Influences of welding speed on microstructure and mechanical properties of friction stir welded Al–Mg alloy with high Mg content

Abstract

Abstract In this work, the influences of welding speed on microstructure and mechanical properties in friction stir welding (FSW) of the hot-rolled Al-9.2Mg-0.8Mn-0.2Zr-0.15Ti alloy plates has been investigated. Microstructures and mechanical properties of the joints are characterized by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with electron dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), hardness and tensile testing. The results show that all the joints are free of volume defects at the welding speed of 25–100 mm min−1 and the fixed rotation rate of 1000 rpm. And all the nugget zones (NZs) are characteristics of fine grains with the high angle grain boundaries (HAGBs) fraction higher than 90% at the welding speed of 25–100 mm min−1. The mean grain size in NZs and tensile properties of joints exhibit a parabolic relation with the welding speed. Furthermore, the optimal welding parameters are the welding speed of 50 mm min−1 and the rotation rate of 1000 rpm. The as-prepared joint at 50 mm min−1, featured with the smallest grain size of 3.02 μm and a uniform distribution of the fine second phase particles in NZ, exhibits the highest elongation to rupture about 45% higher than the base metal (22.2 ± 1.6%) and the highest ultimate tensile strength efficiency of 87.4%. It can be attribute to the synergetic effect of the fine-grain structure with the high HAGBs fraction and the small second phase particles with a uniform distribution.