Microstructure and mechanical properties of mild steel joints prepared by a flat friction stir spot welding technique

With the successful application of the flat spot friction stir welding technology to aluminum alloys, this technique was expanded to the spot lap welding of 1 mm thick mild steel in this study. It reveals that sound joints can be successfully obtained with smooth surfaces and without any internal welding defects. Two welding strategies based on the welding parameter can be used to obtain the welds that fracture through plug failure mode at high shear tensile strength. One way is to weld the sheet at low heat input in the first step and the second step is used to generate large stir zone and flatten the sample surface. However, the microstructure in the stir zone is not homogeneous and a coarse columnar grain structure forms at the bottom of the stir zone. Another way is to make the stir zone penetrate into the lower sheet during the first step and the second step is only aimed to flatten the sample surface. In this case, the total heat input can be reduced and the microstructure of the stir zone can be remarkably refined. The sound joints fractured along the circumstance of the stir zone and reached about 6600 N during the shear tensile tests.

► Mild steel welds with flat surface can be produced by a flat spot FSW method. ► The welds may fracture through interfacial and plug failure modes. ► Penetration of stir zone into the lower sheet is needed to achieve high strength. ► The microstructure of stir zone can be refined by optimized welding parameter.