Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2015) 79:719–727
DOI 10.1007/s00170-015-6866-z
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Analysis of AA 6082-T6 welds strength mismatch: stress versus
hardness relationships
M. I. Costa & D. M. Rodrigues & C. Leitão
Received: 13 October 2014 / Accepted: 27 January 2015 / Published online: 14 February 2015
# Springer-Verlag London 2015
Abstract In current work, linear stress-hardness relationships
are established, relating the hardness in different AA 6082-T6
weld zones with local tensile properties. The welds were per-
formed by friction stir welding (FSW), using varying welding
parameters, in order to obtain a diversified range of weld mis-
match conditions. Local tensile properties for the thermo-
mechanical-affected zone (TMAZ) and heat-affected zone
(HAZ) were assessed from tensile testing of transverse samples
using digital image correlation (DIC). The proposed stress-
hardness relationships, which relate hardness with yield strength
and flow stress, at different plastic deformation values, are suit-
able to be used for assessing plastic properties, from hardness
data, for AA 6082 alloys, in the naturally aged and overaged
conditions, characteristic of different weld zones of any type of
welds in this aluminium alloy. The evolution of friction stir
welds’ local and global tensile properties, with varying welding
parameters, is also analysed. It is shown that in spite of the large
scatter in local mechanical properties, the global strength of the
welds does not vary significantly. This behaviour is explained
based on local plastic strain distribution analysis.
Keywords AA 6082 . Friction stir welding . Welds strength
mismatch . Stress-hardness relationships
1 Introduction
Over the last years, the FSW process has been attracting an
increased interest from the automotive and shipbuilding in-
dustries [1], where the AA6xxx series of aluminium alloys
M. I. Costa : D. M. Rodrigues : C. Leitão (*)
CEMUC, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of
Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
e-mail: carlos.leitao@dem.uc.pt
are extensively used [2, 3]. In fact, a large research effort
was already spent in performing and studying friction stir
welds of AA 6xxx alloys, such as the AA 6005 [4–7], the
AA 6013 [8], the AA 6016 [9–13], the AA 6022 [14, 15],
the AA 6056 [6, 16–19], the AA 6061 [20–41], the AA
6083 [20, 42–46], the AA 6111 [47] and, the strongest of
the AA 6xxx series, the AA 6082 [3, 9, 25, 37, 46, 48–65]
aluminium alloy.
Taking into account the works already published in FSW, it
is globally accepted that, for each specific set of welding con-
ditions (joint configuration, base material and plate thickness),
a specific set of welding parameters must be selected in order
to ensure acceptable process behaviour and suitable weld
properties. Independently of the welding parameters in use,
the AA 6xxx welds usually display strong heterogeneity in
microstructure and mechanical properties across the cross sec-
tion. As it was already noticed by several authors [4, 5, 8, 25,
28, 37, 43, 48, 51, 54, 63, 64], the strong heterogeneity in
mechanical properties results from the inhomogeneous distri-
bution in size, volume fraction and distribution of the strength-
ening precipitates in the thermo-mechanical-affected zone
(TMAZ) and heat-affected zone (HAZ) as a result of the se-
vere thermal gradients registered during the process. Howev-
er, in spite of the large number of papers addressing the mi-
crostructural evolution in AA 6082 friction stir welds, only
few works address the global strength of the welds and its
evolution with process parameters [3, 38–40, 47, 59]. On the
other hand, the effects of varying welding conditions, namely
the rotational and welding speeds, on local weld strength,
were already extensively analysed by performing micro-
hardness measurements [5, 6, 15, 21, 22, 24, 27, 33, 40, 50,
51, 62]. In most of these works, the traditional “W” shape
hardness profile is almost always registered, revealing a strong
strength under-match of both the TMAZ and HAZ relative to
the base material. The local mechanical behaviour of each of
these weld zones was analysed by some authors using local
720 Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2015) 79:719–727

mechanical characterization techniques, such as tensile testing table, all along the text, the different welds will be identified
of miniature samples [7, 19] or tensile testing of bulk trans- by using an acronym that identifies the rotational and welding
verse samples [13]. speeds used for producing each weld (ω_v).
In present work, local and global AA 6082-T6 welds
strength is analysed by using hardness measurements and ten-
2.2 Mechanical testing
sile testing of transverse samples, for a wide range of welds
produced under varying welding conditions. Local strength
The heterogeneity in mechanical properties across the welds
under-match is deeply analysed and local tensile strength data,
was evaluated by performing several micro-hardness mea-
including yield strength and flow stress at various plastic de-
surements across the welds cross section, transversely to the
formations values, is related to the minimum hardness in the
weld direction, after several weeks of natural aging at room
different weld zones. The stress-hardness relationships obtain-
temperature. A load of 200 gf was applied during a holding
ed in current work are suitable to be used for assessing plastic
time of 30 s, and the hardness measurements were spaced by
properties, from hardness data, for AA 6082 alloys, in the
intervals of 500 μm.
naturally aged and overaged conditions. The evolution of
The tensile tests were performed using a 100 kN universal
welds local and global tensile properties, with varying FSW
tensile testing machine, operating at room temperature, with a
welding parameters, is also analysed.
nominal initial strain rate of 1.33×10−3 s−1. Samples geometry
and testing procedures were established according to ISO 6891-
1 Standard [66] recommendations. Local strain fields were ac-
quired by digital image correlation (DIC) using Aramis 3D 5 M
2 Experimental procedure
optical system [67], which is shown in Fig. 1. Before testing,
the specimens were prepared by applying a random black
2.1 Welding procedures
speckle pattern, over the previously mat white-painted surface
of the transverse samples (see detail in Fig. 1), in order to enable
In present work, 6 mm thick friction stir welds, from AA
strain data acquisition by DIC. Local true stress-strain curves,
6082-T6 aluminium alloy, were fabricated using a conical
corresponding to the plastic behaviour of different weld zones,
shoulder tool with a cylindrical pin. The tool dimensions, as
were computed according to the procedures described in [13].
well as the main welding parameters, such as axial load, Fz,
tool tilt angle, α, and the varying rotational and welding
speeds, ω and v, respectively, are described in Table 1. The
tool rotation and traverse speeds were varied and combined in 3 Results and discussion
order to produce diversified heating and cooling conditions,
leading to diversified microstructural evolution during 3.1 Welds global strength analysis
welding, and in this way, to a varied range of strength under-
match conditions in the TMAZ and HAZ. More precisely, a In Fig. 2a, for all the welds tested, the global engineering
group of welds was produced using a constant tool traverse stress-strain (s-e) curves are shown, computed from the
speed of 200 mm/min and tool rotation speeds varying from force-displacement records of each transverse tensile sample,
200 to 1,000 rpm and another group was produced using a considering a 50 mm gauge length (see sample sketch in the
constant tool rotation speed of 1,000 rpm and tool traverse figure), i.e., these curves represent global welds strength and
speeds varying from 200 to 1,000 mm/min. As shown in the plastic behaviour. Since all the stress-strain curves

Table 1 Welding parameters

Sample Rotation Traverse speed, Shoulder Pin diameter, Axial load, Tilt angle, (°)
speed, (rpm) (mm/min) diameter, (mm) (mm) (kN)

Varying tool rotation speed 500_200 500 200 21 7 20 3

600_200 600 200
700_200 700 200
800_200 800 200
900_200 900 200
Varying tool traverse speed 1,000_200 1,000 200
1,000_400 1,000 400
1,000_600 1,000 600
1,000_1,000 1,000 1,000