3 mm thick Aluminum AA 6063 T6 plate welded joint. The tool rotation speed was 710 rpm and the translation speed was 5.3 mm/s. The type of the tool used was three flats, with a shoulder diameter of 14mm and pin diameter of 3mm and perpendicular to the plate. The samples were welded in three conditions: one pass, two passes and two passes with pin rotation inversion in the second pass. The welded samples were also submitted to solution heat treatment, solution heat treatment followed by aging and annealing heat treatments. The welded joint was studied with these main experimental techniques: optical and scanning electron microscopy, microhardness, differential scanning calorimetry and electron backscatter diffraction for texture analysis. The results showed different TAZs according to the welding conditions. The number of passes has influence over the texture components changing from Cube to Brass and to Goss + Copper. The aging and solution heat treatments showed the highest and the lowest hardness, respectively. Synergy between the welding conditions and weld region was observed for the grain size results. The retreating side produced the finest grains after heat treating.

No description available.

No description available.

En soudage en phase solide, si la température peut avoir un rôle favorable, une sollicitation mécanique est également nécessaire pour s’affranchir de la couche d’oxyde recouvrant naturellement l’aluminium. Dans ce travail, on a ainsi cherché à comprendre l’importance de la sollicitation mécanique vis-à-vis de la création des jonctions métalliques. Dans ce but, 2 essais de soudabilité à froid ont été mis en place. L’essai de compression plane (CP) a pour but d’augmenter la surface à l’interface de soudage, de sorte à morceler la couche d’oxyde. Grâce à la microscopie, à une analyse par EF et à un modèle tensoriel de caractérisation de l’évolution des surfaces, les essais ont montré que, plus que l’importante déformation globale, le soudage se produit dans les zones de cisaillement maximum.Par conséquent, le second essai repose sur le cisaillement de l’interface de soudage : un tube sectionné est soumis à un effort de compression et de torsion alternée. Comme pour l’essai de CP, l’influence de divers paramètres a été étudiée. Parmi ceux-ci, l’état de surface (rugosités et propreté), l’angle de torsion (faible amplitude) et le nombre de cycles ont un rôle prépondérant. Les assemblages soudés ont ensuite été caractérisés mécaniquement et observés en microscopie (MEB-FEG, EBSD). Par rapport à l’essai de CP, on a pu constater une meilleure quantité et qualité des jonctions en compression-torsion alternée. De plus, un modèle thermodynamique a permis de conclure que les énergies mises en jeu sont trop faibles pour permettre un échauffement significatif : le soudage, sur environ 50% de l’interface en l’état actuel des choses, n’est réalisé que par des effets mécaniques locaux. / In solid-state welding, if the temperature generally has an important role (diffusion, recrystallization, etc.), a mechanical load is also necessary to override the oxide layer which naturally covers aluminium alloys. This work aims to understand the influence of the mechanical load on the formation of metallic bonds. To this end two cold weldability tests have been introduced. Firstly the plane strain channel-die compression of two cuboids sample aims to increase the surface at the welding interface in order to break up the oxide layer. Thanks to microscopy, a FEA model and a tensorial model of surfaces evolution, those results showed that, more than the important global deformation, welds were created in areas with maximum shear. Subsequently the second test aims to shear the welding interface: a tube is cut through its section and undergoes both a compression and a cyclic torsion load. As for our first weldability test, the influence of some parameters has been studied. Among them, the surface condition (roughness and cleanliness), the torsion angle (low amplitude) and the number of cycles are the most influential. Then the welded joints have been mechanically tested and microscopically observed (FEG-SEM and EBSD). In comparison with our first test, a higher quality and quantity of the joining has been showed. Moreover, a thermodynamic model concludes that the energies involved in this experimental process are too low to imply any local heating: the joining, on 50% of the welding interface as things stand, is only achieved thanks local mechanical effects.

Out of the known aerospace metal and alloys, Aluminium (Al) and Titanium (Ti) are important due to their unique combination of properties, such as strength, ductility and corrosion resistance etc. For these reasons, welding of these two materials, especially in the butt and lap configuration, has a significant impact for structural applications. However, welding of Al to Ti is a challenge due to wide differences in their physical properties and properties of the brittle intermetallic that are formed. Such problems in Ti-Al weld can be minimized if the temperature of welding is reduced. Therefore, many solid-state welding processes have been introduced for this system in the past few decades. Amongst these processes, Friction Stir Welding (FSW) is among the most appropriate for dissimilar materials in the butt and lap configuration, as this process involves lower temperature of processing. The present thesis is an attempt to address the issues pertaining to the friction stir welding of commercially pure Al and Ti. Though these commercially pure materials are seldom used in actual applications, where alloys such as Ti-6Al-4V and Al 2219 (and their variants) are used, this work is done to get a fundamental understanding of the underlying mechanisms during Friction Stir Welding (FSW). The study has been extended to the effect of using a thin strip of other metallic materials between Al and Ti. These inserts are likely to play a role in the formation of intermetallic and control the after effects of the formation of these intermetallic. Two metals have been chosen for this purpose, namely Zinc (Zn) and Niobium (Nb). The thesis has 8 chapters that attempts to systematically understand the process of FSW of cp-Al to cp-Ti. In Chapter 1 of the thesis, the FSW process is introduced with an emphasis on important parameters that control the welding process. In addition, a brief introduction of Al-Ti binary system is also given. Literature related to conventional solid state welding processes and friction stir welding process is presented in Chapter 2. In this chapter, previous works on the FSW of various materials is reviewed, with more emphasis on welding of aluminium to titanium. At the end of the chapter the scope and motivation of the present investigation has been outlined Chapter 3 includes the experimental details involved in the present study. In addition to the details of the processes and various characterization techniques used in the present investigation, the basic principles involved in various techniques, names as X-ray tomography, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) with Electron Back-Scattered Diffraction (EBSD), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Electron Probe Micro-Analysis (EPMA) have also been given. Micro-hardness and tensile tests results are also reported in this chapter. A detailed study on FSW of Al and Ti is presented in chapter 4 of the thesis. The effect of process parameters on the evolution of microstructure and mechanical properties has been reported. A bottom-up approach on experimentally determining the “process window” is presented. The results emphasises on the distribution of titanium fragments and intermetallic particles in the nugget zone and their influence on mechanical properties of the weld. The microstructural evolution in the matrix is also detailed. The most noteworthy observation is substantial grain refinement in the nugget zone due to the presence of fine fragments of titanium and intermetallic. Cross-tensile tests of the samples welded under the optimised conditions fail in the retreating side of the aluminium material and has strength more than the parent material. The last section in this chapter deals with thermal stability of the microstructures. Chapter 5 deals with the use of Zn as interlayer between Al and Ti. The microstructural evolution and its effect on the mechanical properties have been examined. The investigations clearly show that FSW of Al and Ti with Zn interlayer has superior mechanical properties compared to Al-Ti welds without interlayer. The resulting microstructure has a better thermal stability. The use of Nb as interlayer has been studied in chapter 6. The microstructural investigation of the nugget zone reveals that Nb interlayer does not readily form solid solution with any of the base materials and Nb gets distributed more heterogeneously compared to Ti itself. This has led to a reduction in the strength of the weld, however, the ductility increases The thermal stability of the microstructure is poor compared to FSW of Al to Ti with Zn interlayer. In chapter 7, salient features of the different micro-mechanism operating during FSW of the investigated combinations has been discussed in detail. Finally, the outcome of the thesis has been summarized and scope for future investigation is outlined in chapter 8.