Stress Corrosion Cracking of Friction Stir-Welded AA-2024 T3 Alloy

The paper is devoted to the study of stress corrosion cracking phenomena in friction stir welding AA-2024 T3 joints. Constant load (CL) cell and slow strain rate (SSR) tests were carried out in aerated NaCl 35 g/L solution. During the tests, open circuit potential (OCP) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were measured in the different zones of the welding. The results evidenced initial practical nobilty of the nugget lower compared to both heat-affected zone and the base metal. This effect can be mainly ascribed to the aluminum matrix depletion in copper, which precipitates in form of copper-rich second phases. In this zones, no stress corrosion cracking was noticed, but well-evident stress-enhanced intergranular corrosion occurred. This is due to the uneven distribution of platic deformation during the slow strain rate tests. Higher strain values are localized at the heat affected zone, where softening occurs. On the contrary, stress values at the nugget are not sufficient to favor both the initiation and propagation of stress corrosion cracks. In the range of processing parameter studied in this experimental work, the stress corrosion cracking susceptibility of the friction stir welding (FSW)-ed alloy is then similar to that of the base metal.