Investigation of Stress Corrosion Cracking

in Al-5451 Alloy at Different Loads

Ghulam Murtaza 1, *, Nazeer Ahmad Anjum 2, Muhammad Kamal Amjad 3

1 Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Engineering and Technology, Taxila,

Pakistan
2 Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Engineering and Technology, Taxila,
Pakistan
3
School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, National University of Sciences and
Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan

nazeer.anjum@uettaxila.edu.pk(Its email address sir nazeer)

*Corresponding author email: gm.murtaza150@gmail.com(My Email)

Abstract:

Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) is a dangerous and complex form of cracking which is
defined as the propagation of cracks due to the joint effect of tensile stress and a reactive
environment. Similarly, friction stir welding (FSW) is one of the most efficient and modern
types of welding because joining of metals. The applied stress and environment are
responsible for the growth of stress corrosion cracking induced by friction stir welding and
this technique is used for different applications. In the current study, AL 5451 is employed to
investigate the tensile strength, microstructure, and microhardness of base and welded
specimens using the friction stir welding technique. For stress corrosion cracking (SCC) a test
fixture is developed, and a CNC milling machine is used for manufacturing Dog-bone shaped
AL 5451 material specimens. The static force of 200 N, 500 N, and 800 N is applied for both
specimens with an environment having 3.5 % NaCl solution for time intervals of 4.5-hour, 68
hours, and 96 hours. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) is used to investigate the
microstructure of base and welded specimens. It is concluded that 20.45 % and 30.66 %
decrease in tensile strength and percentage elongation of welded specimen compared to the
base metal. It is observed that due to the corrosive environment grains are damaged visibly in
different areas of the specimen. Moreover, dimples, inter and transgranular cracks are found
in the fractographic examination.

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Keywords: Aluminium alloy, friction stir welding, stress corrosion cracking, microstructure,
microhardness.

1 Introduction
Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) is a dangerous and complex form of cracking which is defined as the
propagation of cracks due to the joint effect of tensile stress and a reactive environment. The effect of
SCC on a material usually cataracts between dry cracking and the fatigue threshold of that material
which grew slowly. The recognition and mechanism of stress corrosion cracking were identified
during the 1930-1950 and 1960-1970, respectively [1]. The problem of stress carrion was not found
till 1980 in the industry [2]. The material is separated when stress corrosion cracking accrues, and
some cracks developed into most of the material[3]. These cracks are a cause of fractures due to the
low stress levels compared to the designed value [4],[5].
There are two types of modes of crack propagation, intergranular in which cracks propagate with
grain boundaries, and trans granular in which growth if cracks are developed across the grains. These
modes can be seen at a microscopic level and depend on the type of microstructure of material and
environment. Three main fundamentals initialize the stress corrosion growth in the material are
sanitize material, tensile stress, and corrosive environment. There are two main sources of stress
produced in stress corrosion cracking: (1) welding residual stress and (2) mechanical residual stress as
explained by [6]. The residual stress is mainly responsible to stress corrosion cracking. The casting,
rolling, forging, drilling, machining, heat treatments, cooling, carburization, and straightening are
some residual stress which is produced in manufacturing systems [7].
A fabrication process through which several parts of metals or thermoplastics are joined by applying
different energy resources like gas flame electric arc electron beam, friction, and laser beam. There
are many welding techniques are developed for different applications that have their merits and
demerits. Friction stir welding (FSW) is one of the most efficient and modern types of welding
because joining of metals. The welding institute was the inventor of Friction stir welding in 1991-92.
This technique is used since 1996 until now by countless industries[8] [9]. In this welding, process
friction is produced between the base metal and rotating pin which are in direct contact to produce
jointly. During this process without melting the base metal, the temperature is increased in the contact
region [10] which results in more deformability of material and allows to mix both sides of the joint
[11][6]. The microstructure of different areas is significantly depending on the shape and tip of the
tool, sheet thickness, tool rotation, feed, and force [12, 13]. The applied stress and environment are
responsible for the growth of stress corrosion cracking and alloy structure modification induced by
friction stir welding [14, 15]. When there is a requirement of improving the metal properties and
strength friction stir welding is used. This technique of welding is beneficial in industries where high
resistance to wear, creep, and fatigue is required [16-18].

