Temperature, Stress and Distortion of Ti–6Al–4V Alloy Low-Temperature Friction Stir Welding Assisted by Trailing Intensive Cooling

The low-temperature friction stir welding (FSW) in which peak temperature is lower than the transus temperature of β phase was achieved using rotational speed of 100 rpm and welding speed of 30 mm/min. Trailing intensive cooling with liquid nitrogen was successfully applied to FSW under the low-temperature welding conditions. Comparisons of the temperature field, plastic strain, residual stress and welding distortion between intensive and conventional cooling were investigated by experiment and simulation. Results reveal that trailing intensive cooling is attributed to shrink high-temperature area and reduce the value of peak temperature and plastic strain. Longitudinal residual stress presents M shape, and the reduction of maximum tensile residual stress reaches 4.8%. The welding distortion shows an anti-saddle shape, and the decrement of welding distortion in transverse direction is 34.5%.