Comparison of Corrosion behavior of aluminium 6061 alloy joined by friction stir lap welding and gas tungsten arc lap welding methods

In this paper wrought aluminum sheets with thickness of 5 mm were square butt welded by friction stir lap welding (FSLW) and gas tungsten arc lap welding (GTALW) methods to campare their corrosion behavior.
of the welding zone was probed by tafel polarization curve. Optical metallography (OM) and scaninig electron microscop (SEM) were used to study morphology. Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) were used to analysis different zone of the welds. EDS analysis proved deposits of iron and silicon in samples. FSLW and GTALW resulted in equiaxed grains of about 5 and 18 micrometr respectively, while GTALW caused dendritic structure of the welded region. To assessment mechanical properties, micro hardness test were accure. Resistance to corrosion was greater for the FSLW grains than the GTALW structure. In both cases, susceptibility to corrosion attack was greater in the welded region than the base metal section. . microhardness of FSLW specimen were grater than GTALW specimen.