Structure, properties, and residual stress of 304L stainless steel friction stir welds

Alloy 304L stainless steel sheets, 3.2 mm thick, were joined by friction stir welding at a single welding speed using two different toot rotation rates. The resulting welds were overmatched relative to the base metal. Longitudinal residual stresses (tensile) were near the base metal yield strength. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. on behalf of Acta Materialia Inc.