Friction Stir Butt Welding Thin Aluminum Alloy Sheets

0.8-mm-thick alclad 2024-T4 aluminum alloy sheets were friction stir butt welded. A 15-mm diameter shoulder tool was used to guarantee sufficient heat input during welding. A 0.08-mm shoulder plunge depth was adopted to reduce sheet thickness reduction. Sound joints were obtained at rotating speeds from 400 to 1000 rpm and welding speeds from 50 to 150 mm/min. A thickness reduction of 6% was achieved at 1000 rpm and 50 mm/min. Secondary phases firstly precipitated at the black lines in the stir zone (SZ). The hardness of the SZ showed a decrease about 6% compared with the base metal. A maximum tensile strength of 399.5 MPa and an elongation of 5.6% were achieved at 1000 rpm and 150 mm/min. The fracture morphologies showed typical ductile fracture mode.