Abstract
The new process of ‘stationary shoulder’ friction stir welding (SSFSW) has been directly compared to conventional (friction stir welding) using welds produced in a high strength AA7050-T7651 aluminium aerospace alloy. The process window for each approach was first compared using torque–rotation rate decay curves. Under optimum process conditions, SSFSW had a ∼30% lower heat input than FSW and the stationary shoulder resulted in narrower welds with a reduced heat affected zone (HAZ) width. The SSFSW welds also had more uniform through thickness properties and performed better than conventional FSWs in cross-weld tensile tests. In addition it is demonstrated that the SSFSW process resulted in a far superior surface finish, although the stationary shoulder led to surface ‘speed cracking’ under certain welding conditions. The reasons for these benefits are discussed aided by thermal and hardness modelling.
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