The effects of maintaining temperature in annealing heat treatment for an FSWed 6061-T6 Al alloy.

The technological development of all kinds of lightweight transportation devices including vehicles, aircraft, ships, etc. has progressed markedly with the demand for energy saving and environmental protection. Aluminum alloy is in the spotlight as it is a suitable environmentally friendly material. However, deformation is a major problem during the welding process because aluminum alloy has a large thermal expansion coefficient. In addition, it is known that its corrosion resistance is excellent; nevertheless, in practice, considerable corrosion is generated and this is a major problem. To solve this problem, the friction stir welding (FSW) technology is applied extensively at various industrial fields as a new welding technique. This method involves a process in which materials are joined by frictional heat and physical force. Therefore, we evaluated improvements in mechanical properties and corrosion resistance through annealing heat treatment after FSW. The electrochemical experiment did not show a significant difference. However, the microstructure observation showed defectless, fine crystal particles, indicating excellent properties at 200-225°C.