Fatigue life simulation of AA7075-T651 FSW joints using experimental data

Abstract

The friction stir welding (FSW) process is a solid phase type applied in this study to connect AA7075-T651 aluminum alloy plates. This study investigates the impact of welding input quantities such as tool rotational speed, welding speed, shoulder radius, and tool geometry on welding joint quality, including strength, toughness, hardness, fractography, and fatigue behavior. Also, in this study, the fatigue life in the base material (BM) and joints obtained from the simple, threaded, and truncated triangular pyramid pins as an FSW effective input parameter was obtained by the finite element analysis (FEA). The experimental outcomes represented that the mechanical attributes of the threaded pin are higher than that of the simple and truncated triangular pyramid pins with the same input parameters. Also, the outcomes of the numerical simulation with the experimental outcomes of fatigue life for the BM were in acceptable agreement, and the error value of the validation result for σmax=0.5σy for the stress ratio R=-1 was equal to 0.4%. In addition, the FEA results indicated that the fatigue strength of FSW joints in the stir zone for the threaded, simple, and truncated triangular pyramid pins in the fatigue life of 107 cycles was 64%, 63%, and 43% of the BM, respectively.