Ductilization and grain refinement of AA7075-T651 alloy via stationary shoulder friction stir processing

Abstract

This study investigates the microstructural evolution, mechanical properties, and fracture behavior of AA7075-T651 aluminium alloy subjected to stationary shoulder friction stir processing (SSFSP). SSFSP samples were produced at three different rotational speeds in a range of 600–1000 rpm. The results reveal that SSFSP leads to a uniform grain refinement within the Stir Zone (SZ), reducing the grain size to approximately 2–3 μm from the initial 15 μm in the base material (BM) irrespective of the probe rotational speeds. After SSFSP, the elongation increased by over 50 % at the cost of 10 % reduction in the ultimate tensile strength for all samples. It was worth to note that variations in tool rotational speed exhibited minimal influence on the microstructure and mechanical properties, offering wide range of probe rotational speeds. This could be attributed to the use of non-rotating shoulder with prob dominated microstructure in the SZ. Fractographic analysis confirmed the ductile nature of fractures, revealing development of fine dimples due to grain refinement. This work underscores the effectiveness of SSFSP in achieving significant grain refinement followed by drastic increase in ductility, which offers valuable insights for using stationary shoulder at wider range of rotational speed.