Accepted Manuscript

Title: Effect of Sheet Configuration on Microstructure and Mechanical

Behaviors of Dissimilar Al-Mg-Si/Al-Zn-Mg Aluminum Alloys Friction Stir
Welding Joints

Author: Zhongjie Yan, Xuesong Liu, Hongyuan Fang

PII: S1005-0302(16)30233-X
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/doi: 10.1016/j.jmst.2016.10.011
Reference: JMST 858

To appear in: Journal of Materials Science & Technology

Received date: 20-9-2016

Revised date: 6-10-2016
Accepted date: 15-10-2016

Please cite this article as: Zhongjie Yan, Xuesong Liu, Hongyuan Fang, Effect of Sheet
Configuration on Microstructure and Mechanical Behaviors of Dissimilar Al-Mg-Si/Al-Zn-Mg
Aluminum Alloys Friction Stir Welding Joints, Journal of Materials Science & Technology
(2016), http://dx.doi.org/doi: 10.1016/j.jmst.2016.10.011.

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Effect of sheet configuration on microstructure and mechanical
behaviors of dissimilar Al-Mg-Si/Al-Zn-Mg aluminum alloys
friction stir welding joints
Zhongjie Yan, Xuesong Liu*, Hongyuan Fang
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining, Harbin Institute of Technology,
Harbin 150001, China

* Corresponding author. Prof., Ph.D..

E-mail address: hit_lxs@163.com, liuxuesong@hit.edu.cn (Xuesong Liu).

[Received 20 September 2016; received in revised form 6 October 2016; accepted 15 October
2016]
Friction stir welding (FSW) was used to weld dissimilar Al-Mg-Si/Al-Zn-Mg aluminum
alloys in this work. Influences of sheet configuration on microstructure and mechanical
properties of the joints were mainly discussed. Results showed that rather different joint
cross sections were obtained when using different sheet configurations. Coarser phases
can be observed at the heat affected zone (HAZ) of the Al-Mg-Si alloy side, which was
the main factor affecting the tensile properties and the fatigue properties. Tensile strengths
of the dissimilar Al-Mg-Si/Al-Zn-Mg joints using both configurations were higher than
that of the Al-Mg-Si FSW joint. When the Al-Zn-Mg alloy was located at the advancing
side (AS), the joints owned better fatigue properties due to the bridging effect of the big
secondary phase particles.
Key words: Friction stir welding; Dissimilar aluminum alloys; Microstructure; Tensile
properties; Fatigue life

1. Introduction

Aluminum alloys, which own advantages of low densities, high strengths and good
[1,2]
corrosion resistance, have been increasingly used in modern industries . However,
aluminum alloy joints using traditional fusion welding technologies always accompany with
[3-5]
various defects such as pores and hot cracks . As a solid state joining technology, friction
stir welding (FSW) can join aluminum alloys at temperatures below their melting points. Hence
plenty of fusion defects can be avoided. Moreover, due to low heat input, FSW joints also have

