Accepted Manuscript

Title: INFLUENCES OF TOOL TRAVERSE SPEED ON

TENSILE PROPERTIES OF AIR COOLED AND WATER
COOLED FRICTION STIR WELDED AA2519-T87
ALUMINIUM ALLOY JOINTS

Author: S. Sree Sabari S. Malarvizhi V. Balasubramanian

PII: S0924-0136(16)30195-9
DOI: [Link]
Reference: PROTEC 14847

To appear in: Journal of Materials Processing Technology

Received date: 17-2-2016

Revised date: 6-6-2016
Accepted date: 11-6-2016

Please cite this article as: Sabari, [Link], Malarvizhi, S., Balasubramanian, V.,
INFLUENCES OF TOOL TRAVERSE SPEED ON TENSILE PROPERTIES OF
AIR COOLED AND WATER COOLED FRICTION STIR WELDED AA2519-
T87 ALUMINIUM ALLOY [Link] of Materials Processing Technology
[Link]

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INFLUENCES OF TOOL TRAVERSE SPEED ON TENSILE PROPERTIES OF AIR

COOLED AND WATER COOLED FRICTION STIR WELDED AA2519-T87

ALUMINIUM ALLOY JOINTS

1
S. SREE SABARI, 2S. MALARVIZHI, *3V. BALASUBRAMANIAN

1
S. SREE SABARI
Research Scholar,
Centre for Materials Joining and Research (CEMAJOR),
Department of Manufacturing Engineering,
Annamalai University,
Annamalai Nagar - 608 002, Tamil Nadu, India.
Email: sreesabaridec2006@[Link]
2
S. MALARVIZHI
Associate Professor,
Centre for Materials Joining and Research (CEMAJOR),
Department of Manufacturing Engineering,
Annamalai University,
Annamalai Nagar – 608 002, Tamil Nadu, India.
Email: jeejoo@[Link]
*3
[Link] (Corresponding Author)
Professor,
Centre for Materials Joining and Research (CEMAJOR),
Department of Manufacturing Engineering,
Annamalai University,
Annamalai Nagar – 608 002, Tamil Nadu, India.
Tel: 04144-239734; Fax: 04144-238275
Email: visvabalu@[Link]

1
ABSTRACT

The fusion welding of AA2519-T87 aluminium alloy is generally not preferred due to

hot cracking and alloy segregation problems. To overcome these shortcomings, friction stir

welding (FSW), a solid state joining process is employed. However, the thermal cycles

involved in FSW process leads to coarsening and dissolution of the strengthening precipitates

in the matrix of the alloys. To minimize these metallurgical changes and enhance the joint

properties, under water friction stir welding (UWFSW) process can be adopted. Tool traverse

speed is one of the important process parameters controlling the heat generation in FSW. The

influence of this parameter in conventional FSW (air cooled) is well known, but the influence

of tool traverse speed in underwater FSW (water cooled) is not yet fully understood. Hence,

this investigation was undertaken to study the effect of tool traverse speed on the stir zone

characteristics and the resultant tensile properties of the FSW and UWFSW joints. It was

found that the UWFSW joint made using the higher tool traverse speed of 30 mm/min

exhibited superior tensile properties. This may be attributed to the lower heat generation,

higher grain boundary strengthening, high volume fraction of precipitates and narrowing of

the lower hardness distribution region (LHDR).

Keywords: Underwater friction stir welding, tool traverse speed, microstructure, tensile

properties, microhardness

2
1. INTRODUCTION

AA2519-T87 a new grade of high strength aluminium alloys primarily used for the

fabrication of advanced amphibious assault vehicles in the armour applications (Cheeseman

et al., 2008). Because of its superior properties like high strength to weigh ratio, ballistic

resistance and fracture toughness, this alloy is also applied in fabrication of military

helicopters and fighter aircrafts (Fisher et al., 2002). Quintino et al (2012) reported that the

aluminium is highly difficult to join using fusion welding process because of the formation of

solidification related problems such as hot cracking, porosity and alloy segregation. Solid

state Friction Stir Welding (FSW) is employed to overcome the above mentioned problems.

