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Monday, June 2, 2008 - 3:40 PM

Experimental Investigation of Material Flows Within FSWs Using 3D Tomography

C. R. Tolle, T. A. White, K. S. Miller, H. B. Smartt, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID

There exists significant prior work using tracers or pre-placed hardened markers within FSW to experimentally explore material flow within the FSW process.  Our experiments replaced markers with a thin sheet of copper foil placed between the 6061 Aluminum lap and butt joints that were then welded.  The absorption characteristics of x-rays for copper and aluminum are significantly different allowing for non-destructive evaluation (NDE) methods such as x-ray computed tomography (CT) to be used to demonstrate the material movement within the weldment on a much larger scale than previously shown.   3D CT reconstruction of the copper components of the weldment allows for a unique view into the final turbulent state of the welding process as process parameters are varied.  The x-ray CT data of a section of the weld region was collected using a cone-beam x-ray imaging system developed at the INL.  Six-hundred projections were collected over 360-degrees using a 160-kVp Bremsstrahlung x-ray generator (25-micrometer focal spot) and amorphous-silicon x-ray detector.  The region of the object that was imaged was about 3cm tall and 1.5cm x 1cm in cross section, and was imaged at a magnification of about 3.6x.  The data were reconstructed on a 0.5x0.5x0.5 mm3 voxel grid.  After reconstruction, the aluminum and copper could be easily discriminated using a gray level threshold allowing visualization of the copper components.  Fractal Analysis of the tomographic reconstructed material topology is investigated as a means to quantify macro level material flow based on process parameters.  The results of multi-pass FSWs show increased refinement of the copper trace material.  Implications of these techniques for quantifying process flow are discussed.

Summary: We replace traditional markers in FSW experiments with thin copper foils to study mixing within lap and butt joints. 3D x-ray computed tomography reconstruction of the copper components of the weldment allows for a unique view into the final turbulent state of the welding process as process parameters are varied.