Effects of Heat Transfer on Microhardness and Microstructure of Friction Stir Welded AA 6061 Aluminum Alloy

Abstract

In this research work, the effects of heat transfer on microhardness, microstructures of friction stir welded AA 6061-T6 Aluminum alloy butt joints advancing side and retreating side are analyzed. A three dimensional finite element model is developed to study the thermal history in the butt welding of AA 6061 aluminum alloy using ANSYS package. Solid 70 elements are used to develop the model and a moving co-ordinate has been introduced to model the three-dimensional heat transfer process because it reduces the difficulty of modeling the moving tool. In this model, the main parameter considered is the heat input from the tool shoulder and tool pin. As a result, the temperature distributions of the weld at a welding speed of 1.25mm/sec were obtained.