Though the joining takes place below the melting temperature of the material, the thermal

cycles prevailed during FSW is enough to coarsen or dissolute the strengthening precipitates

in the stir zone (SZ) (Sree et al., 2015a), thermo-mechanically affected zone (TMAZ) and

heat affected zone (HAZ) (Fonda et al., 2014). The strength of the age hardenable materials

mainly rely on the fine precipitates (Li et al., 2007), poor joint properties were resulted due to

coarsening and dissolution of precipitates (Xiao et al., 2012). Based on the temperature

attained (Liu et al., 2011) and cooling rate (Murshid et al., 2014), the TMAZ or HAZ were

found to have the lower hardness distribution region (LHDR).

Studies on FSW of AA2519 aluminium alloy were made by Fonda et al. (2004) and

the study concluded that the TMAZ region exhibited the lower hardness and the tensile

fracture also occurred in the TMAZ region. Liu et al. (2011) reported that the TMAZ was the

weakest zone in the friction stir welded AA2219 aluminium alloy joint and the tensile

fracture was exactly occurred in the LHDR. From the above references, it is understood that

the hardness improvement in the joint is essential to improve the tensile strength of the joint.

Post weld heat treatment (PWHT) was employed to recover the hardness in the softer region

by reprecipitation (Rui et al., 2013). However, the difference in grain size and dislocation

3
densities in the various regions may result in heterogeneous precipitation during aging

process. So, there exists a large gap between the parent metal properties and the joint

properties (Kalemba et al., 2014). Instead of a secondary heat treatment process, the in-

process water cooling during FSW is possible to yield better joint properties. This process is

termed as underwater friction stir welding (UWFSW) process.

The use of in-process water cooling was initially attempted by Sakurada et al. (2005)

in rotary friction welding of AA6061 aluminium alloy and the results showed that fatigue

strength of the joint is higher than the joint fabricated in air. Fratini et al. (2010) flowed the

water on the top surface of the workpiece followed by the moving tool. From the results it

was found that the water cooled FSW joints yielded higher tensile strength than the normal

condition. Rui et al. (2011) studied the effect of three types of cooling medium, namely, air,

cold water and hot water. The joints fabricated using warm water resulted in higher tensile

strength, however the joints fabricated using cold water yielded higher tensile strength than

the air cooled joints. Liu et al. (2010) reported that the improvement in strength due to water

cooling was attributed to the control of thermal cycles during welding. In another study,

Fratini et al. (2009) reported that the temperature of the region around the tool exhibit lower

temperature due to water cooling. Limiting the thermal cycles by the water cooling, limits the

coarsening and dissolution of precipitates in the heat treatable aluminium alloy joints.

From the above literature review, it is understood that the UWFSW process has

advantages over conventional FSW process but the process parameters are to be selected to

achieve sound joints. Therefore it is necessary to understand the effect of process parameters

in UWFSW process. Tool traverse speed is an important process parameter, which decides

the heat generation and subsequent joint characteristics. Though the previous studies on

UWFSW demonstrated the enhancement in strength and hardness properties, the relationship

between the process parameters on the joint quality (Zhang et al., 2011a), microhardness and

4
the tensile properties (Huijie et al., 2013) were not yet systematically investigated. Hence in

this investigation, an effort has been made to understand the effect of tool traverse speed

(TTS) on the stir zone formation and the resultant tensile properties of the UWFSW of

AA2519 T87 aluminium alloy joints.

2. EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS

In this investigation, AA2519-T87 aluminium alloy was used as the parent metal

(PM). The chemical composition of the PM was measured using spectro chemical analysis

and presented in table 1 and the mechanical properties of the parent metal is presented in

table 2. The joints were fabricated under two conditions, namely, air cooling and water

cooling. During water cooling FSW process the workpiece and the tool is immersed in the

flowing water. During UWFSW, the K-type thermocouple was employed to monitor the

temperature of the water near the welding location not to exceed above 60 ˚C. The inlet and

outlet valves were adjusted to increase the water flow in such a way that the water near the

welding location remains less than 60 ˚C. Figure 1 show the experimental underwater setup

used for the fabrication of the joints. The joint configuration of 150 mm × 150 mm × 6 mm

was used in the investigation. Form the previous investigation, the present authors found that

the taper threaded tool was well suited for joining this material and thus it was used in this

investigation (Sree et al., 2015b). The tool traverse speed was varied from 20 mm/min to 40

mm/min by keeping other parameters constant. The process parameters used for fabricating

FSW and UWFSW joints are presented in table 3. The welding was carried out normal to the

rolling direction of the parent metal. The specimens required for testing and characterization

were extracted from the welded joints using wire-cut electric discharge machining (WEDM)

process.

