Materials and Design 32 (2011) 462–467

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Materials and Design

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Technical Report

Prediction of tensile strength of friction stir welded aluminium matrix TiCp

particulate reinforced composite
S. Gopalakrishnan a,*, N. Murugan b,1
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, K.S. Rangasamy College of Technology, Tiruchengode 637 215, Tamil Nadu, India
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Coimbatore 641 014, Tamil Nadu, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The usage of particulate reinforced metal matrix composite (MMC) is steadily increasing due to its prop-
Received 11 February 2010 erties such as high specific strength, high specific modulus and good wear resistance. Aluminium matrix
Accepted 28 May 2010 composite (AMC) plays an important role to meet the above requirements. Effective utilization of AMC is
Available online 2 June 2010
based on not only its production but also on fabrication methods. Among AMCs, those based on partic-
ulate reinforcements are particularly attractive, due to their lower production costs. Aluminium matrix
titanium carbide reinforced composite (Al–TiCp) was produced in an inert atmosphere by indigenously
developed Modified Stir Casting Process with bottom pouring arrangement (3–7% TiC by weight). Friction
stir welding process (FSW) is employed to make weld joints. The welding parameters such as axial force,
welding speed, tool rotational speed, percentage TiC addition etc., and profile of the tool were considered
for analysis. In this study, an attempt is made to predict ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of the welded
joints using a mathematical model. The FSW specimens without any post-weld heat treatment belonging
to a different set of parameters tested, exhibited a high joint efficiency (most of them ranging from 90% to
98%) with respect to the ultimate tensile strength of the base material AA6061. It was found from the
analysis of the model that the tool pin profile and the welding speed have more significant effect on ten-
sile strength.
Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction and the deleterious reactions between reinforcing hard particles

and liquid aluminium [2,3]. The said problems can be overcome
AMCs are continuously finding their application in the field of by employing solid state welding process. Friction stir welding pro-
aerospace, marine, automotives, sports and recreation. Al–TiCp cess allows welding of several materials that are extremely diffi-
are of interest for structural applications, where weight saving is cult to fusion weld. It is predominantly used for welding low
of primary concern. Titanium carbide (TiC) material is very inter- melting point materials like aluminium and its alloys with the
esting because it is thermodynamically stable and enhances hard- reduced human skills. So FSW is chosen to make weld joint. It is
ness and lightness of the composite. Ceramic particles in the a hot shear, an energy efficient, and environmentally friendly
ductile matrix can lead to desirable properties such as: increased welding process. The FSW tool is a crucial part of this welding pro-
strength, higher elastic modulus, higher service temperature, im- cess. It consists of a shoulder and a pin. Pin profile plays a crucial
proved wear resistance, decreased part weight, low thermal shock, role in material flow and in turn regulates the welding speed of
high electrical and thermal conductivity, and low coefficient of the FSW process. Tool geometry such as probe length, probe shape
thermal expansion compared to the conventional metals and alloys and shoulder size is also a key parameter; because it would affect
[1]. According to the type of reinforcement, the fabrication tech- the heat generation and the plastic material flow. Oosterkamp et al.
niques can vary considerably. [4] emphasized the role of tool pin profile in FSW. The primary
Fusion welding of Al–TiCp is difficult and it has been posing a function of the non-consumable rotating tool pin is to shear and
continuous challenge to fabricators so far. It is primarily due to stir the material. The severe plastic deformation is due to the flow
the segregation of reinforced particles when it is in liquid state, of the material around the rotating and advancing tool. The mate-
rial flow depends on the welding parameters. Frictional heat is
generated due to friction developed by the tool shoulder and weld
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 4288 274119, mobile: +91 9344152299; fax: material surface, and by deformation. The material softens and
+91 4288 274860.
E-mail addresses: gopalasaravanan@[Link], ksrctt@[Link], research@
flows around the tool [5] as it is progressed. The heat input and
[Link] (S. Gopalakrishnan), drmurugan@[Link] (N. Murugan). temperature distribution during FSW is due to frictional heat gen-
1
Tel.: +91 422 2574071/72, mobile: +91 9751824123; fax: +91 422 2575020. eration between the rotating tool shoulder and surface of the plate

