The present study investigated a new configuration of friction stir welded joints from two aluminum alloys. Dissimilar welds AA6082/AA1350 were examined, whereas, for AA1350, two states were investigated—coarse-grained (CG) and ultrafine-grained (UFG). Changes in the mechanical and electrochemical properties regarding the microstructure evolution across the welds were discussed. The average grain size in the stir zone (SZ) for all materials equaled 4 to 5 µm with a fraction of high-angle grain boundaries of about 77 pct, indicating the occurrence of continuous dynamic recrystallization. Changes in the microhardness across the welds were connected with differences in grain size (AA1350) and dissolution of β″ precipitates in the SZ of AA6082. As a result, the tensile strength of the welds decreased compared to base materials AA6082 and AA1350 UFG; however, there was an increase when compared to the base material AA1350 CG. Electrochemical experiments revealed that pitting corrosion occurred for AA1350, while for AA6082, it was a combination of pitting and intergranular corrosion. The depth of corrosion attack was higher for AA1350, with a maximum value of ~ 70 µm for base materials, while in the SZ, a depth decreased to 50 µm. For the AA6082, the maximum depth was measured in the SZ and did not exceed 30 µm.

The present study shows results of friction stir welded (FSW) samples after different plastic deformation routes. The welds were made of coarse-grained and ultrafine-grained commercially pure aluminium. As a plastic deformation method a new hybrid process has been chosen, which resulted in obtaining samples with different characteristics of microstructure, which also differed in dependance of the examined plane. Microstructure observations showed that, regardless of the base material, due to continuous dynamic recrystallization a stir zone was characterized by equiaxial grains with an average size of 3.5–5.0 μm. However, significant differences in the changes of the microstructure in thermomechanically affected and heat affected zones have been obtained between welds. Microhardness profiles revealed a decrease in the stir zones in comparison with the initially deformed samples, but an increase for the annealed samples. Tensile tests showed differences between the samples. In the deformed samples, the rupture occurred in a stir zone, while in the undeformed samples in the base material. In addition, due to the application of 3D digital image correlation, it was possible to observe deformation and local changes between the weld zones during the tensile test. Additionally, local electrochemical measurements were performed with two sizes of working electrode, which included the application of microcapillary technique. The results showed higher corrosion resistance in 3.5% NaCl in the stir zones.