5
 Fig. 1 Underwater FSW setup

Table 1 Chemical composition (wt %) of AA 2519-T87 aluminium alloy

Cu Mg Mn Fe V Si Ti Al
5.71 0.47 0.27 0.1 0.05 0.04 0.02 Balance

Table 2 Mechanical properties of AA 2519-T87 aluminium alloy

0.2 % Yield strength, Ultimate tensile Elongation, % Hardness, HV0.05
MPa strength, MPa
427 452 11.2 160

Table 3 Welding parameters and tool dimensions used in this investigation

Process Parameters Values
Tool rotational speed (rpm) 1300
Welding speed (mm/min) 20, 25, 30, 35, 40
Pin length (mm) 18
Tool shoulder diameter (mm) 30
Pin diameter (mm) 12-6
Tool tilt angle, degree 2
Pin profile Taper threaded cylindrical tool
Tool material Hardened super high speed steel

The light microscope was employed to characterize the macro and micro level

features of the FSW and UWFSW joints. The average grain size in the SZ, HAZ, TMAZ and

PM was measured using the line intercept method as per the ASTM E112-13 standard

guidelines. The Transmission electron microscope (TEM) was employed to analyze the

6
characteristics of strengthening precipitates in the LHDR of the joints. The precipitate size,

shape and its volume fractions were analyzed. Transverse tensile properties were evaluated

using universal tensile testing machine. The sample preparation and testing procedures for

tensile test were followed as per the ASTM E8M-15a guidelines. The tensile properties like

tensile strength, yield strength and elongation of the joints were evaluated. The tensile

fracture surface was analyzed using scanning electron microscope (SEM). To reveal the

entire fracture path, the cross sectional macro graph of the fractured samples was

characterized using light microscope. The ductile behaviour of the welded joint was

evaluated using face and root (three-point) bend tests as per ASTM E190-14 specifications.

The microhardness measurements were made using Vickers microhardness tester. The

indentation load of 0.49 N and dwell time of 15 s were used for the hardness measurement.

The sample preparation and the testing procedures were followed as per ASTM E384-16

guidelines.

K-type thermocouple was employed to measure the thermal cycles prevailed during

welding at mid length (i.e 75 mm). The LabView software was used to record the

temperature in a computer with the help of data acquisition system. The thermocouple was

embedded at 19 mm from the weld center in the retreating side (RS).

3. RESULTS

3.1 Macrostructures

The joint quality of FSW and UWFSW joints were inspected on the top surface and

cross section by macrographs (Table 4). The top surface of all the joints were free from

defects. The top surface of the weld was characterized by the presence of closely

consolidated ripples.

7
Table 4 Effect of tool traverse speed on top surface and cross sectional macrographs

Process Tool Top surface Cross section Observation

traverse
speed,
AS RS
mm/min

Defect free stir

zone (top
20
surface and
cross-section)

Defect free stir

zone (top
25
surface and
cross section)

Defect free stir

zone (top
UWFSW 30
surface and
cross section)

Defect free top

surface but
35 defect in the
mid-thickness
region

Defect free top

surface but
40 tunnel defect at
the advancing
side

8
 Defect free top
surface but
pinhole defect
20
at the mid-
thickness
region of AS

Defect free stir

zone (top
25
surface and
cross-section)

Defect free stir

zone (top
30
surface and
cross-section)

FSW
Defect free stir
zone (top
35
surface and
cross-section)

Defect free stir

zone (top
40
surface and
cross-section)

The joint quality was further examined from the cross sectional macrographs. The

change in tool traverse speed caused notable variations in the stir zone formation. The

UWFSW joint fabricated using TTS of 20 mm/min to 30 mm/min resulted in defect free stir

zone. However, UWFSW joints fabricated at the higher TTS of 35 mm/ min and 40 mm/ min

are resulted with defects in the stir zone. Similarly the FSW joints fabricated using TTS of 25

mm/min to 40 mm/min resulted defect free stir zone, whereas TTS of 20 mm/ min resulted

with a defect in SZ. In this investigation, the defect free joints are considered for further

microstructural examination, microhardness measurements and tensile testing.

