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Refill friction stir spot welding of aerospace alloys in the presence of interfacial sealant

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Abstract

Refill friction stir spot welding (refill FSSW) is one of the most industrially promising friction stir spot welding variants. The absence of an exit hole improves the effectiveness of surface treatments and minimizes damage by fouling. Aerospace aluminium alloys AA2024-T3 and AA7075-T6 with a thickness of 2 mm were used in this investigation. A range of values for rotation speed and plunge depth were experimented to determine the most promising process parameter combination based on the cross-sectional analysis and lap shear strength. The effect of an interfacial sealant on the weld properties was determined for both alloys using the most promising process parameter combination. Fatigue life analysis and fractography using scanning electron microscopy were performed for specimens with and without sealant.

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Funding

This work was co-funded by the Industrial Members of TWI as part of the Core Research Programme and Coventry University via a PhD programme. The work was enabled through, and undertaken at, the National Structural Integrity Research Centre (NSIRC), a postgraduate engineering facility for industry-led research into structural integrity established and managed by TWI through a network of both national and international Universities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. TWI Ltd, Granta Park, Great Abington, Cambridge, CB21 6AL, UK

    Pedro de Sousa Santos, Anthony R. McAndrew & João Gandra

  2. Faculty of Engineering, Environment and Computing, Coventry University, Coventry, CV1 5FB, UK

    Pedro de Sousa Santos & Xiang Zhang

  3. NSIRC, TWI Ltd, Granta Park, Great Abington, Cambridge, CB21 6AL, UK

    Pedro de Sousa Santos

Authors
  1. Pedro de Sousa Santos
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  2. Anthony R. McAndrew
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  3. João Gandra
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  4. Xiang Zhang
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis was performed by Pedro de Sousa Santos. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Pedro de Sousa Santos and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Pedro de Sousa Santos.

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Highlights

•The effect of the main process parameters on weld static strength of single-spot AA2024-T3 and AA7075-T6 was determined.

•The lap shear strength of the parameter window explored exceeded the requirements of the spot welding standard AWS D17.2/D17.2M:2013.

•The impact of using an interfacial sealant on joint properties like the static and fatigue strength as well as microstructure characteristics of refill FSSW was assessed.

Recommended for publication by Commission III - Resistance Welding, Solid State Welding, and Allied Joining Process

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de Sousa Santos, P., McAndrew, A.R., Gandra, J. et al. Refill friction stir spot welding of aerospace alloys in the presence of interfacial sealant. Weld World 65, 1451–1471 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40194-021-01113-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40194-021-01113-3

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