Microstructure and mechanical properties of friction stir welded powder metallurgy AA2024 alloy

Abstract

The extruded plate of powder metallurgy AA2024 aluminum alloy was successfully solid-state joined by friction stir welding (FSW) to demonstrate potential applications in the aerospace and automotive industries. For determining the optimal processing parameters of FSW, the microstructure, mechanical properties, and fracture behavior of FSW joints were evaluated. When the processing parameters were optimized with 2000 r/min rotation speed and 100 mm/min traverse speed, high quality welds were achieved. The ultimate tensile strength yield strength and elongation of the joint can reach 415 MPa (85% of the base metal strength), 282 MPa, and 9.5%, respectively. The hardness of the joint gradually decreased from the alloy matrix to the heat-affected zone. The lowest strength and hardness appeared near the heat-affected zone because of the over-aging caused by heat flow from repeated stirring during FSW. The average grain size of the stir zone (2.15 µm) was smaller than that of the base metal (4.43 µm) and the heat-affected zone (5.03 µm), whose grains had <110> preferred orientation.

Keywords

high-strength aluminum alloy / powder metallurgy / AA2024 alloy / friction stir welding / mechanical properties

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