9
3.2 Microstructure

Figure 2 shows the light micrograph of the parent metal. The micrograph is composed

of coarse elongated grains oriented along the rolling direction. The average gran size of the

parent metal is 49 µm (Table 5). Figure 3 and 4 show the light micrographs of the defect free

joints of FSW and UWFSW process. The stir zone micrographs were characterized by the

presence of the fine equi-axed recrystallized grains. The average grain size of the FSW joints

are higher than the UWFSW joints. The FSW joint fabricated using lower TTS of 25 mm/min

exhibits stir zone with grain size of 17 µm. Similarly the UWFSW joint fabricated using

lower TTS of 20 mm/min resulted in larger grain size of 5.4 µm, but finer than the FSW

joints.

Fig. 2 Light micrograph of parent metal

Table 5 Effect of tool traverse speed on average grain diameter at various regions of the joints

Process Tool traverse AS- RS- AS- RS-

SZ, PM,
speed, TMAZ, TMAZ, HAZ, HAZ,
µm µm
mm/min µm µm µm µm
20 5.4 56 57 50 50
UWFSW 25 4.2 55 55 49 49
30 3.3 50 50 49 49
25 17 83 84 61 61 49
30 15 82 82 60 60
FSW
35 12 80 82 60 60
40 11 77 81 59 59

10
 20 mm/min 25 mm/min 30 mm/min
a b c

SZ

50 µm 50 µm 50 µm

d e f
d
AS-
TMAZ

50 µm 50 µm 50 µm

g h i

RS-
TMAZ

50 µm 50 µm 50 µm

j k l

AS-
HAZ

50 µm 50 µm 50 µm

m n o

RS-
HAZ

50 µm 50 µm 50 µm
Fig. 3 Light micrographs of various regions of UWFSW joints

11
 25 mm/min 30 mm/min 35 mm/min 40 mm/min
a b c d

SZ

50 µm 50 µm 50 µm 50 µm

e f g h

AS-
TMA
Z
50 µm 50 µm 50 µm 50 µm

i j k l

RS-
TMA
Z
50 µm 50 µm 50 µm 50 µm

m n o p

AS-
HAZ

50 µm 50 µm 50 µm
50 µm

r t
q s

RS-
HAZ

50 µm 50 µm 50 µm
50 µm
Fig. 4 Light micrographs of various regions of FSW joints

The TMAZ micrographs are composed of severely deformed grains extruded towards

the stir zone. The extent of deformation of grains is gradual in the retreating side whereas

deformation is abrupt in the AS of the FSW joints. However, in UWFSW joints, the extent of

deformation is almost same in both AS and RS. The FSW joint fabricated using TTS of 25

12
mm/min resulted in larger grain size of 83 µm in the TMAZ. The UWFSW joint fabricated

using same TTS resulted in fine grain size of 55 µm. The grains in the HAZ experienced only

thermal cycles and no deformation takes place. The average grain size of the HAZ in the AS

and RS are measured to be same, irrespective of the change in cooling medium and TTS. The

FSW joint fabricated using TTS of 25 mm/min resulted in larger grain size of 61 µm whereas

lower grain size is observed in the UWFSW joints fabricated using TTS of 25 mm/min and

30 mm/min. From the microstructural examination, it is observed that the grain size of SZ

and TMAZ increases with decrease in TTS.

Figure 5 shows the TEM micrographs of the LHDR of various joints. The parent

metal is characterized by the presence of fine needle like precipitates (figure 5a). The

precipitates have two orientations normally to each other and evenly distributed uniformly

throughout Al matrix. From the micrograph of the LHDR, it could be observed that the

coarsening and dissolution of precipitates occurred invariably in all the joints, but the volume

fraction of the precipitates is varies appreciably. The TEM micrograph of the LHDR is

characterized by the presence of coarse stable θ precipitates and the precipitates free zone

(PFZ). In UWFSW joints, the volume fractions of the precipitates are high compared to the

FSW joints. The FSW joints fabricated using lower TTS of 25 mm/min and 30 mm/min

composed of less number of precipitates. In UWFSW joints, the precipitation behaviour at

the LHDR is more or less similar, however the volume fraction of precipitates is marginally

lower in the joint fabricated using lower TTS of 20 mm/min.