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Many research studies on friction stir welding are found in the literature. 5 mm thick aluminum alloy
was investigated by [19]. The results show that around 80 % more tensile strength was achieved by
aluminum alloy compared to the base metal. Similarly, 4mm thick aluminum alloy was investigated to
analyze the effect of process parameters on structure and tensile strength. Results showed that tensile
strength and ductility of alloy material are improved [20]. It was observed a 6 % decrease in hardness
of stir zone with 399.5 MPa of tensile strength at 1000 rpm and 150 mm/min. furthermore, the ductile
mode was observed in fracture morphologies [21]. Similarly, AZ61 magnesium alloy of 4 mm thick
with 150 mm length and 50 mm width AZ61 was joined through friction stir welding and analyze the
microstructure. The parameters were set at 1400rpm and a traveling speed of 25mm/min. the results
showed that ultimate tensile strength 220 MPa with elongation of 7.2 % was achieved, and the joint
was failed in ductile mode due to fracture in dimple form produced in material specimen [22].

2 System description and measurement procedure

2.1 Material Selection

The workpiece was prepared from a sheet of AA5451 measuring 150 x 60 x 6 mm. A sample of the
material was tested on Spectro lab M8 the material composition is given in Table 1.

Table 1: Material Composition

Component Value (%) Component Value (%)

Si 0.0680 Cr 0.200
Fe 0.167 Pb 0.0010
Cu 0.0038 Sn 0.0010
Mn 0.0805 Ti 0.0173
Mg 2.23 Ca 0.0001
Zn 0.0107 Na 0.0002
Ni 0.0010 P 0.0016
Sr 0.0001 Al 97.19
V 0.0230

2.2 Tool Design

Many materials used as a FSW tool while commonly used H13 tool steel by many researchers for Al
alloy welding. The geometry of tool was decided on the base of literature review. A 100 mm length
of H13 tool steel rod was purchased which have diameter of 16 mm. The tool profile which is consist
of shape of pin, diameter of pin and length of the pin was made on CNC lathe machine the pin of

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tool is having shape cylindrical, 6 mm diameter and length 5.72 mm. After machining hardness of
material is increased by heat treatment and increase its hardness up to 51HRC that is enough for
friction stir welding. Solid work of the tool is shown in Figure 3 .1.

Figure 3.1: Pro-E tool design geometry

2.3 Fixture design

For the fixture design it is always is regarded as first problem to have been resolve due to high
temperature during process; under such extreme conditions, welded blanks will remain stuck to
back plate, which compromise the joint soundness and the integrity of the fixture itself. The fixture
should withstand forces and increasing temperature without distortion of shape throughout welding
process.. A friction-stir welding fixture mainly uses for the workpieces to keep them in place.

The clamping forces are most important for the friction stir welding process so that preparation of
fixture is most important to proper clamping of specimens to be welded. Mild steel of 10mm thick
plate is used to make this specimens holder. The base plate of fixture is 260 mm in length and 100
mm of width because the holder is also clamped with machine bed so extra length of plate is
required. Base plate is basically essential for the downward force acting during welding. There were
four drills in the base plate of 10 mm diameter to clamp the work piece to be welded by using upper
plate of holder. The distance between holes is 120 mm and the work piece was taken between these
clamping bolts. This fixture was designed only for the simple butt joint friction stir welding shown in
Figure .

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Figure Pro-E Design of Fixture: (a) Top view, (b) side view, (c) cover plate

2.3 Experimental setup

Experimentation related to stress corrosion cracking done on SCC rig apparatus Fracture mechanics
lab and for FSW using milling machine in machine tool laboratory at University of Engineering and
Technology, Taxila.

2.3.1 Stress corrosion cracking rig apparatus

Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) rig apparatus consist of a base, lower clamp bath, hanger, arm,
magnetic stand, dial indicator, upper clamp support plate, and, pin as shown in Figure 2.

