Microstructure and mechanical properties of dissimilar pure copper/1350 aluminum alloy butt joints by friction stir welding

The dissimilar friction stir welding of pure copper/1350 aluminum alloy sheet with a thickness of 3 mm was investigated. Most of the rotating pin was inserted into the aluminum alloy side through a pin-off technique, and sound welds were obtained at a rotation speed of 1000 r/min and a welding speed of 80 mm/min. Complicated microstructure was formed in the nugget, in which vortex-like pattern and lamella structure could be found. No intermetallic compounds were found in the nugget. The hardness distribution indicates that the hardness at the copper side of the nugget is higher than that at the aluminum alloy side, and the hardness at the bottom of the nugget is generally higher than that in other regions. The ultimate tensile strength and elongation of the dissimilar welds are 152 MPa and 6.3%, respectively. The fracture surface observation shows that the dissimilar joints fail with a ductile-brittle mixed fracture mode during tensile test.