Figure 6 shows the temperature values recorded during the heating cycles and cooling

cycles of the FSW and UWFSW joints fabricated using TTS of 30 mm/min. From the thermal

plots, it is observed that the UWFSW joint experiences a lower temperature than the FSW

joints. The UWFSW exhibits higher heating rate and higher cooling rates than the FSW

joints.

13
 a. PM b. FSW - 25 mm/min

c. UWFSW-20 mm/min d. FSW- 30 mm/min

e. UWFSW-25 mm/min f. FSW- 35 mm/min

g. UWFSW-30 mm/min h. FSW- 40 mm/min

Fig. 5 TEM micrographs of PM and LHDR

14
 Measured at a location 19 mm
from weld center line

Fig. 6 Thermal histories

3.3 Microhardness

Figure 7 shows the microhardness plots of the FSW and UWFSW joints. A typical

“W” shaped microhardness plots was observed in all the joints. Among the various regions,

the hardness in the TMAZ at AS and RS are lower. The lower hardness of 76 HV is recorded

in the RS-TMAZ of the FSW joint fabricated using TTS of 25 mm/min. It is also noted that

the LHDR of the FSW joints are wider than the UWFSW joints. The hardness values

increased towards HAZ from TMAZ. It is obvious to note that the hardness increment

towards HAZ is gradual in the retreating side where as it is sudden increase in the AS. The

hardness value in the stir zones were measured to be 85-105 HV which is higher than the

TMAZ. The microhardness plots in the stir zone showed a zig zag trend in all the joints.

15
Irrespective of the TTS and process, there was no significant variation in hardness of the stir

zone. However, the hardness of other zones like TMAZ and HAZ show increase in hardness

with increase in TTS. The UWFSW joint fabricated using TTS of 30 mm/min exhibited

relatively higher hardness in all the regions.

Fig. 7 Microhardness plot

Table 6 Effect of tool traverse speed on transverse tensile properties of the joints
0.2 % Yield Tensile Elongation in 50 Joint
Tool traverse
Process strength, strength, mm gauge efficiency,
speed, mm/min
MPa MPa length, % %
20 260 294 9.8 65
UWFSW 25 263 322 9.4 71
30 322 345 9.17 76
25 232 258 11.0 57
30 230 267 9.85 59
FSW
35 250 260 9.8 58
40 260 278 10.5 62

16
3.4 Tensile properties

Figure 8 shows the stress strain curves of the joints fabricated using different TTS.

The tensile properties like tensile strength, yield strength, percentage of elongation and joint

efficiency were derived from the stress strain diagram and presented in the table 6. The

UWFSW joint fabricated using TTS of 30 mm/min yielded higher tensile strength of 345

MPa and joint efficiency of 76 %. The FSW joint fabricated using tool traverse speed of 25

mm/min showed lower tensile strength of 258 MPa and joint efficiency of 57 %. It is noted

that, the increase in tool traverse speed increases the tensile properties. The tensile strength is

higher in UWFSW joints than the FSW joints. It is observed that the joint efficiency is

enhanced by 25 % and 28 % in the UWFSW joints fabricated using TTS of 25 mm/min and

30 mm/min than the respective FSW joints. However, the percentage of elongation does not

show any significant variation with respect to the welding process and TTS but the

percentage of elongation of the joints is lower than the parent metal.

Fig. 8 Stress strain curves

17
Tool traverse Macro level fracture surface SEM fracture surface
speed

UWFSW-
20 mm/min

UWFSW-
25 mm/min

UWFSW-
30 mm/min

FSW-
25 mm/min

FSW-
30 mm/min

18
 FSW-
35 mm/min

FSW-
40 mm/min

Fig. 9 Fracture analysis

3.5 Fracture surface

Table 7 reveals the tensile fracture path of the various joints. The tensile fractures

invariably occurred exactly at the TMAZ of all the joints. While correlating the fracture path

of the joints with the respective micro hardness plots, TMAZ could be identified as the

weakest region (i.e LHDR). Two shapes of fracture paths are observed one is smooth straight

fracture which is 45o inclined to the loading direction and the second is similar to the shape of

weld periphery. The fracture occurred in two locations, namely TMAZ-SZ interface and