1 Page 1 of 18
 [6,7]
advantages of small distortion, low residual stress and high joint strength . Since its
invention, FSW process has been widely investigated by researches and microstructure and
[8-12]
mechanical properties of the FSW joints have been extensively discussed .
Due to the complexity of some structural components, FSW joint of some dissimilar alloys
[13-15]
have been increasingly used . The dissimilar alloys FSW joints can combine the
advantages of the two base materials (BM), such as low density, high strength and good
corrosion resistance. However, joining of some dissimilar alloys such as Al/Mg, Al/Ti and
Al/steel always accompanies with the formation of brittle intermetallic compounds (IMCs),
[16-18]
which always deteriorates the joints mechanical properties . For dissimilar aluminum
alloys, the problem of IMCs formation can be avoided. In recent years, microstructure and
mechanical properties of dissimilar aluminum alloy FSW joints have been extensively
[19-22] [19]
investigated . Rodriguez et al. found that for the 6061/7050 aluminum alloys FSW
joint, the joints failed at the 6061 aluminum alloy side due to the material softening of the heat
[20]
affected zone (HAZ). Cavaliere et al. found that dissimilar 2024/7075 aluminum alloys
FSW joint owned better fatigue properties than the 2024 BM in high cycle regime. Luo et al. [21]
reported that for the dissimilar MgZnGd/MgAlZn alloys, there was no distinct reaction
[21]
layer or IMCs at the bonding interface. According to literature , tensile properties of the
joints were significantly influenced by the materials positions, grain size and crystallographic
orientation. Moreover, microstructure and mechanical properties of dissimilar joint of
7020/6060 aluminum alloys were studied by Giraud et al. [22].
Owing to good corrosion resistance and weld-ability, Al-Mg-Si alloy has been used as the
[23]
side walls and floors of some certain structures . Al-Zn-Mg alloy was always used as the
frame and beam owing to its high strength and good thermo-stability [24]. Hence, the joining of
the two materials is inevitable and it is meaningful to fully understand the microstructure and
mechanical properties of the dissimilar FSW joints. Therefore, in this work, FSW was used to
weld dissimilar Al-Zn-Mg/Al-Mg-Si joint. Owing to the asymmetry of the FSW joint, effects of
sheet configuration on microstructure and mechanical properties of the joint was also
discussed.

2. Experimental
15 mm-thick Al-Mg-Si and Al-Zn-Mg aluminum alloys were chosen as the BM. Chemical
compositions and mechanical properties of the two BMs are listed in Table 1 and Table 2.
Dimensions of the sheets are 300 mm 140 mm. For convenience, the joint, of which the
Al-Mg-Si alloy was placed at the advancing side (AS), is called the Al-Mg-Si-AS joint.

2 Page 2 of 18
Accordingly, the Al-Zn-Mg-AS joint refers to the joint of which the Al-Zn-Mg alloy was placed
at the AS. To fully understand effect of sheet configuration on the joint mechanical properties,
FSW joints of the two BMs were also fabricated, which are called the Al-Mg-Si-FSW joint and
the Al-Zn-Mg-FSW joint, respectively. Before welding, all sheets were cleaned with enemy
papers to wipe off the oxidation layers. The rotating tool was made of H13 steel. Diameter of
the shoulder is 35 mm. The length of the pin was 14.5 mm. Diameters of the pin root and pin
tip are respectively 20 mm and 12 mm. Rotating and welding speeds of 800 rpm and 180
mm/min were used during welding. Tilting angel of the tool axis was 3 during the experiment.
The shoulder plunge depth was chosen as 0.3 mm during welding.
After welding, metallographic samples were cut using an electrical discharge cutting
machine. The metallographic specimens were burnished, polished and then etched with Kellers
reagent. Metallographic analysis was carried out by optical microscopy (OM) and scanning
electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with an energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS)
analysis system. The secondary phase particles analysis was performed on a transmission
electron microscope (TEM). Mechanical tests included tensile test, bending test and fatigue
test. Dimensions of the test specimens are shown in Fig.1. Tensile tests were performed on a
CSS44300 testing machine under room temperature using a speed of 2mm/min. Bending tests
were performed using a 100mm diameter pressure head using a speed of 2mm/min. Vickers
hardness profiles were measured using an HMV-2T Vickers hardness tester. The testing step
was 0.5 mm. The testing force of 4.9 N was applied and the dwell time was 10 s. Fatigue tests
were performed at room temperature with the stress ratio R = 0 on a PLG-200C fatigue testing
machine.

3. Results and Discussion

3.1. Cross section of joints

Fig. 2 shows the cross sections of the joints using different sheet configurations. It can be
seen that the stir zones (SZ) of the joints present tapered morphologies due to the pin shape.
Zigzag-like bonding interfaces, indicating excellent mixing between the two BMs, can be
observed in the SZs. Interfaces between the thermal-mechanically affected zone (TMAZ) and
the SZ can be clearly recognized. The interface is clearer at the AS. No defects, such as void
and lack of penetration can be observed on any joint. When changing the sheet configuration,
very different material flow behaviors can be formed. As shown in Fig. 2(a), for the
Al-Zn-Mg-AS joint, relative smooth bonding interface can be observed. Part of the Al-Mg-Si

