The effect of cold rolling on mechanical properties and microstructure of aluminium 6082 T6 joint by friction stir welding process

¹ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, University of South Africa, Johannesburg, South Afric
² Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
³ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology,University of South Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa

^* gaonnt@unisa.ac.za
^* mmashinini@uj.ac.za
^* pitam@unisa.ac.za

Abstract

Cold rolling increases the strain hardening coefficient and improves the material's mechanical strength and formability while maintaining uniform sheet thickness. This paper investigates the effects of cold rolling on the mechanical properties of Aluminum 6082 T6 during the friction stir welding (FSW) process. Aluminum 6082 T6 material was cold rolled to reduce the thickness by 50 percent. Rolled and as-received material were welded by friction stir welding process using the same welding parameters. Welded samples were characterized by optical microscopy. Tensile and hardness tests were conducted on the welded sample. The findings shows a slight difference in tensile strength between rolled and as-received welded sample as it is reported to be 1.7%. Rolled sample was 3.5% more harder on the weld zone than as-received sample.