The authors investigate the efficacy of applying rolling pressure along the weld line in thin butt welds produced using friction stir welding (FSW) as a means of controlling the welding residual stresses. Two cases are examined and in each case, comparison is made against the as welded condition. First, for FSW of AA 2024 aluminium alloy, roller tensioning was applied during welding using two rollers placed behind and either side of the FSW tool. Very little effect was seen for the down forces applied (0, 50, 75 kN). Second, for FSW AA 2199 aluminium alloy, post-weld roller tensioning was applied using a single roller placed directly on the FS weld line. In this case, significant effects were observed with increased loading, causing a marked reduction in the longitudinal tensile residual stress. Indeed, a load of just 20 kN was sufficient to reverse the sign of the weld line residual stress. Only slight differences in Vickers hardness were observed between the different applied loads. Furthermore, unlike some methods, this method is cheap, versatile and easy to apply.
The formation of large residual stresses continues to be a problematic side effect of all common welding processes. In this work, localised high pressure rolling of gas metal arc welds to relieve these residual stresses has been investigated using strain gauging and neutron diffraction. Rolling was found to remove undesirable tensile stresses and even induce large compressive ones, though only when applied after rather than during welding. Strain measurements taken during combined welding and rolling operations show that this is because material at the weld line continues to yield as it cools. This erases any beneficial effect on the stress distribution of rolling at high temperature. A method of rolling using an oscillating force is also presented and found to be just as effective as the equivalent static force process.
Solidification cracking is a key phenomenon associated with defect formation during welding. To elucidate the failure mechanisms, solidification cracking during arc welding of steel are investigated in situ with high-speed, high-energy synchrotron X-ray radiography. Damage initiates at relatively low true strain of about 3.1% in the form of micro-cavities at the weld subsurface where peak volumetric strain and triaxiality are localised. The initial micro-cavities, with sizes from 10 × 10−6 m to 27 × 10−6 m, are mostly formed in isolation as revealed by synchrotron X-ray micro-tomography. The growth of micro-cavities is driven by increasing strain induced to the solidifying steel. Cavities grow through coalescence of micro-cavities to form micro-cracks first and then through the propagation of micro-cracks. Cracks propagate from the core of the weld towards the free surface along the solidifying grain boundaries at a speed of 2–3 × 10−3 m s−1.
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