Effect of Heat Treatment on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Additive Friction Stirring Deposition 6061-T6 Aluminum Alloy
摘要
Additive friction stir deposition (AFSD) presents an attractive manufacturing approach for producing fully dense structures without undergoing melting-solidification phase transformations. In this study, 6061 aluminum alloy was deposited using AFSD technique. The microstructural evolution, hardness, modulus of elasticity, electrochemical corrosion, and tensile properties of the deposited and heat-treated specimens were investigated in detail. The findings indicate that there was no notable expansion of grains in the substrate and the deposition bonding surface after heat treatment. EBSD analysis indicates that following heat treatment, the average grain size increased by 65.7%, accompanied by a higher recrystallization fraction and an overall reduction in lattice strain. Specimen with heat treatment exhibited the highest hardness value of 137 ± 5 HV, representing a 95.8% improvement compared to as-deposited specimen. In comparison to the as-deposited layer, the interfacial region demonstrated lower elastic recovery capacity and superior wear resistance. Conversely, as-deposited specimen showed better electrochemical corrosion resistance than the heat-treated specimens. Among four distinct heat-treated specimen groups, the specimens subjected to 2 hours of solid solution treatment demonstrated a maximum elongation of 23%, whereas those treated for 6 hours exhibited a maximum tensile strength approaching 350 MPa. Tensile strength and elongation increased as the angle relative to the horizontal direction decreased, suggesting the presence of weak interfacial bonding in the joint region.