Double side friction stir Z shape butt lap welding of dissimilar titanium aluminum alloys

Achieving excellent mechanical performance of medium-thick Ti/Al dissimilar joints is important in many industrial applications. However, due to the inherent heat generation mode associated with conventional friction stir welding (FSW), it is impossible to achieve sound medium-thick Ti/Al dissimilar joints. Although double side friction stir welding (DS-FSW) has been reported to solve the problems of conventional FSW. The inherent problems of forming hook structure and interface cracking in the center of the DS-FSW joints significantly weaken the joint performance. Therefore, an innovative double-side friction stir Z shape butt-lap welding (DSFSZW) process was proposed to eliminate the inherent problems of conventional DS-FSW. The research objective of this work was to reveal the physical mechanisms of the novel DS-FSZW by the combination of numerical simulation and experimental characterization for optimizing the welding parameters. The influence of tool shoulder diameter on the heat generation, heat transfer, plastic material flow, microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of medium-thick dissimilar Ti/Al DS-FSZW joint has been systematically studied. The results indicate that the innovative DS-FSZW process lowers the axial force compared to the conventional DSFSW, and the centerlines of the first and the second sides welds are staggered. Those are beneficial to inhibiting the cracking of the first-side weld at the interface. In addition, the DS-FSZW method eliminates the hook structures and cracks at the center of the conventional DS-FSW joint and also adds a lap joining interface, which significantly enhances the tensile strength of the joint from 150.7 MPa to 262.5 MPa, which is increased by 74%. Optimization of the shoulder diameter of DS-FSZW from 18 mm to 12 mm reduces the welding heat input and significantly thins the thickness of the IMCs layers at the Ti/Al interface. This helps to suppress the cracking at the Ti/Al lap interface and refine the grains. As a result, thus the tensile strength of the DS-FSZW joint increases from 262.5 MPa to 312.5 MPa, which is increased by 19%. The medium-thick Ti/Al dissimilar DS-FSZW joint at the tool shoulder diameter of 12 mm fracture at the SZ. It proves that the novel DS-FSZW is a suitable welding method for joining medium-thick dissimilar Ti to Al alloys.