Residual stress engineering in friction stir welds by roller tensioning

The authors investigate the efficacy of applying rolling pressure along the weld line in thin butt welds produced using friction stir welding (FSW) as a means of controlling the welding residual stresses. Two cases are examined and in each case, comparison is made against the as welded condition. First, for FSW of AA 2024 aluminium alloy, roller tensioning was applied during welding using two rollers placed behind and either side of the FSW tool. Very little effect was seen for the down forces applied (0, 50, 75 kN). Second, for FSW AA 2199 aluminium alloy, post-weld roller tensioning was applied using a single roller placed directly on the FS weld line. In this case, significant effects were observed with increased loading, causing a marked reduction in the longitudinal tensile residual stress. Indeed, a load of just 20 kN was sufficient to reverse the sign of the weld line residual stress. Only slight differences in Vickers hardness were observed between the different applied loads. Furthermore, unlike some methods, this method is cheap, versatile and easy to apply.