Mechanical properties of friction stir welding and metal inert gas welding of Al-Zn aluminum alloy joints

In this work, an Al-Zn aluminum alloy was welded using friction stir welding (FSW) and metal inert gas (MIG) welding methods. The comparison between microstructure and mechanical properties of the two different joints was mainly discussed. Results showed that defect-free joints can be obtained using both the two welding methods. Due to much less heat input, grains of the stir zone (SZ) of the FSW joint are finer than those of the MIG joint, resulting into higher hardness. Tensile strength of the MIG and FSW joints respectively reaches 68.6 and 73.2% of the BM. The FSW joints own much better fatigue properties than the MIG joints and reach its infinite life at using 90 MPa. The FSW joint owns two cracks during the fatigue test.