Fatigue behaviour of FSW and MIG weldments for two aluminium alloys

The increasing use of aluminium alloys in transportation, such as railways, shipbuilding and aeronautics, calls for more efficient and reliable welding processes that would require more in depth understanding of fatigue failure. The objective of this work focuses on the contrasting difference of fatigue behaviour of joints made from the traditional process of metal inert gas (MIG) welding, and the emerging process of friction stir welding (FSW). Effort is made to relate the macroscopic mechanical behaviour to the microstructural feature of the weldments. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.