3 Page 3 of 18
alloy flows from the retreating side (RS) to AS (Fig. 2(a)). For the Al-Mg-Si-AS joint, more
adequate mixing can be observed at the bonding interface. Meanwhile, no Al -Zn-Mg alloy can
be observed at the AS. During welding, basic material properties has an important effect on
material flow behavior. By contrast, the Al-Mg-Si alloy owns lower shear strength, and hence it
owns better flow-ability than the Al-Zn-Mg alloy. For the Al-Zn-Mg-AS joint, the material flow
resistance at the RS is relatively small. More violent material flow can be obtained, hence part
of the Al-Mg-Si alloy flows into the AS and stays. For the Al-Mg-Si-AS joint, big material flow
resistance at the RS causes the material at RS more difficult to flow into the AS. Hence no
Al-Zn-Mg alloy can be observed at the AS.

3.2. Microstructure of FSW joints

Similar to similar aluminum alloy FSW joint [25], cross section of the dissimilar
aluminum alloys joint can be divided into BM zone, TMAZ, HAZ and SZ. Fig. 3 shows the
BM microstructures of the Al-Zn-Mg alloy and Al-Mg-Si alloy. It can be seen in Fig. 3(a) that
BM of the Al-Zn-Mg alloy is characterized by long grains with irregular boundaries. Some
secondary phase particles, which own different sizes and shapes, can be observed (Fig. 3(b)).
The EDS analysis shows that the secondary phase particle in Al-Zn-Mg alloy is the AlFeMnSi
phase, as shown in Fig. 3(c). Similar to the Al-Zn-Mg alloy, some secondary phase particles
can be observed in the BM of the Al-Mg-Si alloy (Fig. 3(e)). The EDS result shows that the
secondary phase particle of the Al-Mg-Si alloy is also the AlFeMnSi phase. Fig. 4 shows the
microstructures of the HAZ, TMAZ and SZ of the dissimilar joints. Undergone heat cycle,
HAZ is characterized by coarser grains compared with the BM (Fig. 4(a)). Similar to the BM,
some secondary phase particles with irregular boundaries and uneven distribution can be
observed. Undergone both moderate mechanical stirring and heat cycle, grains of the TMAZ
are largely deformed and partially broken, as shown in Fig. 4(b). An obvious boundary between
the SZ and the TMAZ can be clearly recognized. Microstructures of the SZs are shown in Fig.
4(c, f). Dynamic recrystallization happens during welding, and hence microstructures in SZs
are characterized by fine and equiaxed grains [7]. It is worth mentioning that the secondary
phase particles of the SZs (Fig. 4(c, f)) are much smaller than those of the BM region. The
reason can be attributed to the mechanical stirring and the dissolution process induced by high
heat input.

Fig. 5 shows the bonding interfaces at the SZ centers of the joints. It can be seen that no
defects, such as void and oxidation layers can be observed, indicating excellent material mixing

4 Page 4 of 18
near the SZ centerline. The two materials stagger with each other and the bonding interfaces
show Zigzag-like morphologies. Same as Fig.2, it can be seen in Fig. 5(a, b) that the
mutual-extending distance in the Al-Mg-Si-AS joint is much bigger. For dissimilar alloys joint,
analyzing the element distribution is helpful to understand the material mixing mechanism. The
EDS analysis results of the two bonding interfaces are shown in Figs.5c and 5d. It can be seen
that the Mg, Mn and Fe elements shows little difference at two sides of the bonding interface.
For the Si and Zn elements, obvious gradient can be observed at the bonding interface. The
uneven elements distribution may affect the joint mechanical properties, which will be
discussed in the following part.

