Influence of Welding Process and Post Weld Heat Treatment on Microstructure and Pitting Corrosion Behavior of Dissimilar Aluminium Alloy Welds

Welding of dissimilar Aluminum alloy welds is becoming important in aerospace, shipbuilding and defence applications. In the present work, an attempt has been made to weld dissimilar aluminium alloys using conventional gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) and friction stir welding (FSW) processes. An attempt was also made to study the effect of post weld heat treatment (T4 condition) on microstructure and pitting corrosion behaviour of these welds. Results of the present investigation established the differences in microstructures of the base metals in T4 condition and in annealed conditions. It is evident that the thickness of the PMZ is relatively more on AA2014 side than that of AA6061 side. In FS welds, lamellar like shear bands are well noticed on the top of the stir zone. The concentration profile of dissimilar friction stir weld in T4 condition revealed that no diffusion has taken place at the interface. Poor Hardness is observed in all regions of FS welds compared to that of GTA welds. Pitting corrosion resistance of the dissimilar FS welds in all regions was improved by post weld heat treatment.