Controlling residual stress and distortion of friction stir welding joint by external stationary shoulder

Friction stir welding (FSW) can achieve a sound welding joint, but its residual stress and distortion cannot be avoided due to the non-uniformity of temperature distribution during welding. Stationary shoulder friction stir welding (SSFSW) was employed to butt weld 6005AT6 aluminum alloy plates. The effects of welding speeds ranging from 200 mm/min to 600 mm/min on residual stress and distortion were investigated in detail. A thermo-mechanical model was utilized to compare the residual stress distribution between conventional FSW and SSFSW. SSFSW was beneficial to decreasing the peak temperature of stir zone (SZ) and then obtaining a narrower SZ. The peak residual stress produced by SSFSW was 50% lower than that by conventional FSW and a narrower tensile stress region was attained by SSFSW. Moreover, the stationary shoulder applied a function of synchronous rolling during the welding, which controlled the distortion effectively.