3.3. Hardness of FSW joints using different configurations

Hardness distributions of the joints are shown in Fig. 6. The hardness values were tested
along three testing lines, as shown in Fig. 6(a). It can be seen that for both joints, the hardness
curves shows no obvious changes at the Al-Zn-Mg side. Average value at the Al-Zn-Mg side is
about 100HV on both joints. Rather obvious changes can be observed at the Al-Mg-Si side. The
hardness shows decrease at the TMAZ and HAZ region and a further increase at the SZ. It can
be seen in Fig. 6(b) that for the Al-Zn-Mg-AS joint, hardness at the joint top region is a little
higher than that at the middle and bottom regions at the Al-Zn-Mg side. At the Al-Mg-Si side,
the SZ top owns the minimum values. Similar result can be obtained at the Al-Mg-Si-AS joint
at the Al-Mg-Si side while the SZ bottom region owns higher hardness at the Al-Zn-Mg side.
On both joint, the minimum hardness locates at the TMAZ/HAZ region at the Al-Mg-Si side.
On the Al-Zn-Mg-AS joint, the minimum hardness value of 52.5HV locates about 15mm from
the joint centerline. On the Al-Mg-Si-AS joint, the minimum hardness value of 56.3HV locates
about 12 mm from the joint centerline.

3.4. Tensile properties and fracture modes of the joints

Fig. 7 shows the tensile properties of the joints using different configurations. It can be
seen that the tensile strength of both the Al-Zn-Mg-AS joint and the Al-Mg-Si-AS joint are
higher than that of the Al-Mg-Si-FSW joint but lower than the Al-Zn-Mg-FSW joint. The
average tensile strength of the Al-Mg-Si-AS joints (210.5 MPa) is a little higher than that of the
Al-Zn-Mg-AS joint (204.1 MPa). The maximum tensile strength of 213.3 MPa (Al-Mg-Si-AS
joint) reaches 106.5% of the Al-Mg-Si-FSW joint and 61.4% of the Al-Zn-Mg-FSW joint. The
minimum tensile strength of 202.1 MPa (Al-Zn-Mg-AS joint) still reaches 100.9% of the
Al-Mg-Si-FSW joint and 58.2% of the Al-Zn-Mg-FSW joint. Elongation of the Al-Zn-Mg-AS

5 Page 5 of 18
joint (7.55%) reaches 56.2% of the Al-Mg-Si-FSW joint and 42.5% of the Al-Zn-Mg-FSW
joint. Elongation of the Al-Zn-Mg-AS joint (7.55%) reaches 43.1% of the Al-Mg-Si-FSW joint
and 32.6% of the Al-Zn-Mg-FSW joint.
Fracture positions of the tensile specimens are shown in Fig. 8. All joints fracture at the
HAZ region at the Al-Mg-Si side, illustrating that the HAZ region of the Al-Mg-Si alloy side is
the weak region on both joints. Combined with the hardness curves in Fig. 6, it is concluded
that the Al-Mg-Si alloy side is the weak region for dissimilar Al-Mg-Si/Al-Zn-Mg aluminum
joints. Hence, analyzing the microstructure of at Al-Mg-Si side is helpful to better understand
the mechanical properties of the dissimilar FSW joints, which will be discussed in the
following part.

3.5. Bending tests

Fig. 9 shows the specimens after the bending tests. No crack was observed when the under
the bending angle of 180 after both surface bending and root bending. The bending tests
results show that the excellent bonding conditions at the interface in SZ. During the bending
test, SZ undergoes the maximum tensile stress. As introduce above, the SZ is characterized by
fine and equiaxed grains. Hence the SZ owns good plastic deformation capacity. Besides, it can
be seen that the prominent SZ at the side views due to different deformation capacity compared
with the other regions.

3.6. Fatigue properties

Table.3 shows the fatigue lives of the FSW joints using different configurations. It can be
seen that when using the same stress, the Al-Zn-Mg-AS joints own much longer fatigue lives
than the Al-Mg-Si-AS alloy. When the stress is 100MPa, the Al-Zn-Mg-AS joint own fatigue
life longer than 107 cycles, while the Al-Mg-Si-AS joint only owns lives 6.57 106 cycles. It is
worth mentioning that the fatigue properties show opposite laws compared with the tensile
properties. During the fatigue test, all joints fracture at the HAZ region at the Al-Mg-Si side.
This agrees with the lowest values at this region and the fracture positions of the tensile
specimens.

