High-Speed Friction-Stir Welding To Enable Aluminum Tailor-Welded Blanks

Journal Article · Fri May 01 04:00:00 EDT 2015 · JOM. The Journal of the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society, 67(5):1045-1053

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-015-1384-x· OSTI ID:1221469

Hovanski, Yuri; Upadhyay, Piyush; Carsley, John; Luzanski, Tom; Carlson, Blair; Eisenmenger, Mark; Soulami, Ayoub; Marshall, Dustin; Landino, Brandon; Hartfield-Wunsch, Susan

Current joining technologies for automotive aluminum alloys are utilized in low-volume and niche applications, and have yet to be scaled for the high-volume vehicle market. This study targeted further weight reduction, part reduction, and cost savings by enabling tailor-welded blank technology for aluminum alloys at high-volumes. While friction stir welding has been traditionally applied at linear velocities less than one meter per minute, high volume production applications demand the process be extended to higher velocities more amenable to cost sensitive production environments. Unfortunately, weld parameters and performance developed and characterized at low to moderate welding velocities do not directly translate to high speed linear friction stir welding. Therefore, in order to facilitate production of high volume aluminum welded components, parameters were developed with a minimum welding velocity of three meters per minute. With an emphasis on weld quality, welded blanks were evaluated for post-weld formability utilizing a combination of numerical and experimental methods. Evaluation across scales was ultimately validated by stamping full-size production door inner panels made from dissimilar thickness aluminum tailor-welded blanks, which provided validation of the numerical and experimental analysis of laboratory scale tests.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 1221469
• Report Number(s): PNNL-SA-107526; VT0505000
• Journal Information: JOM. The Journal of the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society, 67(5):1045-1053, Journal Name: JOM. The Journal of the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society, 67(5):1045-1053
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

TWB
aluminum
automotive
friction stir welding
stamping
tailor-welded blansk
welding