• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.499-504
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• 2002

The microstructural change associated with the hardness profile in friction stir welded, age-hardenable 6005 Al alloy had been evaluated. Frictional heat and plastic flow during friction stir welding created the fine recrystallized grain (Stir Zone, SZ), the elongated and recovered grain (Thermo-Mechanical Affected Zone, TMAZ) in the weld zone. Heat affected zone (HAZ), which could be only identified by hardness test because there is no difference in the grain structure compared with that of the base metal, was formed beside the weld zone. A softened region had been formed near the weld zone during friction stir welding process. The softened region was characterized by the dissolution and coarsening of the strengthening precipitate during the friction stir welding. The sound joints of 6005 Al alloys were successfully formed under a wide range of the friction stir welding conditions.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.87-92
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• 2002

Weldability of Friction Stir Welded(FSW) AZ31B-H24 Mg alloy sheet with 4m thick was evaluated by changing welding speed. The sound welding conditions mainly depended on the suffiicient welding heat input during the process. The insufficient heat input resulted in the void like defect in the weld zone. Higher welding speed caused a larger inner void or lack of bonding. The defects were distributed at the stir zone or the transition region between stir zone and thermo-mechanical affected zone (UE). The size of defects slightly increased with increasing welding speed. These defects had a great effect on the joint strength of weld zone. The weld zone was composed of stir zone, TMAZ and heat affected zone. The stir zone was cosisted of fine recrystallized structure with $5-8\mu\textrm{m}$ in the mean grain size. The hardness of weld zone was near the 60HV, which was slightly lower than that of base metal. The maximum joint strength was about 219MPa that was 75% of that of base metal and the yield strength was also lower than that of base metal partly due to the existance of defects.

• Journal of Power System Engineering
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.58-64
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• 2011

As well known, the friction stir welding is a novel welding process which is a solid state welding process for sheet or plate using the friction stir phenomenon. This paper describes the effect of welding condition such as the rotation speed and the travelling speed during the friction stir welding process on the micro Virkers hardness and the microstructure of friction stir welded joints in AI-7075-T651 plate. From those investigations, the highest hardness of stir zone was observed at the welding condition of SO-3. The microstructures of the friction stir welded joints was not dependent on the welding conditions, but in the SO-4 specimen, the friction stir welding defect like tunnel shape was found in stir zone.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.69-76
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• 2004

Effects of friction stir welding parameters such as tool rotation speed and welding speed on the joints properties of 5052 Al alloys were studied in this study. A wide range of friction stir welding conditions could be applied to join 5052 AA alloy without defects in the weld zone except for certain welding conditions with a lower heat input. Microstructures near the weld zone showed general weld structures such as stir zone (SZ), thermo-mechanically affected zone (TMAZ) and heat affected zone (HAZ). Each zone showed the dynamically recrystallized grain, transient grain and structure similar to base metal's, respectively. Hardness distribution near the weld zone represented a similar value of the base metal under wide welding conditions. However, in case of 800 rpm of tool rotation speed, hardness of the stir zone had a higher value due to the fine grain with lots of dislocation tangle, a higher angle grain boundary and some of Al3Fe particles. Except joints with weld defects, tensile strength and elongation of the joints had values similar to the base metal values and fracture always occurred in the regions approximately 5mm away from the weld center.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Marine Engineers Conference
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.331-338
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• 2005

The grain structure, dislocation density and second phase particles in various regions including the stir zone(SZ), thermo-mechanically affected zone(TMAZ), and heat affected zone(HAZ) of a friction stir weld 6.35mm thick aluminum 7075-T651 alloy were investigated and compared with the base metal. The microstruectures of nugget zone were compared according to tool rotation speeds and tool transition speeds. The hardness profiles of nugget zone were increased, while decreasing rotation speed and increasing welding speed. The optimal microstructure was gained at the low rotation speed 800rpm and th high welding speed 124mm/min. The nugget microstructures of fracture surface, transgranular dimple and quasicleavage type were showed different fracture type with the HAZ, shear fracture type.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.534-538
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• 2002

