Rising demand for improved fuel economy and structural efficiency are the key factors for use of aluminum alloys for light weighting in aerospace industries. Precipitation strengthened 2XXX and 7XXX aluminum alloys are the key aluminum alloys used extensively in aerospace industry. Welding and joining is the critical step in manufacturing of integrated structures. Joining of precipitation strengthened aluminum alloys using conventional fusion welding techniques is difficult and rather undesirable in as it produces dendritic microstructure and porosities which can undermine the structural integrity of weldments. Friction stir welding, invented in 1991, is a solid state joining technique inherently benefitted to reduces the possibility of common defects associated with fusion based welding techniques.
Weldability of various 2XXX and 7XXX aluminum alloys via friction stir welding was investigated. Microstructural and mechanical property evolution during welding and after post weld heat treatment was studied using experimental techniques such as transmission electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, hardness testing, and tensile testing. Various factors such as peak welding temperature, cooling rate, external cooling methods (thermal management) which affects the strength of the weldment were studied. Post weld heat treatment of AL-Mg-Li alloy produced joint as strong as the parent material. Modified post weld heat treatment in case of welding of Al-Zn-Mg alloy also resulted in near 100% joint efficiency whereas the maximum weld strength achieved in case of welds of Al-Cu-Li alloys was around 80-85% of parent material strength. Low dislocation density and high nucleation barrier for the precipitates was observed to be responsible for relatively low strength recovery in Al-Cu-Li alloys as compared to Al-Mg-Li and Al-Zn-Mg alloys.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc862787 |
| Date | 08 1900 |
| Creators | Sidhar, Harpreet |
| Contributors | Mishra, Rajiv S., Banerjee, Rajarshi, Young, Marcus L., Xia, Zhenhai, 1963-, Mukherjee, S. (Sundeep) |
| Publisher | University of North Texas |
| Source Sets | University of North Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | viii, 140 pages : illustrations, Text |
| Rights | Public, Sidhar, Harpreet, Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights Reserved. |
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