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De auteur(s) geeft (geven) de toelating deze masterproef voor consultatie beschikbaar te stellen en delen van de masterproef te kopiëren voor persoonlijk gebruik. Elk ander gebruik valt onder de bepalingen van het auteursrecht, in het bijzonder met betrekking tot de verplichting de bron uitdrukkelijk te vermelden bij het aanhalen van resultaten uit deze masterproef. The author(s) gives (give) permission to make this master dissertation available for consultation and to copy parts of this master dissertation for personal use. In the case of any other use, the copyright terms have to be respected, in particular with regard to the obligation to state expressly the source when quoting results from this master dissertation. Ghent, June 2016 Preface In this preface, I would like to take the opportunity to express my gratitude to the following people, who have helped and supported me during the course of this master dissertation. Ir. Koen Faes of the Belgian Welding Institute who granted me the opportunity to do this dissertation. Thank you for your help, support and advice during the experiments. Prof. dr. ir. Wim De Waele for your guidance, involvement and critical point of view. Kevin Deplus of the Belgian Welding Institute for his practical support on the welding machine. Gert Oost of the Belgian Welding Institute for his assistance during the preparations of the metallographic samples. The Belgian Welding Institute for supplying materials and means. Finally, I would like to thank my parents, for allowing me to continue studying and supporting me throughout my academic career. Tom Kolba, June 2016 I Abstract Friction spot welding is a technique for joining lightweight aluminium and magnesium alloy sheets in the overlap configuration by means of frictional heat and mechanical work and has a high potential for industrial applications. As this is a very recent technique, little information is available regarding the evaluation and optimisation of process parameters for specific material combinations. The objective of this master dissertation is to investigate the weldability of high strength aluminium alloys EN AW-7475-T761, EN AW-6082-T6 and EN AW-7075-T6, aiming to produce high quality joints in terms of mechanical performance and microstructure. More specific, the influence of the plunge depth, rotation speed and welding time was investigated by metallographic examination as well as microhardness and lap shear strength tests. This master dissertation contains a literature study and continues with its own experimental program. Keywords: EN AW-7475-T761; EN AW-6082-T6; EN AW-7075-T6; friction spot welding; refill friction stir spot welding II Experimental investigation of the weldability of aluminium alloys using friction spot welding Tom Kolba Supervisors: Wim De Waele and Koen Faes Abstract Friction spot welding Friction spot welding is a technique for joining sheets of Process description lightweight alloys in the overlap configuration by means of frictional heat and mechanical work and has a high potential for Friction spot welding (FSpW), also known as refill friction stir spot industrial applications. As this is a very recent technique, little welding is a technique for joining sheets in the overlap configuration. information is available regarding the evaluation and optimisation It was invented and patented by GKSS Research Centre GmbH [1]. of process parameters for specific material combinations. The The workpiece does not reach temperatures above the melting process has been used to investigate the weldability of the high temperature, making this a solid-state joining technique. This process strength aluminium alloys EN AW-7475-T761, EN AW-6082-T6 is suitable for spot welding lightweight materials with low melting and EN AW-7075-T6, aiming to produce high quality joints in point such as aluminium and magnesium alloys. The mechanical terms of mechanical performance and microstructure. More nature of this welding process makes it possible to weld any alloy specific, the influence of the plunge depth, rotation speed and which presents some degree of plasticity [2]. Friction spot welding welding time was investigated. The extended abstract first briefly evolved from friction stir welding (FSW), removing the traverse part describes the process and continues with the results of the optical of FSW and adding a refill stage. This is done by using a three piece microscopy, microhardness and static tensile test results. non-consumable tool, consisting of a concentric clamping ring, centre pin and sleeve. The welding tool during the different process steps is Keywords: EN AW-7475-T761; EN AW-6082-T6; EN AW-7075- schematically depicted in figure 1, courtesy of Rosendo et al. [3]. T6; friction spot welding; parameter study Introduction The increasing need for strong and lightweight materials in automotive and aerospace industries aiming for fuel savings, performance and safety have led to the development