Title: Formability of friction stir welded sheets made of AA 6061-T6 at different weld orientations and weld locations

Authors: Perumalla Janaki Ramulu; Satish Vasu Kailas; R. Ganesh Narayanan

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vardhaman College of Engineering, Kacharam, Shamshabad, Hyderabad, 501 218, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, IISc Bangalore, Bangalore, 560 012, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Guwahati, Guwahati, 781 039, India

Abstract: The aim of present work is to study the influence of weld orientation and weld location on the formability of friction stir welded (FSW) blanks made of 6061T6 sheet. FSW sheets with 0°, 45° and 90° weld orientations, and weld locations, at zero offset, at 5 mm offset, and at 10 mm offset from the geometric centre are deformed. Formability is quantified by the forming limit curve (FLC). FLCs of FSW blanks are better than that of un-welded sheets. The FLC of FSW sheets with 0° weld orientation is better than 45° and 90° orientations. The limit strains of FSW sheet with 45° weld orientation and 90° weld orientations are almost the same. The FSW sheets with weld at centre location show better formability, followed by 5 mm offset and 10 mm offset locations. The failure location is seen at the retreating side of the weld zone.

Keywords: friction stir welding; FSW blanks; weld location; weld orientation; forming limit curve; FLC; limiting dome height test; stretching; failure location; formability.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMPT.2015.067833

International Journal of Materials and Product Technology, 2015 Vol.50 No.2, pp.147 - 160

Accepted: 14 Nov 2014
Published online: 05 Mar 2015 *

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