TMAZ. In all the UWFSW joints, the fracture occurred exactly in the retreating side TMAZ-

stir zone interface. But in FSW joints, the location and fracture shapes are varying with

respect to the TTS. At lower TTS of 20 mm/min, the fracture has occurred in the AS-TMAZ

whereas the fractures occurred in the retreating side of the other FSW joints. The FSW joints

fabricated using TTS of 25 mm/min, 30 mm/min and 35 mm/min exhibit 45o inclined fracture

path but the fracture path is irregular for the joint fabricated using TTS of 40 mm/min.

19
 Figure 9 shows the SEM fractographs of the various joints. The joints which have 45o

inclined fracture path (simple shearing) showed flat macro level fracture surface whereas, the

joints exhibiting zig zag fracture path showed uneven macro level fracture surface. The micro

level fracture surfaces reveals fine populated dimples oriented towards the loading directions.

All the joints exhibited fine dimples however the size and volume fraction of dimples slightly

differs with respect to tool traverse speed and welding process.

Fig.10 Bend test result

3.5 Bending behaviour

The ductility of the weld joints are identified from the bend test results. Figure 10

shows the stress-strain diagram of the parent metal and joints fabricated using TTS of 30

mm/min. From the stress-strain diagram, it is observed that the bending strength is higher

20
than the tensile strength. The higher bending strength of 523 MP is resulted for the face bend

test of UWFSW-30 mm/min joint and 508 MPa is resulted for the root bend test of UWFSW-

30 mm/min joint. The parent metal resulted bending strength of 518 MPa. The face and root

bend test resulted equal bending strength of 487 MPa for FSW-30 mm/min joint. The

percentage of elongation of face and root bend test is almost similar in value. The UWFSW-

30 mm/min joint resulted elongation of 12 % and the FSW-30 mm/min joint resulted

elongation of 16 %. The parent metal yielded elongation of 15 %.

4. DISCUSSION

4.1 Effect of tool traverse speed on joint quality

Zhang et al. (2012) reported that quality of FSW joints can be fabricated at wide range

of process parameters whereas the possibility of fabricating defect free UWFSW joints was

difficult. The present study showed good agreement with the previous studies, in which

higher number of defect free joint were produced under air cooling than the water cooling

conditions within the selected levels of tool traverse speed. The effect of cooling medium on

the sound joint formation can be explained as follows. Based on the material flow

characteristics (Zhang et al., 2011b) and the heat input (Zhang et al., 2011c) during welding,

three states namely insufficient states, sufficient or balanced states and excess states were

attained in the stir zone. The balanced or sufficient material flow and heat state is defined as

the optimum welding condition which resulted in the defect free stir zone formation. The

balanced or sufficient state can be attained by selecting proper combination of tool rotational

speed and welding speed. Attainment of excess or insufficient state of material flow and heat

input end up with defect formation in the stir zone. Improper selection of process parameters

like low tool rotational speed or high welding speed resulted in insufficient state where as

high tool rotational speed or low welding speed resulted in excess state.

21
 In water cooling condition, the joint fabricated using high TTS of 40 mm/min resulted

defects in the stir zone. This was attributed to the attainment of insufficient heat and material

flow state. Because of the short stirring time, the extent of thermal softening and

plasticization was restricted which resulted in defective stir zone. During usage of lower TTS

of 20 mm/min, the FSW and UWFSW joint also resulted in defective stir zone. The long

stirring time results in high heat input and thereby greater extent of thermal softening occurs

around the tool. The excess plasticization of material experiences drop in friction between the

tool and the material. This promotes slipping condition which resulted in the formation of

defects in the stir zone. The UWFSW joints fabricated using TTS of 20-30 mm/min and the

FSW joint fabricated using TTS of 25-40 mm/min resulted in defects free stir zones. The

above TTS lies between the insufficient state and excess state where the balance state of heat

and material flow was attained resulted in defect free joints.

