Studies on experimental numerical and finite element analysis of superplastic forming on friction stir welded AA6061 T6 alloy

Abstract

Superplastic forming process is one of the metal forming processes widely used in the manufacture of components for aerospace and automobile application Friction stir welding is one of the solid state welding process where the resulting joint is strong and more reliable than traditional welding joints The friction stir welding process retains the fine grained microstructure of the parent material and helps the superplastic forming process Superplastic forming requires a fine grained microstructure to induce the newlinedeformation mechanism of the grain boundary sliding Some of the problems encountered during friction stir welding to retain the superplasticity in the material are superplasticity of friction stir welded joints can be influenced by the welding process parameters such as spindle speed and feed rate friction stir welding produced continuous dynamic recrystallization in the weld nugget zone with fine grained microstructure which enable the deformation mechanism of grain boundary sliding, and major defects such as tunneling warm hole porosity and cavitations are likely to occur during friction stir welding newline