Three different bonding couples assembled by two commonly used aerospace aluminum alloys were bonded within the temperature range of 460–520 °C under 6 MPa for 60 min in vacuum atmosphere. The interface microstructure and alloying elements distribution of the bonded joints were determined by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscope (EDS); the bond strength was evaluated by tensile-shear strength test. The results show the bond quality improved effectively as the bonding temperature increased. Compared with the 1420-1420 and 7B04-7B04 bonding couples, the 1420-7B04 couples obtained better interface integrity and higher bond strength, the highest shear strength for 1420-7B04 couple can be as high as 188 MPa when bonded at 520 °C. Special attention was focused on the 1420-7B04 couple, the diffusion coefficient of Mg at the original interface under different temperatures were investigated, the results show the diffusion coefficient increased obviously as the bonding temperature increased. A diffusion affected zone (DAZ) without continuous intermetallic phases formed due to the diffusion of alloying elements across the bonding interface. The combined action of temperature and alloying elements gradient resulted in the increase of alloying elements diffusion fluxes, which in turn promote the bonding quality through the accelerated shrinkage of interfacial voids.

For damage tolerance design in engineering components, the fracture toughness value, K_IC, of the material is essential. However, obtaining specimens of sufficient thickness from stir friction welded plates is challenging, and often, the experimental test values do not meet the necessary criteria, preventing the experimental fracture toughness, K_q, from being recognized as plane strain fracture toughness K_IC. The fracture toughness K_q of 2195 Al–Li alloy welding seams with different thicknesses was measured on the forward and backward sides. Microstructure characterization was conducted by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results indicated minimal significant differences in grain size between the advancing and retreating sides of the weld nugget zone. In specimens of the same thickness, fracture toughness measurements along the normal direction of the joint cross-section showed a high similarity between the advancing and retreating sides of the weld nugget zone. Utilizing the quantitative relationships between fracture toughness and sample thickness derived from both the fracture K and G criteria, it is possible to predict the fracture toughness of thick plates using thin plates. This study employs these relationships to calculate the fracture toughness K_IC of 2195 aluminum–lithium alloy friction stir welds. The K_IC values obtained are 41.65 MPa·m^1/2 from the fracture K criterion and 43.54 MPa·m^1/2 from the fracture G criterion.