Effect of Water Cooling and Vibration on the Performances of Friction-Stir-Welded AA5083 Aluminum Joints

Abstract

In this work, friction stir welding of Al5083 joining under different welding conditions was investigated. The vibration was applied by the motor into the fixture located under the workpiece while the cooling condition flows through a canal in the fixture under the weld line. The results indicated that water reduces the temperature distribution for all thermocouples. The microstructure of the stir zone for different welding conditions showed that the grain size reduces when water and vibration were applied simultaneously. The results showed that mechanical properties such as tensile test, hardness, formability index, and fracture surface of friction stir vibration welding with the cooling improve in comparison with those samples from other welding conditions. This was related to the development of smaller grains, higher strain rate, and lower input heat into the workpiece as vibration and water system were applied. Finally, the corrosion behaviors of samples under different welding conditions were analyzed.