Mechanical Behaviour and Microstructure of Aluminum-Steel Sheets Joined by FSSW

Abstract

At the prospect of a lightening of the automobile structures, welded spots have been realized on a stacking of two sheets (a 6008 aluminum alloy on steel) Friction Stir Spot welding (FSSW). Different process parameters have been tested, but only the influence of the dwell time will be described in the present paper. The dwell time corresponds to the time during which the probe stays in rotation at its bottom location before extracting. A study of the microstructures and textures associated to mechanical tests (tensile shear tests) allowed determining the best set of welding parameters. The recrystallized area around the welding spot has been characterized by electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD). A mechanism of continuous dynamic recrystallization has been identified since the misorientation of subboundaries increases close to the weld, and this is for all the dwell times tested. Elsewhere, the increase of the dwell time induced a larger recrystallized zone. It has also been found that a long dwell time induced a larger welded area but also a higher quantity of intermetallic compounds (especially FeAl, Fe2Al7, and FeAl2) with high-microhardness values (up to 800 Hv). Thus, the dwell time must not exceed a certain value, otherwise it can weaken the weld.