Microstructure and properties of electrically assisted stationary shoulder friction stir welded Ti6Al4V

Abstract

The effect of modifying microstructure and texture by electric current on mechanical properties of electrically assisted stationary shoulder friction stir welded Ti6Al4V alloy were investigated. The width of the ‘bowl-shaped’ stir zone gradually increased with the increasing current value and texture of the joints changed abruptly with an increasing current from 0 to 300 A. The macrozones consisting of similar orientated grains in the heat-affected zone have the highest deformation degree and the lowest hardness, while macrozones were not seen in the stir zone of both the friction-stir welded joints and the electrically assisted joints. Why the tensile strength and elongation reached the highest at a current of 300 A was explained in terms of microstructure and texture.

KEYWORDS:

• Electrically assisted stationary shoulder friction stir welding
• microstructure
• texture
• macrozones
• hardness
• tensile strength

Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the National Key Research and Development Program of China, grant number 2018YFB1306400, 2018YFB1306404 and the National Natural Science Foundation of China, grant number 51604015.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the National Key Research and Development Program of China [grant number 2018YFB1306400; 2018YFB1306404]; the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 51604015].