of new joining techniques for aluminium and magnesium alloys. Up to date, most spot joints are realised by mechanical fastening or resistance spot welding. Mechanical fastening methods as riveting, self-piercing riveting and Figure 1: Schematic representation of the FSpW process [3] bolting add considerable weight, when significant amounts are required, and are more difficult to automate. The pierced surface The process consists of four stages. In the first stage the tool is lowered resulting from these methods also give rises to sealant and corrosion to the zero level, which is equal to the top surface of the upper sheet. prevention challenges. Traditional fusion welding of some high Here the clamping ring, located at the outside of the tool, fixates the strength aluminium alloys, is difficult due to hot cracking and two plates between the weld head and the backing anvil by applying hydrogen void generation. The higher thermal and electrical pressure. At the same time, the pin and sleeve start to rotate at identical conductivity of aluminium also lead to a higher energy consumption rotational speeds, touching the upper sheet. The friction causes the in resistance spot welding or laser spot welding and thus to higher lightweight alloy to heat up and soften. In the following stage, the operating costs. sleeve is pushed into the workpiece whilst it is still rotating until it reaches the pre-set plunge depth. Simultaneously, the pin retracts, The new joining technique known as friction spot welding (FSpW), or creating a cavity of the same volume, where the material displaced by refill friction stir spot welding, is one of the alternatives overcoming the sleeve is accumulated. In stage three, the sleeve is retracted and the these disadvantages. It offers additional advantages such as: no filler pin pushes the softened material back down, filling the weld and material is required, environmentally friendly (no generation of fumes, creating a weld nugget. As a last stage the entire weld head is IR, UV and electromagnetic radiation), limited or no waste products, withdrawn from the workpiece, revealing a circular mark on the top fast processing speeds, no pre-cleaning needed and the good surface sheet, but without keyhole or significant material loss. This particular quality requires no post-processing. The goal of this research is the sequence is called sleeve-plunge. The pin-plunge variant also exists, investigation of the influence of the most important process parameters where the pin first plunges into the workpiece, but this would lead to a (plunge depth, rotation speed and welding time) on the microstructural smaller effective weld area and as stated by Suhudinn et al. [4], this and mechanical properties of friction spot welds in the alloys 7475- results in a lower joint strength. The fact that there is no keyhole leads T761, 6082-T6 and 7075-T6, aiming at strong connections with a high to less stress concentrations and corrosion problems. reproducibility. III The process parameters consist of the rotation speed (RT), the plunge strength. Partial bonding is a region where the bonding of the two depth (PD) and the joining time (JT). The joining time can be divided sheets is not that strong, located between the bonding ligament and the into three different parts, the plunge time (PT), the dwell time (DT) hooking [3]. It resembles a short jagged line underneath the sleeve. and the retraction time (RT). These time parameters are visualised in Together with hooking, it plays an important role in crack initiation as the figure below. cracks can easily propagate in the weakly bonded region to create a circumferential tear [3]. The bonding ligament (BL), found centrally below the stir zone, is a banded structure where the two sheets have a strong metallurgical bond. Depending on the alloy used, the evidence of the presence of the bonding ligament may be different. Experimental data Material In the present research, sheets of aluminium alloys EN AW-7475- T761, EN AW-6082-T6 and EN AW-7075-T6 were welded in the overlap configuration. The sheets had a thickness of 1,6 mm, 2 mm and 1,6 mm respectively and were used in the bare condition, meaning Figure 2: Plunge depth as a function of the joining time with the plunge, dwell without any coating. The main mechanical properties following from and retraction time indicated their temper conditions are shown in table 1. Weld properties Table 1: Typical mechanical properties of the alloys used [6] Ultimate strength Yield strength Elongation A typical cross-section of a FSpW weld nugget is depicted in figure 3. It consists of 4 distinct zones, each with different microstructures and [MPa] [MPa] [%] axi-symmetrical to the tool axis [5]. The approximate locations of 7475-T761 524 448 12 these zones are also indicated on figure 3. The zones, from the middle of the weld outwards, are: the stir zone (SZ), the thermo-mechanically 6082-T6 290 250 10 affected zone (TMAZ), the heat affected zone (HAZ) and the base metal (BM).