Effect of Rotational Speed on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of AA5456 Alloy Welded by FSW-Lap Joint

Friction stir welding process is solid state welding method that does not have many common defects in fusion methods. In this method for creating optimum weld, some parameters should be optimized, such as welding tool geometry, rotational speed and travel speed. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of rotational speed on microstructure and mechanical properties of friction stir lap welding AA5456 in rotary state to optimize the parameter values. For this purpose, Welding process was performed in rotating state, rotating tool was plunged from the cold-worked tube (AA 5456-H321 with 5 mm thickness) surface into the surface of Annealed tube (AA 5456-O with 2.5 mm thickness) and lap joints were produced by rotational speeds of 300, 500, 700 and 900 rpm and welding speed of 45 mm/min. Macro and microstructure of weld cross sections by optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were studied. Then the hardness profile and tensile shear test were obtained and compared to another. Finally the fracture surfaces of some samples were examined by using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The Macro and microstructure results show that increasing of rotation speed, increases the vertical flow of material, the height of hook as well as fine-grained sediments in the nugget zone. Increasing the rotational speed, decreases hardness of weld nugget. The results of tensile shear test show that the welding parameter of (700 rpm- 45 mm/min) is the optimal combination of parameters in this study.