Deformation Characterization of Friction-Stir-Welded Tubes by Hydraulic Bulge Testing

In this article, the large-diameter thin-walled aluminum alloy tubes were produced using a hybrid process combining friction-stir welding (FSW) and spinning. For this novel process, rolled aluminum alloy sheets with a thickness about 2–3 times the wall thickness of target tube, were FSW to form cylinders, and then the cylinders were subjected to spinning to get thin-walled aluminum alloy tubes. Both experimental and simulation study were conducted to investigate the deformation characterization of the FSW tube during hydraulic bulge testing, and the stress and strain states and thickness distribution of the FSW tube were investigated. It was found that the common defects of FSW tube can be significantly improved by specific welding devices. The ductility of the tube is considerably improved with nearly two times higher bulge ratio than as-spun tube after annealing treatment at 300°C. But the annealed tube still shows a high nonuniform wall thickness distribution due to the inhomogeneous deformation characteristics. With increasing deformation of the tube, the gap between the hoop and axial stress for the weld and base metal (BM) decreases. However, the hoop and axial stress of the weld are always greater than those of the BM at the same pressure.