Mechanical properties of friction stir welded aluminum alloys 5083 and 5383

The use of high-strength aluminum alloys is increasing in shipbuilding industry, particularly for the design and construction of war ships, littoral surface craft and combat ships, and fast passenger ships. While various welding methods are used today to fabricate aluminum ship structures, namely gas metallic arc welding (GMAW), laser welding and friction stir welding (FSW), FSW technology has been recognized to have many advantages for the construction of aluminum structures, as it is a low-cost welding process. In the present study, mechanical properties of friction stir welded aluminum alloys are examined experimentally. Tensile testing is undertaken on dog-bone type test specimen for aluminum alloys 5083 and 5383. The test specimen includes friction stir welded material between identical alloys and also dissimilar alloys, as well as unwelded (base) alloys. Mechanical properties of fusion welded aluminum alloys are also tested and compared with those of friction stir welded alloys. The insights developed from the present study are documented together with details of the test database. Part of the present study was obtained from the ship Structure Committee project SR-1454 (Paik, 2009), jointly funded by its member agencies.