4. Discussion

Fig. 10 shows the precipitated phases in the BM of the Al-Mg-Si alloy. As shown in
Fig.10a, some round and rode-like precipitated phases, which own sizes from 100 nm to 500
nm can be observed. Fig. 10(c, d) respectively shows the EDS analysis of the precipitated

6 Page 6 of 18
phases. Therein, point A is the rode-like precipitated phase of 300 nm in size and point B is the
round precipitated phase of 100 nm in size. The EDS results show that the phases are both the
AlMnCrSi phase. Fig. 10(b) is the magnified view of the BM. Plenty of acicular phase can
be observed. The phase owns average sizes from 20 nm to 40 nm. Moreover, it can be seen
that the phases, which precipitated from the Al-matrix, are perpendicular to each other,
showing that the BM is at a peak aging condition.

Fig. 11 shows the precipitated phases in the HAZ of the Al-Mg-Si alloy on the
Al-Zn-Mg-AS joint (Fig. 11(a)) and Al-Mg-Si-AS joint (Fig. 13(b)). Compared with the BM in
Fig. 10, it can be seen that both quantity and size of the AlFeMnSi phases increases due to the
heat cycle during welding. It is worth mentioning that the two HAZs are both taken from the
region which is 15 mm from the joint centerline. It can be seen in Fig. 11(a) that on the
Al-Zn-Mg-AS joint, quantity of the precipitated phases greatly increases. The phase is mainly
of 400-800 nm in size. On the Al-Mg-Si-AS joint in Fig. 11(b), the precipitated phases are
mainly acicular phase and some rod-like phase. The phase coarsens, which are of
about 40 nm in size. Sizes of the phase are from 150 nm to 200 nm. It can be seen that at the
Al-Mg-Si-AS joint, only part of the transus happens. The phase is different from the
phases on the Al-Zn-Mg-AS joint, illustrating different heat cycle at the AS and RS during
welding. As is known to all, heat input during welding is mainly composed of two parts [26,
27]. The first part comes from the friction heat between the tool and shoulder. This part is
determined by friction coefficient and welding parameters. Due to the same rotating tool and
the same parameters, the first part heat input is the same for both the two joints. The other part
is the material deformation heat. As shown in Fig. 2(a), the Al-Mg-Si alloy owns better
flow-ability when locating at the RS of the joint. Hence more intense material deformation
happens and more heat is produced. At the same position, the Al-Mg-Si-RS joint owns higher
temperature and more adequate transus process happens.
Fig. 12 shows the precipitated phases in the TMAZ of the Al-Mg-Si alloy on the
Al-Zn-Mg-AS joint (Fig. 12(a)) and Al-Mg-Si-AS joint (Fig. 12(b)). It can be seen that on the
Al-Zn-Mg-AS joint, only vague grain orientations can be observed while very clear grain
orientation can be observed on the Al-Mg-Si-AS joint. No acicular or long phase can be
observed at both two TMAZs. Fig. 13 shows the precipitated phases in the SZ of the Al-Mg-Si
alloy on the Al-Zn-Mg-AS joint (Fig. 13(a)) and Al-Mg-Si-AS joint (Fig. 13(b)). It can be seen
that the phases are mainly the nano-sized AlFeMnSi phase with irregular boundaries.
Compared with other regions, quantity of the phase decreases, which can be attributed to the

