Tailoring the Microstructure of an AA5754 Aluminum Alloy by Tuning the Combination of Heat Treatment, Friction Stir Welding, and Cold Rolling
, Eleonora Santecchia, Valerio di Pompeo, Maria Laura Gatto and Stefano Spigarelli
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The manuscript is somehow crumpled, written with a lack of time. The structure is concise, the title is not clear, especially “….a metallographic approach….”, as if the authors propose to use a new microscopy technique for the study of welded joints.
Perhaps the manuscript should be proofread by co-authors with more experience.
Researchers have samples treated with 4 different technologies, two FSW parameters, which is a good object of study. However, mechanical properties (plasticity, tensile strength, impact strength) are not investigated, but only microhardness, which varies in a small range. It would be possible to study the microstructure in more detail on an optical microscope, and in the next work to investigate the fracture surfaces after mechanical tests, the microstructure and distribution of alloying elements using SEM (BSE).
1 Use of inappropriate terminology in my opinion:
- thermal treatment – heat treatment
- welding bead – welding seam
2 Almost ten years ago, I had the experience of examining welded joints obtained by double-sided friction stir welding.
Mechanical properties of welded joints in AMg5 alloy produced by two-sided friction stir welding
Structure and properties of welded joints of the aluminum alloy 1550 produced by double-side friction welding with mixing
3 Different parameters for FSW are strangely chosen, usually, with an increase in the rotation speed, the welding speed should also increase.
4 Misprint. “The annealing heat treatment (TT)….”.
Author Response
Please see attached word file.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
I do not see the leading Works about FSW published in MDPI, when Surface and Coatings Technology 367, 327-335 showing good metal Metals 2019, 9(2), 260; https://doi.org/10.3390/met9020260 about new alloys. AA5754 aluminium sheets can be seriously affected as it was defined.
Include some discussion about FSW improvement by burnishing, shot peening and other. cold rolling is too hard, please compare with above works.
The “nugget” are typical shown in FSW as above works. Why di you not show any of them from your works.
Ref 2 is a proceeding, better a paper.
Author Response
Please see attached word file.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
The authors addressed the friction stir welding of the AA5754 aluminum alloy, performed with two different conditions of rotation and welding speeds coupled with different sequences of thermal treatment, FSW, and CR. I share the comments and recommendations for reconsidering the publication:
The title should be changed.
Methods and results are not mentioned. They should be included in the Abstract. The abstract should include a conclusion or result at least.
In the introduction, the authors should refer to more papers especially those published in 2021, and 2022.
FSW should compare with other welding methods like laser etc. in the introduction. some suggestions are below:
Yuce, C., Tutar, M., Karpat, F., & Yavuz, N. (2016). The optimization of process parameters and microstructural characterization of fiber laser welded dissimilar HSLA and MART steel joints. Metals, 6(10), 245.
Advances in welding metal alloys, dissimilar metals and additively manufactured parts. Metals, 7(2), 32.
Surface Residual Stress Analysis in GMAW and LBW of the Dissimilar TRIP-DP Steels Joint: An Experimental Approach. Metals, 12(5), 880.
Multi-objective optimisation for indentation rate, nugget diameter and tensile load in resistance spot welding using Taguchi-based grey relational analysis. International Journal of Materials and Product Technology, 63(4), 321-338.
Fusion welding of ultra-high strength structural steels–A review. Journal of Manufacturing Processes, 82, 203-229.
Ultrasonic welding of CF/PEEK composites: Influence of welding parameters on interfacial temperature profiles and mechanical properties. Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, 162, 107074.
Electron beam welding of 7075 aluminum alloy: Microstructure and fracture properties. Engineering Science and Technology, an International Journal, 34, 101093.
In the title "2. Experimental procedures and Methods" p should be a capital letter.
Figure 1'resolution should be improved.
Figure 2 should be rearranged. The table should be separated as an individual table.
In Table 2, The authors presented different parameters used for friction stir welding. Are two different parameters enough to get any conclusion in this paper? The authors should explain this in detail.
Did the authors use any experimental design method in this paper?
The readers can understand the results more easily if the authors provide more detailed explanations of each result.
The conclusion looks complex. The authors should rewrite the conclusion.
Author Response
Please see attached word file.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Misprint. …… low welding speed ( investigated …….
Author Response
see attached word file.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
The Authors have revised the manuscript thoroughly and carefully based on all the comments. The manuscript is recommended for publication after the following minor revisions.
-Some photos of welded parts are missing definitely.
Author Response
see attached word file.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
