Abstract
Friction stir welding (FSW) was carried out for Al-Mg-Si series aluminum alloys which are being used for automotive body structure. Consequently, Post weld heat treatment (PWHT) was applied to the friction stir welds to evaluate the effect of the paint baking process which is one of the automotive fabrication process on friction stir welded zone (FSWZ) in 443K for 1.2Ks. Grain structure and its crystal orientation distribution was measured about both the as welded specimens and the post weld heat treated specimens. An optical microscope (OM) and an field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) was used for observing the grain structure and measuring its crystal orientation distribution, respectively. Changes on the grain structure and its crystal orientation distribution were not detected. From the present results, it was confirmed that the paint baking process after FSW do not affect on the grain structure and its crystal orientation distribution of FSWZ. The comprehensive investigations will be performed for various automotive aluminum alloys manufactured by different processes, in the future.