Residual stress and deformation mechanism of friction stir welded aluminum alloys by nanoindentation

Residual stress during Friction Stir Welding (FSW) of lightweight alloys is of major concern, due to their functionality and applications in transport and industry fields. Several conventional techniques which are used to measure and characterize welded aluminum alloys are destructive. This drawback has raised nanoindentation as the non-destructive alternative technique with many advantages, such as easy preparation and high spatial resolution. In this study a methodology was brought forward to investigate the applicability of nanoindentation method in order to overcome limitations of this technique and measure residual stress in two of most commonly used aluminum alloys in transport and industrial applications. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.