Influences of post weld heat treatment on tensile properties of friction stir welded AA2519-T87 aluminium alloy joints

AA 2519-T87 is an aluminium alloy that principally contains Cu as an alloying element and is a new grade of Al-Cu alloy system. This material is a potential candidate for light combat military vehicles. Fusion welding of this alloy leads to hot cracking, porosity and alloy segregation in the weld metal region. Friction stir welding (FSW) is a solid state joining process which can overcome the above mentioned problems. However, the FSW of age hardenable aluminium alloys results in poor tensile properties in the as-welded condition (AW). Hence, post weld heat treatment (PWHT) is used to enhance deteriorated tensile properties of FSW joints. In this work, the effect of PWHT, namely artificial ageing (AA) and solution treatment (ST) followed by ageing (STA) on the microstructure, tensile properties and microhardness were systematically investigated. The microstructural features of the weld joints were characterised using an optical microscope (OM), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The tensile strength and microhardness of the joints were correlated with the grain size, precipitate size, shape and its distribution. From the investigation, it was found that STA treatment is beneficial in enhancing the tensile strength of the FSW joints of AA2519-T87 alloy and this is mainly due to the presence of fine and densely distributed precipitates in the stir zone