Pre-strain rolling as an effective tool for suppression of abnormal grain growth in friction-stir welded 6061 aluminum alloy

In this work, pre-strain rolling to a small thickness reduction was applied to friction-stir welded 6061 aluminum alloy to suppress abnormal grain growth during post-weld heat treatment. This approach enabled to produce nearly homogeneous microstructure distribution across the weld and thus to avoid strain localization during transverse tensile tests.