Microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of AA6061/AA1100/AA6061 dissimilar aluminum alloy fabricated by friction stir additive manufacturing

Microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of AA6061/AA1100/AA6061 dissimilar aluminum alloy fabricated by friction stir additive manufacturing | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of AA6061/AA1100/AA6061 dissimilar aluminum alloy fabricated by friction stir additive manufacturing Yuqiang Han, Peifeng Wu, Chunfa Lin, Sichang Zhang, Yaocheng Zhang, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8589146/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 5 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract In this study, a dissimilar aluminum alloy build of AA6061/AA1100/AA6061 was successfully fabricated using friction stir additive manufacturing (FSAM) process. Through systematic characterization, the materials flow, mixing features and microstructure evolution across specific regions along the build depth were investigated. Additionally, mechanical properties and fracture behavior of the final build were also explored. The results revealed that equiaxed grains with average grain sizes ranging from 4.9 µm to 10.5 µm were formed in central regions of each additive layers. In addition, the average grain sizes of thermal mechanical affected zones below the stir zones decreased significantly to 2.6 ~ 2.7 µm, primarily due to the subgrain refinement mechanism. Texture analysis showed a dominant presence of deformed and shear textures throughout all regions, owing to adequate shear strain suffering from tool. The major precipitates presented in stir zones consisted of Al 8 Fe 2 Si, β and β’. Furthermore, the FSAM build showed remarkable drops in yield strength (101.3 MPa) and ultimate tensile strength (213.0 MPa), compared to AA6061-T6 base metal. Moreover, microhardness fluctuation along the build depth were observed, owing to the variation of dislocation densities and grain orientations. These findings offer the academic foundation for further development of FSAM in producing dissimilar alloy build and promote their industrial applications. Dissimilar aluminium alloy Friction stir additive manufacturing Microstructure evolution Mechanical properties Full Text Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewers agreed at journal 09 Mar, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 09 Mar, 2026 Editor invited by journal 28 Jan, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 15 Jan, 2026 First submitted to journal 14 Jan, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8589146","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":603264771,"identity":"1d0b7fea-b447-40ae-bc90-5c11d1d5fd18","order_by":0,"name":"Yuqiang Han","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Suzhou University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yuqiang","middleName":"","lastName":"Han","suffix":""},{"id":603264772,"identity":"98c840fb-d388-45c8-937c-49e144cbd30e","order_by":1,"name":"Peifeng Wu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Suzhou University of 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Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Dissimilar aluminium alloy, Friction stir additive manufacturing, Microstructure evolution, Mechanical properties","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8589146/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8589146/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eIn this study, a dissimilar aluminum alloy build of AA6061/AA1100/AA6061 was successfully fabricated using friction stir additive manufacturing (FSAM) process. Through systematic characterization, the materials flow, mixing features and microstructure evolution across specific regions along the build depth were investigated. Additionally, mechanical properties and fracture behavior of the final build were also explored. The results revealed that equiaxed grains with average grain sizes ranging from 4.9 \u0026micro;m to 10.5 \u0026micro;m were formed in central regions of each additive layers. In addition, the average grain sizes of thermal mechanical affected zones below the stir zones decreased significantly to 2.6\u0026thinsp;~\u0026thinsp;2.7 \u0026micro;m, primarily due to the subgrain refinement mechanism. Texture analysis showed a dominant presence of deformed and shear textures throughout all regions, owing to adequate shear strain suffering from tool. The major precipitates presented in stir zones consisted of Al\u003csub\u003e8\u003c/sub\u003eFe\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003eSi, β and β\u0026rsquo;. Furthermore, the FSAM build showed remarkable drops in yield strength (101.3 MPa) and ultimate tensile strength (213.0 MPa), compared to AA6061-T6 base metal. Moreover, microhardness fluctuation along the build depth were observed, owing to the variation of dislocation densities and grain orientations. These findings offer the academic foundation for further development of FSAM in producing dissimilar alloy build and promote their industrial applications.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Microstructure evolution and mechanical properties of AA6061/AA1100/AA6061 dissimilar aluminum alloy fabricated by friction stir additive manufacturing","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-03-12 15:40:50","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8589146/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"","date":"2026-03-10T01:26:10+00:00","index":0,"fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2026-03-09T15:50:21+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"Welding in the World","date":"2026-01-28T05:13:57+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2026-01-15T14:08:00+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Welding in the World","date":"2026-01-15T00:44:43+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"welding-in-the-world","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"witw","sideBox":"Learn more about [Welding in the World](https://www.springer.com/journal/40194)","snPcode":"40194","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/witw/","title":"Welding in the World","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"64430d33-6c76-4432-9834-74ccb329a2d6","owner":[],"postedDate":"March 12th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-03-12T15:40:50+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-03-12 15:40:50","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8589146","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8589146","identity":"rs-8589146","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}