4.2 Effect of tool traverse speed on microstructure

In air cooling and water cooling conditions, the stir zone has undergone severe plastic

deformation and experiences higher temperature, which resulted in alteration of precipitation

behavior and grain morphologies. Deformation and the heat input prevailed in the stir zone

was high enough for the recrystallization process. So a new set of fine recrystallized grains

were resulted in the stir zones. But, the deformation and the heat in the TMAZ was not

sufficient to recrystallize the grains. Therefore the TMAZ resulted in deformed grains with

higher grain size. The HAZ region experienced only the thermal cycles whereas stirring force

does not have any influence on the HAZ. The heat prevailing in the HAZ region coarsens the

grains and so it exhibited higher grains size than parent metal.

Compared to the air cooling joints, the water cooled FSW joints experienced lower

heat input (Figure 6). The high heat dissipation capacity of water controls the temperature

22
level in the UWFSW joints. Hence, the grain coarsening and precipitate coarsening were

limited. The heat prevailed in the FSW joints were utilized for the grain growth. And so the

grain sizes in the various zones of the FSW joints are higher than the UWFSW joints. The

water readily dissipated the heat from the HAZ region of the UWFSW joints, the intensity of

the heat was insufficient for the grain growth. Hence, the grain sizes of HAZ in the UWFSW

joints were almost equal to the parent metal. In addition, because of the low heat input, the

extent of thermal softening was also restricted and thereby the plastic deformation was

restricted. These were the reasons for the formation of narrowed TMAZ and HAZ in the

UWFSW joints.

TMAZ in the UWFSW joints undergoes higher deformation than the FSW joints.

Because of low heat input, the extent of plasticization was limited in the UWFSW joints and

so less volume of material undergone stirring whereas large volume of material undergone

stirring in FSW joints. Under the same magnitude of stirring force, the less plasticized

volume of material in the UWFSW joints had undergone higher strain. Therefore the grains

in the TMAZ have undergoes severe deformation in UWFSW joints.

Similar to the cooling conditions, the variations in the TTS also have greater effect in

change of grain morphology and precipitation behavior. As discussed above, due to long

stirring time the joint fabricated using lower tool traverse speed resulted in high heat input.

Therefore the grain size of the joints fabricated using lower TTS resulted in larger grain size

than the higher TTS

AA2519 is a heat treatable aluminum alloy which is highly sensitive to temperature

and strain rate. The temperature and the deformation in the TMAZ coarsen or dissolute the

precipitates. The tensile properties and the tensile fracture behavior of the joints were mainly

dependent on the microhardness of the joint. From the TEM analysis, it was inferred that the

precipitation behavior varies in the LHDR with respect to the TTS and cooling medium

23
(Figure 5). The extent of softening in the LHDR region depends on the volume fraction,

degree of coarsening and presence of PFZ. The heat conducted from the stir zone and the heat

generated due to plastic deformation in the TMAZ resulted in overaging. In overaging, the

fine precipitates coarsens and the degree of coarsening of the precipitates depended mainly

on the heating and cooling cycles during welding (Zhang et al., 2014). Lower TTS resulted

higher heat input, low cooling rate which prevailed in the FSW joints. Because of the longer

duration of over aging, the sizes of precipitates were larger. These were the reason for

increase in precipitate size with decrease in TTS. But in water cooling, the duration of over

aging of TMAZ was greatly reduced. Therefore the LHDR of UWFSW joints exhibits lower

size precipitate size than the FSW joints. Moreover, the temperature attained in the TMAZ of

UWFSW joints is very low and so the dissolution of precipitates was significantly limited.

4.3 Effect of tool traverse speed on mechanical properties

Weld joint properties are decided by various strengthening mechanism like, grain

boundary strengthening, solid solution strengthening and precipitation hardening (De et al.,

2011). According to the Hall-Petch relationship, the grain size is inversely propositional to

the yield strength of the joints (Genevois et al., 2004). Increasing the TTS and the cooling

medium, the grain size varied and thereby strength contribution due to grain boundary also

varied. Again increasing the TTS from 20 mm/min to 40 mm/ min, the grain sizes also

increases. Hence, increasing the TTS, the hardness of the various regions also increased. As

the hardness increases, the tensile properties also increases with increase in TTS. This is

because, the water cooling restricted the grain growth and therefore UWFSW joints have

undergoes high degree of grain boundary strengthening. The area of the precipitate free zone

increases with decrease in TTS. In PFZ, the CuAl2 precipitates dissolved to form solid

solution, which contributed to solid solution strengthening (Liu et al., 2010). However, the

24
LHDR having wider PFZ resulted in lower hardness which resembles the effect of solid

solution strengthening in the age hardenable aluminum alloy was relatively low.

