Effect of Local Post Weld Heat Treatment on Tensile Properties in Friction Stir Welded 2219-O Al Alloy

To improve the formability of the aluminum alloy welds and overcome the size limitation of the bulk post weld heat treatment (BPWHT) on large size friction stir welded joints, a local post weld heat treatment method (LPWHT) was proposed. In this method, the resistance heating as the moving heat source is adopted to only heat the weld seam. The temperature field of LPWHT and its influence on the mechanical properties and formability of FSW 2219-O Al alloy joints was investigated. The evaluation of the tensile properties of FSW samples was also examined by mapping the global and local strain distribution using the digital image correlation methodology. The results indicated that the formability was improved greatly after LPWHT, while the hardness distribution of the FSW joint was homogenized. The maximum elongation can reach 1.4 times that of as-welded joints with increase the strength and the strain of the nugget zone increased from 3 to 8% when annealing at 300 °C. The heterogeneity on the tensile deformation of the as-welded joints was improved by the nugget zone showing large local strain value and the reason was given according to the dimple fracture characteristics at different annealing temperatures. The tensile strength and elongation of LPWHT can reach 93.3 and 96.1% of the BPWHT, respectively. Thus, the LPWHT can be advantageous compared to the BPWHT for large size welds.