7 Page 7 of 18
stirring action of the rotating tool. The EDS result of the circular and long phases show that the
phases are also the AlMnCrSi phases.
The hardness variation of the joint is mainly determined by its microstructure. As a
precipitation-strengthened aluminum alloy, the main strengthening effect of the Al-Mg-Si alloy
comes from the GP regions and the phases. According to Orawan equation, dislocation
resistance is proportional to the phase size when dislocation cuts through small precipitation
phases. However, dislocation resistance is inversely proportional to the phase size when
dislocation bypasses big precipitation phases. For Al-Mg-Si alloy, the phase owns bigger
size than the GP region and atomic cluster but smaller size than the phase. Hence its
strengthening effect is better than the GP region and atomic cluster when dislocation cuts
through and also better than the phase when dislocation bypass. The BM owns high
dislocation resistance and highest hardness due to the phase (Fig. 6). At the HAZ, plenty of
the phases are dissolved. The phase leads to low dislocation resistance and low hardness.
This is the main reason that the tensile specimen fracture at the HAZ region. At the SZ, the
fine-grain strengthening effect plays an important role on the hardness. Hence, hardness
increase compared with the HAZ region can be attained (Fig. 6).
As shown in Table 3, the better fatigue properties of the Al-Zn-Mg-AS joint can be
attributed to the bridging effect of the secondary phase particles [28]. According to the crack
closure argument, secondary phase particles with bigger sizes result into lower crack
propagation speed. As shown in Fig. 11(a), phases of 400-800 nm in size can be observed on
the Al-Zn-Mg-AS joint while the phase of about 40 nm and phase of 150-200 nm can be
observed on the Al-Mg-Si-AS joint in Fig. 11(b). The big phases are beneficial to slow down
the fatigue propagation speed.

5. Conclusions
In the present study, FSW was used to fabricate dissimilar Al-Mg-Si/Al-Zn-Mg aluminum
alloys joint. Effect of sheet configuration on microstructure and mechanical properties of the
dissimilar aluminum alloy FSW joint were mainly discussed. The following conclusions can be
drawn:
(1) Sound joint with excellent material mixing at the SZ center can be obtained using
different sheet configurations. When changing the sheet configuration, rather different cross
sections can be obtained. Part of the Al-Mg-Si alloy flows from the RS to AS in the
Al-Zn-Mg-AS joint due to better flow-ability of the Al-Mg-Si alloy.
(2) The Al-Mg-Si alloy side is the weak region for both tensile specimens and fatigue

8 Page 8 of 18
specimens. Secondary phase particles of the Al-Mg-Si alloy BM are the AlFeMnSi phase.
Plenty of acicular phase can be observed in the BM, which owns the highest hardness. The
dissolution of the at the HAZ results into hardness decrease. At the SZ, the hardness
increase compared with the HAZ can be attributed to the fine-grain strengthening effect.
(3) The average tensile strength of the Al-Mg-Si-AS joints is a little higher than that of the
Al-Zn-Mg-AS joint. The maximum tensile strength of 213.3 MPa (Al-Mg-Si-AS joint) reaches
106.5% of the Al-Mg-Si-FSW joint and 61.4% of the Al-Zn-Mg-FSW joint. The minimum
tensile strength of 202.1MPa (Al-Zn-Mg-AS joint) still reaches 100.9% of the Al-Mg-Si-FSW
joint and 58.2% of the Al-Zn-Mg-FSW joint.
(4) All joints show excellent bending properties and no crack was observed under the
bending angle of 180. The Al-Zn-Mg-AS joints own much longer fatigue lives than the
Al-Mg-Si-AS joints due to the bridging effect of the big secondary phase particles.

Acknowledgements
This work is supported by the International S&T Cooperation Program of China (ISTCP)
under grant No. 2012DFR50580.

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Figure and table captions

Fig. 1 Dimensions of the test specimens: (a) tensile specimen, (b) fatigue specimen and (c)
bending specimen.

Fig. 2 Cross sections of the joints: (a) Al-Zn-Mg-AS joint, (b) Al-Mg-Si-AS joint.

Fig. 3 Al-Zn-Mg alloy BM: (a) OM, (b) SEM and (c) EDS result of the secondary phase
particles; Al-Mg-Si alloy BM: (d) OM and (e) SEM and (f) EDS result of the secondary phase
particles.

10 Page 10 of 18
Fig. 4 Microstructures of the joints: (a) HAZ, (b) TMAZ and (c) SZ of the Al-Zn-Mg side on
the Al-Zn-Mg-AS joint; (d) HAZ, (e) TMAZ and (f) SZ of the Al-Mg-Si side on the
Al-Mg-Si-AS joint.

Fig.5 Bonding interfaces at the SZ center of the joints: (a) the Al-Zn-Mg-AS joint and (c) its
EDS analysis result; (b) the Al-Mg-Si-AS joint and (d) its EDS analysis result.

