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CITATIONS
15
2 AUTHORS:
P. Edwards
M. Ramulu
Tesla Motors
SEE PROFILE
SEE PROFILE
Introduction
Ti6Al4V is the most used of all the titanium alloys. It
accounts for more than 50% of worldwide titanium
usage.1 Furthermore, of all the titanium alloys, Ti6Al
4V is considered to be the most highly weldable via
standard fusion welding processes such as arc, laser or
electron beam. These joining processes produce large
grained, martensitic, cast type microstructures that
result in adverse effects on the mechanical properties
of the joints.1 Solid state joining processes such as
friction stir welding (FSW) are able to retain the
microstructural integrity of the parent material in the
welded joint, thereby producing mechanical properties
that are more comparable with those of the parent
material. Friction stir welding has been successfully
applied to the joining of metals such as aluminium,
magnesium, copper and even steel.2,3 Only recently has
FSW been applied to high strength, high temperature
materials such as steel and titanium mainly due to the
difficulties associated identifying tooling materials that
can withstand the temperatures and loads involved with
welding such materials.
Mishra et al.2,3 and Nandan et al.4 have recently
provided excellent reviews of the FSW process, weld
characterisation, modelling and its applications for a
variety of materials including aluminium and titanium.
However, because the application of FSW to titanium
alloys is relatively new and information available is
scarce, there still exists an opportunity for process
development and joint characterisation. The purpose of
this paper is to review the developments in titanium
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a optical micrograph of standard Ti6Al4V microstructure; b scanning electron micrograph of standard Ti6Al4V
microstructure
1 Standard Ti6Al4V micrographs
Experimental procedure
Material
The material used this investigation is the Ti6Al4V
titanium alloy possessing a average grain size that is
typically on the order of 810 mm. The thicknesses used
are 3, 6, 9 and 12 mm. The chemical composition for
this material is 6Al0?8C0?15H0?4Fe0?05N0?2O
9Ti4V and typical representative microstructures at low
(Fig. 1a) and high (Fig. 1b) magnifications are shown in
Feedrate, mm min21
Ref. no.
1?5
2
2
6
325
200
300, 400, 500
275
100
100
60
100
11
5, 6
9
10
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Joint thickness,
mm
Spindle speed,
rev min21
Feedrate,
mm min21
3
6
9
12
300
280
270
170
75
100
65
65
Results
Process parameters for welding 3, 6, 9 and 12 mm Ti
6Al4V were identified and evaluated. The optimal
processing conditions for each thickness based on this
development effort are given in Table 3. Macrographs
for each of these optimal welding conditions in each
thickness are shown in Fig. 3.
In addition to macrographic examinations, each of
the welds made under the best set of process conditions
identified was prepared for microstructural examination
via optical microscopy and SEM as described previously. Low magnification (650) optical photographs
of the weld nuggetbase metal transition areas, which
include HAZ and TMAZ were taken for each weld
thickness along with higher magnification (6500)
optical photographs of the microstructure in the centre
of the welds. Representative optical micrographs for
the 6 and 9 mm weld cases are shown in Fig. 4.
Representative SEM images from the centre of the 3
and 12 mm welds are given in Fig. 5. Scanning electron
microscope images (62000) which show the grain size
distribution through the thickness of the 3 and 12 mm
welds are shown in Fig. 6. Finally, a 62000 SEM image
of the HAZ in a 9 mm weld sample is shown in Fig. 7.
The surface texture of the friction stir welded samples
was characterised with optical macrographs and with
surface roughness profiles. As the FSW tool shoulder
Feedrate, mm min21
Shoulder diameter, mm
3
6
9
12
300
250320
250285
140190
50130
45100
65100
4075
20
25
25
30
8
10
10
10
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3 Macrographs of a 3 mm, b 6 mm, c 9 mm and d 12 mm FSW cross-sections and e photograph of typical weld surface
4 Optical micrographs of advancing side base metal to weld nugget transition zones in a 6 mm and c 9 mm welds, and
higher magnication optical micrographs of the same regions in b 6 mm and d 9 mm welds
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a 12 mm weld; b 3 mm weld
5 Images (SEM) taken from centre of weld nugget
6 Scanning electron images showing grain size distribution through thickness of a 12 mm weld and b 3 mm weld
Discussion
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8 a photograph of 3 mm weld surface, b surface roughness prole in 3 mm sample, c photograph of 12 mm weld surface and d surface roughness prole in 12 mm sample
into the root. Thus, the material at the root of the joint
is subject to high degrees of thermomechanical work,
with minimal heating, while the material at the top of
the weld is subjected to much greater temperatures,
allowing grain growth post-stirring. The grains in the
region of the weld corresponding to the material directly
under the pin tip are typically extremely fine, even in
nanoscale. The grain size variation in thickness is likely
due to heating and cooling rates. The thinner welds cool
much faster than the thick section welds, restricting
grain growth post-stirring. Additionally, the tools used
in the thinner section welds have a much smaller surface
area, producing less heat than the thick section weld
tools. This also contributes to the smaller grain size.
These microstructural characterisations can also be
used to make a rough estimate of the temperatures in the
weld zone during processing. The SEM image of the
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Conclusions
Friction stir welding of Ti6Al4V alloy has been
developed and demonstrated in butt weld thicknesses
ranging from 3 to 12 mm. Extensive metallurgical and
microhardness characterisations have been performed
on welds made under the optimal processing conditions,
which are defined as those that produce defect free
welds. Based on this experimental study, the following
key conclusions were made:
1. Metallurgical characterisations observed grain size
distributions through the thickness of the welds and
between weld thicknesses. However, the grain size was
quite uniform across the width of each weld at any given
depth. In the 6, 9 and 12 mm welds, the microstructure
appears to have crossed the beta transus temperature
due to the presence of alpha prime in the weld nugget
microstructure. The 3 mm weld is likely to have not fully
crossed the beta transus temperature because of remnant
primary alpha in the microstructure.
2. Microhardness results showed a hardness increase
in the thin section welds compared with the surrounding
base material and a more uniform hardness in the thick
section welds. These microhardness characteristics are
likely due to the grain size variations noted previously.
The thin section welds have grains that are smaller than
the parent material while the thick section welds have
much larger grains.
Acknowledgements
The authors of this paper would like to thank the
Boeing Company for the support and Dr D. Sanders
References
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