The influence of small voids on the fatigue （小空洞疲劳的影响）.pdf

The influence of small voids on the fatigue strength of friction stir welds in the aluminium alloy AA6061-T6 S. Kahl Sapa Technology, Finspong, Sweden Flat rectangular profiles of the aluminium alloy AA6061-T6 were friction stir welded to butt joints. Welding parameters outside the process window generated a random mixture of good welds and welds with small voids. These voids approximately reduced the tensile strength by 10%, the ductility by half, and the fatigue strength by 20% as compared to void-free welds. Voids can easily be detected on fracture surfaces. Void-free specimens have approximately 10% lower fatigue strength if the fatigue crack extends over a corner of the specimen cross section as compared to a semi-elliptical fatigue crack. Key words: Fatigue testing, friction stir welding, aluminium alloy 1 Introduction Joints made by Friction Stir Welding (FSW) have a high static strength and a good fatigue performance [1-3]. However, the fatigue strength can be strongly reduced by flaws present in the friction stir (FS) welds [4-8]. Several types of defects and flaws have been found and classified, as discussed for example in [5, 9]. The distinction made in the present report between ‘defect’ and ‘flaw’ is that a defect definitely inhibits the joint from fulfilling its function whereas a flaw is an imperfection that might or might not be tolerated. A defect is thus one type of flaw. In an investigation of the fatigue strength of FS welds in AA6082-T4, welds with flaws denoted “lack of fusion or pores” were studied [10]. All fatigue cracks started at such flaws. The fatigue strength of the weld at 2 million cycles of axial testing was 50% of the fatigue strength of the parent material. In the present study, we aim to look at the consequences of comparatively small flaws. Even good FS welds contain local stress concentration