0261-3069/$ - see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/[Link].2010.05.055
 S. Gopalakrishnan, N. Murugan / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 462–467 463

to be welded and in turn depends on the co-efficient of friction. Table 2

Apart from the properties of tool and plate material, the axial force Properties of AA6061 and TiC.

decides the coefficient of friction. Hence, axial force plays a signif- Properties Materials
icant role in friction stir welding process. Ouyang and Kovacevic [5] AA6061 TiC
observed that the plunge depth of tool pin inside the work piece is
Melting point in °C 670 3065
based on axial force. Kumar et al. [6,7] studied the role of axial load Density in kg/m3 2700 4940
on tensile strength of friction stir welded aluminium alloys. Forg- Yield strength in MPa 241 at T6 condition 114 at 980 °C
ing occurs under the axial pressure applied by the tool shoulder.
FSW joints avoid the formation of shrinkages and porosity which
is more common in fusion welds, as well as segregation of the cera-
mic reinforcement. They significantly reduce the thermal stresses erated and machine table is moved at a predetermined welding
[8]. Since there is no melting during FSW, problems associated speed. Axial force is applied through the shoulder of the tool. It
with liquid solid reactions are completely eliminated. Literature is measured continuously and displayed throughout the process.
shows that [9] using FSW process, better tensile properties are ob- The surface temperature at the tool, work interface is monitored.
tained by using square tool pin profile on aluminium alloys irre- When the plunged tool pin approaches nearer to the other end,
spective of other welding parameters used. In this study, an the entire tool is retracted. The rotating tool pin along with the
attempt has been made to produce Al–TiCp in a cost effective shoulder during its travel produces frictional heat with tempera-
way by indigenously developed stir casting process. FSW is used ture below the melting point, and plastic deformation due to the
to join Al–TiCp plates autogenously. The effect of various friction stirring of the material around the pin, forming the weld [11,12].
stir weld parameters on UTS was studied using Design of Experi- This process is repeated for all welding trails as per the design ma-
ment (DoE). trix shown in Table 3. Totally 32 weld trails have been conducted.
Specimen is prepared as per standard metallurgical procedure
to identify the existence of different zones in FSW as shown in
2. Experimental work
Fig. 3 (metallurgical effect caused by the tool). Specimens for
microstructural analysis are also prepared as per standard metallo-
Chemical composition and mechanical properties of both Alu-
graphic procedure. Microstructure analysis is carried out at various
minium and TiC are provided in Tables 1 and 2. AA6061 T6 mate-
portions of the specimen’s cross-section using colour metallo-
rial in extruded form is in heat treated and solution hardened
graphic study to analyze the effect of various welding parameters.
condition. TiC having particle size less than 2 lm was supplied
Typical microstructure of different zones of FS welded AMC is
