| Abstract | The present study shows the preliminary results on Friction Stir Welding (FSW) of 2024-T3 aluminium alloy tubes and the impact of the welding process on weld quality. Welding was performed on tubes with similar thickness. The mechanical properties of the welds were assessed by hardness and tensile measurements on as-welded and heat treated tubes. For tensile testing, an automated deformation measurement system, ARAMIS, was used to analyse deformation in different regions of the weld, i.e. weld nugget, TMAZ and HAZ. An exit-hole filling process was developed, which was essential to keep the seal during the subsequent hydroforming process. The process parameters were optimized for a weld with no excessive flashing, no lack-of penetration and no wormhole. The tensile test results showed about 75% drop in total elongation. It is believed that this drop is mainly due to underfill defect present on the advancing side of the weld and behaving as a local neck during the tensile test. Additional information obtained with the Aramis system showed that in the weld region, where the undercut is present, the local deformation was close to that of the base metal. |
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