Study on joint zone Microstructure Evolution and Hardness in Friction Stir welding of AA1100 Aluminum alloy to A441 AISI steel

Friction stir welding (FSW) has become a technology of widespread interest because of its numerous advantages, most important of which is its ability to weld otherwise unweldable alloys. In this study, friction stir welding process has been used to join A441 AISI steel and AA1100 aluminum alloy. Optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and Vickers microhardness tests were employed to study on the joint microstructure evolution and hardness. The results showed that after welding process, head affected zone (HAZ) and stir zone (SZ) were formed in steel base metal side and head affected zone (HAZ), thermo-mechanical affected zone (TMAZ) and stir zone (SZ) were formed in aluminum alloy side. Mg2Al3 spherical particles formed with the ferrite and pearlite constituents in the junction. These particles were formed between the aluminum grain boundaries and due to the difference in contraction coefficient with aluminum base metal, were causing hot cracks in stir zone during solidification. Due to the generated frictional heat, small grains of ferrite and pearlite with very fine grain size of aluminum were formed in stir zone. Base metals dynamic recrystallization and formation of intermetallic compounds led to stir zone microhardness became higher than other areas.