Microtexture in the friction-stir weld of an aluminum alloy

In order to characterize plastic flow during friction-stir welding, the mic rotextures in a friction-stir weld of the precipitation-hardened aluminum a lloy 6063 have been analyzed by orientation imaging microscopy (OIM). The b ase-material plate has a Goss orientation. The weld center region, except f or the upper surface, takes a typical shear texture component with two type s of orientations. The orientations have a pair of common {111} and [110] p arallel to the cylindrical pin surface and transverse direction of the plat e, respectively. The typical texture component is also observed around the weld center on the midsection, although it rotates about the plate normal d irection. A microtexture analysis after postweld heat treatment has suggest ed that dynamic recrystallization during friction-stir welding generates th e recrystallized grains at the weld center.