Dissimilar friction stir welding of aluminum (AI) alloy 1050 and magnesium (Mg) alloy AZ31 was successfully done in the limited welding parameters. The dissimilar weld showed good quality and facility compared to conventional fusion weld. Transverse cross section perpendicular to the welding direction had no defects. The weld was divided into base material of Al alloy, an irregular shaped stir zone and base material of Mg alloy. The irregular shaped stir zone was roughly located around the initial weld center. The weld interface near plate surface shifted from initial weld centerline to the advancing side. Hardness profile of the weld was heterogeneous, and the hardness value of the stir zone was raised to about 150 Hv to 250 Hv. The mixed phase was identified to intermetallic compound $Mg_{17}$Al$_{12}$ using x-ray diffraction method, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and electron probe micro analysis (EPMA). The formation of intermetallic compound $Mg_{17}$Al$_{12}$ during FSW causes the remarkable increase in hardness value in the stir zone.one.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.25 no.8
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• pp.370-375
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• 2015

In this study, to confirm the effect of alloying elements on the phase transformation and conditions of the friction stir process, we processed two materials, SS400 and SM45C steels, by a friction stir process (FSP) under various conditions. We analyzed the mechanical properties and microstructure of the friction stir processed zone of SS400 and SM45C steels processed under 400RPM - 100mm/min conditions. We detected no macro (tunnel defect) or micro (void, micro crack) defects in the specimens. The grain refinement in the specimens occurred by dynamic recrystallization and stirring. The microstructure at the friction stir processed zone of the SS400 specimen consisted of an ${\alpha}$-phase. On the other hand, the microstructure at the friction stir processed zone of the SM45 specimen consisted of an ${\alpha}$-phase, $Fe_3C$ and martensite due to a high cooling rate and high carbon content. Furthermore, the hardness and impact absorption energy of the friction stir processed zone were higher than those of base metals. The hardness and impact absorption energy of FSPed SM45C were higher than that of FSPed SS400. Our results confirmed the effect of alloying elements on the phase transformation and mechanical properties of the friction stir processed zone.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.34-39
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• 2012

This study was conducted to investigate the microstructure and mechanical properties of friction stir lap joints. Invar 42 and SS 400 were selected as the experimental materials, and friction stir welding was carried out at a tool rotation speed of 200 rpm and welding speed of 100 mm/min. The application of friction stir welding to Invar 42 effectively reduced the grain size in the stir zone; the average grain size of Invar 42 was reduced from $11.5{\mu}m$ in the base material to $6.4{\mu}m$ in the stir zone, which resulted in an improvement in the mechanical properties of the stir zone. The joint interface between Invar 42 and SS 400 showed a relatively sound weld without voids and cracks, and the intermetallic compounds with $L1_2$ type in lap jointed interface were partially formed with size of 100 nm. Moreover, the hook in the advancing side of Invar 42 was formed from SS 400, which contributed to maintenance of the tensile strength. The evolution of microstructures and mechanical properties of friction stir lap jointed Invar 42 and SS 400 are also discussed herein.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.253-255
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• 2003

Commercially pure 1050 aluminum alloy with ultra-fine grain sizes was produced by a friction stir process. The maximum temperature in the friction stir processed zone decreased almost linearly with the tool rotation speed. In the friction stir processed zone, dislocation density was very low and fine equiaxed grains were observed. The grain size decreased with tool rotation speed. It is noteworthy that, for 560 rpm, a grain size decreased to even the submicron level with only the single pass of friction stir process. These fine grains resulted in improvement in hardness of the friction stir processed zone.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.67-73
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• 2002

In an attempt to evaluate the feasibility of friction stir welding(FSW) for joining carbon steels, microstructures and mechanical properties of friction stir welded carbon steels with different grain structures were investigated. In comparison of O-type stir zone(SZ) appeared in various aluminium alloys, configuration of SZ in friction stir welded carbon steels displayed U-type. Plastically deformed pearlite band structure was identified to surround the SZ, indicating the existence of so-called thermo-mechanically affected zone(TMAZ). However, the TMAZ of carbon steels was much narrower than that of Al alloys. The microstructures of both stir zone and TMAZ revealed bainite matrix in a conventional carbon steel for shipbuilding, while, in the same region, ferrite matrix microstructures were formed in a low carbon fine grained steel. The conventional carbon steel showed superior stirring workability to that of the fine grained carbon steel. The yield and tensile strength of the friction stir welded joints were comparable to those of the base metals, and the elongation in welded joints demonstrated excellent ductility. Absorbed energy in SZ of the fine grained carbon steel was ten times higher than that obtained from conventional submerged arc weld metal of the same steel. Based on these results, the application FSW to carbon steels was found to be feasible.