According to the Ashby-Orowan expression the strength is inversely proportional to

precipitate size and directly proportional to volume fraction of the precipitates (Dieter, 1986).

The LHDR of UWFSW joints exhibited high volume fraction and the size of precipitates was

relatively lower than the FSW joints. Therefore the hardness and the tensile properties were

higher for the UWFSW joints. Increasing the TTS, the heat input also increased and so the

coarsening and dissolution of precipitates increased. Because of the lower volume fraction

and higher precipitate size, the joint fabricated using lower TTS end up with poor tensile

properties. The tensile fracture behavior mainly depended on the hardness in the LHDR.

During tensile test the load was concentrated in the weakest region (lower hardness

distribution region). This phenomenon is called as strain localization. Higher the hardness in

the LHDR offers more resistant to strain localization. The UWFSW joint fabricated using

TTS of 35 mm min results in higher tensile strength of 345 MPa and joint efficiency of 76 %.

From the elongation values and the SEM fracture analysis, it was inferred that all the joints

exhibit the same ductile behaviour. This is because the LHDR alone contributes to elongation

and fractured in all the joints. The strain localization was also the reason for the lower

elongation values of the joints than the parent metal. However, in bending, the elongation of

FSW joint is higher than the parent metal. The weaker stir zone and TMAZ jointly

contributed in total bending and therefore the elongation is higher in FSW joints. It is also

noted from the bend test that the bending strength is higher than the tensile strength. This is

because, in tensile test the entire cross sectional region undergoes tension load, but in bend

test the convex part of sample undergoes tension and the concave part undergoes

compression.

25
5. CONCLUSIONS

The influences of tool traverse speed (TTS) on the stir zone characteristics and tensile

properties of friction stir welded (air cooled) and under water friction stir welded (water

cooled) AA2519-T87 aluminium alloy joints are investigated and the following conclusions

are derived:

1. In the air cooled condition, TTS in the range of 25-40 mm/min and in the water

cooled condition TTS in the range of 20-30 mm/min yielded defect free joints. It is

attributed to the attainment of adequate heat generation, sufficient plasticization and

proper material mixing during stirring.

2. The UWFSW joint fabricated using TTS of 30 mm/min exhibited maximum tensile

strength of 345 MPa with a joint efficiency of 76 %. On the other hand, TTS of 40

mm/min yielded maximum tensile strength of 278 MPa in air cooled FSW joint.

UWFSW joints showed 25 % enhancement in joint efficiency compared to FSW

joints.

3. The presence of relatively finer grains in the stir zone, marginally higher hardness

of stir zone and appreciably narrow lower hardness region are the main reasons for

the superior performance of the UWFSW joint fabricated using TTS of 30 mm/min

than other joints.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Directorate of Extramural

Research & Intellectual property Rights (ER&IPR), Defense Research & Development

Organization (DRDO), New Delhi through a R&D project no. DRDO-

26
ERIPER/ERIP/ER/0903821/M/01/1404. The authors also wish to record their sincere thanks

to M/s Aleris Aluminium, Germany for supplying the material to carry out this investigation

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Table 7 Effect of tool traverse speed on fracture path
Process Tool traverse Fracture path Observation
speed,
mm/min AS SZ RS
20 Fracture is occurred in
the retreating side stir
2 mm
zone-TMAZ interface

25 Fracture is occurred in
the retreating side stir
UWFSW 2 mm zone-TMAZ interface

30 Fracture is occurred in
the retreating side stir
zone-TMAZ interface
2 mm

25 Fracture is occurred in
the AS-TMAZ which
is 45o inclined to the
2 mm loading direction

30 Fracture is occurred in
the RS-TMAZ which
is 45o inclined to the
2 mm loading direction
FSW
35 Fracture is occurred in
the retreating side stir
zone-TMAZ interface
2 mm

40 Fracture is occurred in
the RS-TMAZ which
is 45o inclined to the
2 mm loading direction

31