Fig.6 Micro-hardness of the joints using different configurations: (a) hardness testing points,
(b) the Al-Zn-Mg-AS joint and (c) the Al-Mg-Si-AS joint.

Fig.7 Tensile properties of the FSW joints.

Fig.8 Fracture positions of the joints: (a) the Al-Zn-Mg-AS joint and (b) the Al-Mg-Si-AS
joint.

Fig.9 Specimens after the bending test: (a) side view and (b) front view of the Al -Zn-Mg-AS
specimens, (c) side view and (d) front view of the Al-Mg-Si-AS specimens.

Fig.10 TEM photographs of precipitated phase particles at the BM of the Al-Mg-Si alloy: (a)
precipitated phase particles and its magnified view (b), the EDS results of the point A (c) and B
(d).

Fig.11 TEM photographs of precipitated phase particles at the HAZ of the Al-Mg-Si alloy: (a)
Al-Zn-Mg-AS joint and (b) Al-Mg-Si-AS joint.

Fig.12 TEM photographs of precipitated phase particles at the TMAZ of the Al-Mg-Si alloy:
(a) Al-Zn-Mg-AS joint and (b) Al-Mg-Si-AS joint.

Fig.13 TEM photographs of precipitated phase particles at the SZ of the Al-Mg-Si alloy: (a)
Al-Mg-Si-RS joint and (b) Al-Mg-Si-AS joint, the EDS results of the point A (c) and B (d) in
(b).

11 Page 11 of 18
 Table list:

Table 1 Nominal chemical compositions of the BM (wt%)

BM Si Fe Cu Mn Mg Zn Ti Cr Al

Al-Mg-Si 0.4-0.9 0.35 0.35 0.50 0.4-0.8 0.25 0.10 0.30 Bal.

Al-Zn-Mg 0.30 0.30 0.20 0.2-0.7 1.0-2.0 4.0-5.0 0.20 0.30 Bal.

Table 2 Mechanical properties of the BM

BM Tensile strength (MPa) Yield strength (MPa) Elongation (%)
Al-Mg-Si 284 241 25
Al-Zn-Mg 368 256 19.5

Table 3 Fatigue properties of the FSW joint using different configurations

Joint Stress (MPa) Fatigue life

160 463652
150 531128
Al-Zn-Mg-AS 140 1972459
joint 120 4119358
110 8644824
100 >107
160 318265
150 729652
Al-Mg-Si-AS 140 1241895
joint 120 1471565
110 2319586
100 6574812

12 Page 12 of 18
 Figure list:

(a)
140
37

25
300

00
(b)

R1
75
52

25
(c) 250
52

Fig.1

(a)

AS RS

Al-Zn-Mg alloy Al-Mg-Si alloy

(b)

AS RS
Al-Mg-Si alloy Al-Zn-Mg alloy

Fig. 2

13 Page 13 of 18
(a) (b) (c)

(d) (e) (f)

Fig.3

(a) (b) (c)

(d) (e) (f)

Fig.4

14 Page 14 of 18
 (a) (b)

Al-Zn-Mg alloy Al-Mg-Si alloy

Al-Mg-Si alloy
Al-Zn-Mg alloy

(c) (d)

Al-Zn-Mg alloy Al-Mg-Si alloy Al-Mg-Si alloy Al-Zn-Mg alloy

Fig.5

Fig.6

15 Page 15 of 18
 Fig.7

(a) (b)

AS RS
AS RS

Al-Zn-Mg alloy Al-Mg-Si alloy

Al-Mg-Si alloy Al-Zn-Mg alloy

Fig.8

(a) (b)

Root bending
Root bending
Surface bending Surface bending
(c) (d)

Root bending Root bending

Surface bending Surface bending

Fig.9

16 Page 16 of 18
 (a) (b)

A 2m 200nm

(c) (d)

Fig. 10

(a) (b)

500nm 500nm

Fig. 11
(a) (b)

2m 2m

(c)
Fig.12

500nm

17 Page 17 of 18
 (a) (b)

B
1m

(c)

(d)

Fig.13

18 Page 18 of 18