Preliminary Studies on Mecahnical and Metallurgical Behaviour of Friction Stir Welded Butt Joints

The AA6061 and AA6063 metal plates are Friction stir welded to obtain butt joints, Microstructure, Microhardness and tensile strength in the weld examined. The Microstructure evaluation of AA6061 shows that the Fusion with parent metal is good, Grains are slightly elongated at the heat affected zone and Microstructure evaluation of AA6063 shows that grains are severely elongated at HAZ. Vickers Microhardness evaluation of AA6061 shows that after Friction Stir welding (FSW) at parent metal Vickers Microhardness slightly higher than weld zone. Vickers Microhardness is high at HAZ for AA6061. Vickers Microhardness of AA 6063 at the weld region is higher than HAZ, Parent metal. Vickers Microhardness of AA6063 is higher than AA6061 before and after Friction Stir welding. Ultimate tensile strength of AA6061 is greater than AA6063 both before and after FSW.