Aluminum 6060-T6 friction stir welded butt joints: fatigue resistance with different tools and feed rates

摘要

The fatigue behavior of AA6060-T6 friction stir welded butt joints was investigated. The joints were produced by using both a standard and a threaded tri-flute cylindrical-tool with flat shoulder. The friction stir welding process was carried out using different feed rates. Preliminary tensile tests, micrograph analyses and hardness profile measurements across the welds were carried out. Welded and un-welded fatigue samples were tested under axial loading (R = 0.1) with upper limits of 10~4 and 10~5 cycles, using threaded and unthreaded (standard) tools at different feed rates. The best tensile and fatigue performance was obtained using the standard tool at low feed rate.