Effect of Rotational Velocity on Mechanical and Corrosion Properties of Friction Stir-Welded SUS301L Stainless Steel.

Friction stir welding was utilized to obtain high-quality SUS301L stainless steel joints, whose mechanical and corrosion properties were thoroughly evaluated. Sound joints were obtained with a wide range of rotational velocities from 400 to 700 rpm. The microstructures of the stir zone primarily consisted of austenite and lath martensite without the formation of detrimental phases. The ultimate tensile strength of the welded joints improved with higher rotational velocities apart from 400 rpm. The ultimate tensile strength reached 813 ± 16 MPa, equal to 98.1 ± 1.9% of the base materials (BMs) with a rotational velocity of 700 rpm. The corrosion resistance of the FSW joints was improved, and the corrosion rates related to uniform corrosion with lower rotational velocities were one order of magnitude lower than that of the BMs, which was attributed to the lower martensite content. However, better anti-pitting corrosion performance was obtained with a high rotational velocity of 700 rpm, which was inconsistent with the uniform corrosion results. It could be speculated that a higher martensitic content had a negative effect on the uniform corrosion performance, but had a positive effect on the improvement of the anti-pitting corrosion ability.

Effect of Temperature and Material Flow Gradients on Mechanical Performances of Friction Stir Welded AA6082-T6 Joints.

The temperature and material flow gradients along the thick section of the weld seriously affect the welding efficiency of friction stir welding in medium-thick plates. Here, the effects of different gradients obtained by the two pins on the weld formation, microstructure, and mechanical properties were compared. The results indicated that the large-tip pin increases heat input and material flow at the bottom, reducing the gradient along the thickness. The large-tip pin increases the welding speed of defect-free joints from 100 mm/min to 500 mm/min compared to the small-tip pin. The ultimate tensile strength and elongation of the joint reached 247 MPa and 8.7%, equal to 80% and 65% of the base metal, respectively. Therefore, reducing the temperature and material flow gradients along the thickness by designing the pin structure is proved to be the key to improving the welding efficiency for thick plates.