by M/s. Alfa Aesar (India). AMC reinforced with TiC is produced
shown in Figs. 4 and 5.
by Modified Stir Casting Process with bottom pouring arrangement
Three samples of tensile test specimens are cut in the direction
in an argon atmosphere. TiC addition varied from 3% to 7%. In the
normal to the weld in each of 32 welded plates and machined as
above process, problems associated with the conventional stir cast-
per ASTM E08 standards [13]. Their tensile strength is estimated
ing process such as reaction of molten aluminium with atmo-
using a Universal Testing Machine, Model TUE-C-1000 manufac-
sphere, improper mixing of particulate and difficulty associated
tured by M/s. Fine Spray Associates & Engineers Pvt. Ltd., India,
with material pouring are drastically reduced. Two step stirring
at room temperature. The average tensile strength was found and
is employed to ensure better mixing. Magnesium is added to im-
it is listed in Table 3. Joint efficiency is calculated by comparing
prove the wettability. It is found from the characterization of
UTS of a specimen with that of parent metal of aluminium AA6061.
AMC that specific strength improved as the addition of TiC in-
creased [10]. Undesired portions of the castings such as runner
and raiser are removed by machining. Visual inspection is carried 2.1. Development of mathematical model
out to find out the presence of surface defects. Plates of size
100 mm  50 mm  6 mm are prepared from cast AMC blocks Design matrix as shown in Table 3 is a five level five factor 1/2
using wire cut EDM process for the weld trail. factorial design consisting of 32 weld trails at coded condition. All
Square butt joint configuration is formed to make FSW joints. welding variables at their intermediate level (0) constitute the cen-
The prepared plates are held firmly by a fixture. Single pass weld- tre points and combination of each of the welding variables at
ing procedure is employed. In this study, tool profiles such as taper either lowest (2) or highest (+2) with other three variables
square, taper hexagon, taper octagon, square, and hexagon as (+1, 0, 1) at intermediate levels. Experiments are conducted as
shown in Fig. 1 are used and its effect on tensile strength are ana- per design matrix at random to avoid errors. The response function,
lysed. Factors such as percentage TiC (P) welding speed (S) in mm/ ultimate tensile strength of the joints is a function of P, S, N, F, and T
s, tool rotational speed in rpm (N) axial force in kN (F) and five tool which can be expressed as
profiles (T) as shown in Fig. 1 are considered for this study. The tool UTS ¼ f ðP; S; N; F; TÞ
pin profiles used are selected and its levels are fixed based on the
ratio of swept volume to static volume.
Fig. 2 shows the FSW machine employed for the present inves- The second order polynomial (regression) equation used to rep-
tigation. Parameters are set after welding trails. Weld trails are resent the response surface ‘Y’ for k parameter is given by
conducted at random as per DoE. A rotated, non-consumable tool X
k X
k X
k
pin made of high carbon high chromium steel is plunged into the Y ¼ b0 þ bi X i þ bii X 2i þ bij X i X j
abutting surfaces until the shoulder touches the surfaces of the i¼1 i¼1 i–j