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 Figure 2: Stress corrosion cracking rig apparatus
A simple vertical milling machine was used to make the fixture and to clamp the workpiece
to be weld, for cutting the specimens to be weld, to perform experimentation, and to make the
specimens for mechanical testing. It has only a table movement (x-axis) automatic and the
other two movements (y-axis and z-axis) are manually controlled. It is a belt-drive motor
system and has a very high revolution speed of a maximum of 4200 rpm.

2.3.2 Workpiece preparation

The plate of aluminum alloy AA5451 of 150 mm length and width of 60 mm was cut down
by specimen cutting machine using disk cutter placed in SCET Wah cant. The size of the
Workpiece material is 150 mm x 60 mm x 6mm that are cut from the plate. The edge of the
workpiece is accurately cut down, so the joining of the plate is precise. The process
parameters for FSW are given in Table 2. Dogbone specimens were prepared using the
vertical milling machine according to the ASTM E08 shown in Figure 3.

Table 2: Process parameters for friction stir welding

Tool Rotational Speed Transverse Speed Dwell Time Offset Distance

(RPM) (mm/min) (sec) (mm)
1200 15 10 0

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 This Sample is used for tensile testing

This sample is used for SCC Testing

Figure 3: Tensile test specimens

\The prepared specimens of material including base and welded are examined by considering
different conditions given in Table 3.
Table 3: Test conditions

Parameter Base specimen Welded specimen

Load 200N, 500 N, 800 N 200N, 500 N, 800 N
Environment 3.5% NaCl Solution 3.5% NaCl Solution
Time 4.5 hours, 68 hours, 96 hours 4.5 hours, 68 hours, 96 hours

3 Results and discussion

3.1 Stress-strain evaluation

The stress-strain for the base and welded specimens are shown in Figure 4 (a) and (b)
respectively. Due to welding, the 34 % and 46.3 % average decrease in stress and strain are
observed.

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 Figure 4: Stress-strain curve (a) Base, (b) Welded
3.2 Tensile strength and elongation evaluation

The tensile strength and elongation of base and welded specimens are tested and it is found
that 24.4 % decrease and tensile strength and 30.6 % in elongation is observed as shown in
Figure 5.

Figure 5: (a) Tensile strength, (b) Percentage elongation

3.3 Scanning electron microscope evaluation

The welded joints strength is affected due to the intensity of force applied under the application. In the
current work, the stability of the welded joint is evaluated under different load conditions. The
welded specimens are investigated for microstructure at different test conditions. The welded
specimen failed at the welded region when more than 800 N force is applied. However, the
specimen’s microstructures are examined for 200 N, 500 N, and 800 N force.

3.4 Microstructure of welded specimen

In Figure 6, 200 N force application effects are presented. It is observed that most of the
specimen is with small deformation and few small deep crack initializations are observed.
Due to the application of 500 N force, the tensile strength of welded material compromised and deep
dimples and cracks on the surface are observed as shown in Figure 7. The intergranular cracks and

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surface deformation increase with increase applied force. In Figure 8, it is examined that the crack
penetration is increased, and the size and depth of dimple and intergranular cracks is more compared
to small force application.

Figure 6: Welded specimen at 200 N force

Figure 7: Welded specimen at 500 N force

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 Figure 8: Welded specimen at 800 N force

4 Conclusion
In the current study, the aluminum alloy AL 5451 is investigated through stress corrosion
cracking and friction stir welding technique under different load test conditions. It is
concluded that the intensity of load applied directly affects the strength of the welded
specimen. The tensile strength and elongation of base and welded specimens are found
around 210 MPa, 7.5 % and 167 MPa and 5.2 %, respectively. However, a decrease of 34 %
and 46.3 % in stress and strain of welded joints is also observed. Overall, an increase in load
increase the crack propagation and depth. More, dimples and intergranular and deformation
are observed at 800 N load. The hardness, of welded material, also affects the stress corrosion
cracking and mechanical strength.
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