Improving the corrosion resistance of friction stir welding joint of 7050 Al alloy via optimizing the process route
Yanqiu Wang, Yong Chen, Li Zhou, Yawei Shao, Li Liu, Jian‐Tang Jiang
Abstract
The macro-galvanic effect in friction stir welding (FSW) joints is contributive for accelerating the localized corrosion of 7xxx aluminum alloy weldment. A process route, solid solution treating→FSW→T76 ageing (SSW-T76), was developed to weak the macro-galvanic effect. The microstructure and corrosion of joints prepared from SSW-T76 route and the conventional route (T76→FSW, T76W) were comparatively investigated. It was found that both precipitate coarsening and solute segregation were effectively suppressed when the route was changed from T76W to SSW-T76. The discrepancy in microstructure, micochemistry and corrosion potential between the base material (BM), the heat-affected zone (HAZ) and the nugget zone (NZ) was narrowed, leading to suppressed macro-galvanic effect and thereafter to decreased pitting and IGC.