work material. After a brief dwell period, the required heat is gen-
The selected polynomial for five factors could be expressed as

UTS; MPa ¼ b0 þ b1 P þ b2 S þ b3 N þ b4 F þ b5 T þ b11 P2 þ b22 S2

Table 1
Chemical analysis of AA6061 alloy. þ b33 N2 þ b44 F 2 þ b55 T 2 þ b12 PS þ b13 PN þ b14 PF
Element Si Fe Cu Mn Mg Cr Zn Ti Al þ b15 PT þ b23 SN þ b24 SF þ b25 ST þ b34 NF
% By weight 0.8 0.7 0.4 0.15 1.2 0.35 0.25 0.15 Balance þ b35 NT þ b45 FT ð1Þ
464 S. Gopalakrishnan, N. Murugan / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 462–467

a b c d e
Fig. 1. Tool pin profiles used in FSW: (a) hexagon, (b) taper square, (c) taper hexagon, (d) square, and (e) taper octagon.

Table 3
Design matrix and measured UTS.

S. Percentage Welding Spindle Axial Tool Ultimate Joint

no. TiC speed S speed force profile tensile efficiency
addition P (mm/s) N F strength
(rpm) (kN) (MPa)
01 1 1 1 1 1 190.280 89.57
02 1 1 1 1 1 216.665 101.01
03 1 1 1 1 1 234.725 112.93
04 1 1 1 1 1 187.065 81.77
05 1 1 1 1 1 233.330 114.22
06 1 1 1 1 1 202.780 87.78
07 1 1 1 1 1 208.335 98.65
08 1 1 1 1 1 220.835 97.40
09 1 1 1 1 1 220.835 106.44
10 1 1 1 1 1 198.610 86.58
11 1 1 1 1 1 218.055 102.54
12 1 1 1 1 1 190.280 87.78
13 1 1 1 1 1 180.555 88.27
14 1 1 1 1 1 218.055 104.62
15 1 1 1 1 1 215.280 101.25
16 1 1 1 1 1 193.055 92.59
17 2 0 0 0 0 169.445 103.18
18 2 0 0 0 0 204.165 91.00
Fig. 2. Friction stir welding machine.
19 0 2 0 0 0 198.610 97.96
20 0 2 0 0 0 140.900 72.72
21 0 0 2 0 0 137.700 73.74
where b0 is the average of responses and b1, b2, . . . , b5, 22 0 0 2 0 0 181.940 93.93
b12, b13, . . . , b45 are the response coefficients that depend on 23 0 0 0 2 0 200.560 96.62
24 0 0 0 2 0 183.330 95.28
respective main and interaction effects of parameters. SYSTAT Soft-
25 0 0 0 0 2 179.170 99.21
ware is used to obtain the final model by eliminating least or no 26 0 0 0 0 2 191.665 97.43
significant terms. It is found that tool rotational speed (main 27 0 0 0 0 0 168.060 87.23
parameter) had no impact on the response. Therefore this term is 28 0 0 0 0 0 173.610 85.88
eliminated. Similarly the insignificant interaction terms such as 29 0 0 0 0 0 168.055 88.57
30 0 0 0 0 0 151.390 75.15
PS, PT, PF, PN, SF, SN, TF, TN, and FN are eliminated and the final
31 0 0 0 0 0 181.945 88.57
model is arrived. Model’s F ratio at 95% confidence level is com- 32 0 0 0 0 0 202.780 104.67
pared with standard tabulated value. The model is found to be ade-
quate. The developed model in coded form is given below:

UTS; MPa ¼ 183:024  9:335T þ 1:157P  4:816S  1:389F is a source for multiple nucleations. The grain refining nature of TiC
particles may reduce the degree of clustering commonly observed
þ 7:279P2 þ 7:973F 2 þ 9:199T 2 þ 6:943ST ð2Þ in cast MMC. In general, the microstructure of friction stir weld is
classified into three major regions namely, weld nugget (WN) as
shown in Fig. 4b, Thermo Mechanically Affected Zone (TMAZ)
3. Microstructure shown in 5a and b and Heat Affected Zone (HAZ). The weld nugget
is characterized by severely deformed and dynamically recrystal-
The welds are characterized by Optical Microscopy (OM) to lized region [14]. Weld nugget composed of fine-equiaxed recrys-
investigate the micro structural modifications induced by the tallized grains. The fine recrystallized zone at the weld nugget is
FSW process on the aluminium alloy matrix and TiC reinforcement due to heavy plastic deformation followed by dynamic recrystalli-
particles. Optical micrographs of the cross-section of the FSW zation occurred during thermo-mechanical processing. TMAZ,
joints are observed in bright field after polishing the specimen ini- which is adjacent to the weld nugget exhibits a similar microstruc-
tially with fine emery up to 1200 grade and finally with fine finish- ture both at the retreating and advancing sides of the base compos-
ing using diamond paste. Microstructure of parent material is seen ite. It has been plastically deformed and thermally affected. TMAZ
in Fig. 4a. It shows the effect of Ti, which act as a grain refiner. TiAl3 exhibits highly elongated grains of Al alloy matrix on both sides
 S. Gopalakrishnan, N. Murugan / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 462–467 465

Micrograph of TMAZ
region is displayed in
Fig.5b
HAZ HAZ
Parent material
Fusion
zone

10 mm

Fig. 3. Cross-section of weld joint showing different zones of FSW.

location in the joint and the joint is fractured at this interface dur-
ing the tensile testing. This result is sufficient to indicate that the
tensile strength on the advancing side is lower than that on the
retreating side. In contrast, the joints of 6061-T6 aluminium alloys
are fractured on the retreating side instead of the advancing side
[17], showing that the different types of aluminium alloys demon-
strate different fracture characteristics.

4.1. Effect of % TiC on UTS

Effect of % TiC on UTS is shown in Fig. 6. Tensile strength of cast

10µm aluminium is 175 MPa. Tyagi [18] found that the tensile strength of
Al–TiC increases with more % addition of TiC. Initially UTS values
a decrease with the addition of TiC from 3%. This may be due to
de-cohesion of particles at the surface which led to decrease in
UTS. But the above trend is non-linear. After 5% TiC addition the
UTS values are found to be increasing steadily. This trend may be
due to the increased percentage of TiC particles offered more resis-
tance to plastic deformation, thereby increasing ultimate tensile
strength.

4.2. Effect of welding speed on UTS

Fig. 7 shows the effect of welding speed on UTS. Welding speed

has an inverse effect on tensile strength. Lower welding speed
10µm leads to greater amount of heat supplied to materials and there-
fore, it improves plastic deformation of the material and the forma-
tion of the effective weld joint. In the case of aluminium alloys,
b higher welding speeds are associated with low heat inputs, which
result in faster cooling rates of the welded joint. This can signifi-
cantly reduce the extent of metallurgical transformations taking
Fig. 4. Microstructure of (a) parent material and (b) fusion zone.
place during welding and hence the local strength of individual re-
gions across the weld zone [19]. But in this case, the higher weld-
ing speeds do not produce the desired results. It may be that due to
due to stirring but it does not have a recrystallized microstructure.
the heat produced by the tool is insufficient to reduce the viscosity
The HAZ region is affected by heat generated during the welding
of AMC to flow easily.
process, and not by plastic deformation.

4.3. Effect of axial force on UTS

4. Results and discussion
Fig. 8 reveals the effect of axial force on tensile strength of fric-
It has been found that the fracture locations of the joints are at tion stir welded AA6061–TiC AMC. The degree of material mixing
or nearer to the interface between the weld nugget and the TMAZ and inter diffusion, the thickness of deformed aluminium lamellae,
on the advancing side. Fig. 5 shows that the elongated grains in the the material flow patterns highly depend on welding temperature,
TMAZ are transformed into fine equiaxed grains in the weld nug- flow stress and axial force [20]. Maximum UTS is noticed at 9 kN.
get. The weld nugget is composed of fine-equiaxed recrystallized When the axial force is increased beyond this value UTS value
grains, while the TMAZ is composed of coarse-bent recovered started decreasing. The value of UTS is relatively lower in between
grains [15,16]. Therefore, the interface between the weld nugget 11 kN and 16 kN. This may be due to the dislocation of atoms due
and the TMAZ is clearly visible and becomes a weaker region or to cold forging effect. Once again UTS increases when axial force is
466 S. Gopalakrishnan, N. Murugan / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 462–467

TMAZ
Elongated
grains

10µm
a

TMAZ
Elongated
grains

10µm

Fig. 5. Microstructure of (a) parent material – TMAZ and (b) TMAZ – parent material.

Fig. 6. Graph shows the effect of % TiC addition in aluminium matrix on UTS.

Fig. 8. Graph shows the effect of axial force on UTS. UTS values are lower in
between 11 kN and 16 kN.

Fig. 7. Graph shows the effect of welding speed on UTS. UTS value decreases with
increasing welding speed.

more than 16 kN. In all 32 trials, no unfilled region on top surface is

noticed. Fig. 9. UTS of welded joint differ due to different tool pin profiles. Taper square tool
has the most significant effect on UTS.

4.4. Effect of tool pin profile on UTS

effect on tensile strength. The weld joint produced using taper
UTS value differs between various tool pin profiles. It is dis- square tool offers maximum joint efficiency as shown in Table 3.
played in Fig. 9. Taper square tool profile has more significant Minimum joint efficiency of the weld joint is produced by taper
 S. Gopalakrishnan, N. Murugan / Materials and Design 32 (2011) 462–467 467

Fig. 10. Graph shows the interaction effect of tool pin profile and welding speed on UTS.

hexagonal tool. This is because as the number of sides increase the also thankful to Prof. C. Narayanan, Prof. V. Radhakrishnan,
hexagonal tool almost behaved like a cylindrical tool. In earlier Mr. S.J. Vijay, and Mr. Palanivelu for their assistance.
observations [9] it is found that the cylindrical tool produces min-
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