Friction

stir
welding
•Friction stir welding (FSW)
is attractive
as a solid-state joining
technique

• invented at The Welding

Institute (TWI)
of UK in 1991
basic concept

A non-consumable rotating tool

with a specially designed pin and shoulder
is inserted into the abutting edges
of sheets or plates to be joined and
heating is accomplished by friction
traversed along the line of joint
between the tool and the workpiece

localized heating softens the

material around the pin

leads to movement of material

from the front of the pin to the
back of the pin
material undergoes intense plastic
deformation at elevated temperature, resulting
in generation of fine and equiaxed
recrystallized grains

fine microstructure in friction stir welds

produces good mechanical properties

considered to be the most significant

development in metal joining in a decade

•consumes considerably less energy.

•No cover gas or flux
•No filler
•can be applied to various types of joints like
butt joints, lap joints, T butt joints, and fillet
joints
 Key benefits of friction stir welding

Metallurgical benefits Environmental benefits Energy benefits

Improved materials use
(e.g., joining different
Solid phase process No shielding gas required
thickness) allows
reduction in weight
Low distortion of Only 2.5% of the energy
No surface cleaning required
workpiece needed for a laser weld
Decreased fuel
Good dimensional consumption in light
stability and Eliminate grinding wastes weight aircraft,
repeatability automotive and ship
applications
No loss of alloying Eliminate solvents required
elements for degreasing
Excellent
Consumable materials
metallurgical
saving, such as rugs, wire or
properties in the joint
any other gases
area
Fine microstructure
Absence of cracking
Replace multiple
parts joined by
fasteners
Tool geometry

tool consists of a shoulder and a pin

tool has two primary functions:

(a) localized heating,
(b) material flow
Schematic drawing of the FSW tool.
Worl™ and MX Triflute™ tools developed by The Welding Institute (TWI), UK
(Copyright© 2001, TWI Ltd) (after Thomas et al).
Welding parameters

two parameters are very important:

•tool rotation rate (ω, rpm) in clockwise or counterclockwise direction
•tool traverse speed (ν, mm/min) along the line of joint

also
•angle of spindle or tool tilt with respect to the workpiece
surface

.
 Joint design

Joint configurations for friction stir welding:

(a) square butt, (b) edge butt, (c) T butt joint,
(b) (d) lap joint, (e) multiple lap joint, (f) T lap joint, and (g) fillet joint.
Temperature distribution

Effect of tool rotation rate on peak temperature

as a function of distance
from weld centerline for a 6061Al-T6 FSW weld
made at 120 mm/min traverse speed
Microstructural evolution

A typical macrograph showing various microstructural zones

in FSP 7075Al-T651
(standard threaded pin, 400 rpm and 51 mm/min).
Nugget zone
•generation of a recrystallized
fine-grained microstructure within stirred zone.

•nugget zone contains

high density of sub-boundaries ,subgrains
and dislocations
Grain size
It is well accepted that
the dynamic recrystallization
during FSW/FSP results
in generation of
fine and equiaxed grains in the nugget zone
Effect of FSP parameters on nugget grain size in FSP 7075-T7651
at processing parameter of: (a) 350 rpm, 152 mm/min and
(b) 400 rpm, 102 mm/min

grain size increases with increasing the tool rotation rate

 grain size ranges

• bottom 3.2 μm
• top 5.3 μm
• retreating side 3.5 μm
• advancing side 5.1 μm

Grain size distribution in various locations of 7050Al weld nugget

Precipitate dissolution and coarsening

FSW/FSP results in the temperature

increase up to 400–550 °C

• precipitates coarsen or dissolve

Microstructure of thermo-mechanically affected zone in FSP 7075

between the parent material and the nugget zone

TMAZ experiences both

•temperature
•deformation

TMAZ is characterized by a highly deformed structure.

 base metal HAZ

TMAZ near HAZ TMAZ near nugget zone

dissolution of
precipitates

Precipitate microstructures in the grain interior and along grain boundaries in:
(FSW 7050Al-T651)
tool rotation rate: 350 rpm, traverse speed: 15 mm/min)
Beyond the TMAZ
there is a heat-affected zone (HAZ).

This zone experiences a thermal cycle,

but does not undergo any plastic deformation

HAZ is a zone experiencing a temperature rise

above 250 °C for a heat-treatable aluminum alloy.

coarsening of the strengthening precipitates

and the
precipitate-free zone (PFZ) increases by a factor of 5.
 Residual stress measurement (MPa) in FSW 7050-T6541 weld

Distance from weld Transverse

Location Longitudinal tensile
centre line (mm) compressive
Retreating Advancing Retreatin Advancin
side side g side g side
Top
2 22 19 −33 −41
surface
4 39 35 −14 −27
6 55 72 −21 −24
7 64 48 −40 −47
8 101 76 −99 −43

Root
1 13 42 28 ± 52 −12
surface
3 36 ± 52 48 ± 54 −71 −19
−55 ± 10
5 61 ± 30 55 −48
3
1. residual stresses quite low compared to those generated during fusion welding.

[Link] to the lower heat input during and recrystallization accommodation of

stresses
Longitudinal residual stress distribution in FSW 6013-T4 welds

maximum tensile residual stresses were located

10 mm away from the weld centerline, i.e., the HAZ.
Small compressive residual stresses were
detected in the parent metal adjacent to the HAZ and the weld seam
residual stress distribution FSW 304L stainless steel
distribution and magnitude of residual stress in friction stir welds are different for
aluminum alloy and steel

This is likely to be related to the temperature dependence of the yield strength and
the influence of final deformation by the trailing edge of the tool shoulder.
Lowest

Typical hardness curve across the weld of FSW 6063Al-T5

TEM micrographs showing precipitate distribution
in various microstructural zones in FSW 6063Al-T5
Room-temperature tensile properties
in transverse orientation of friction stir welded 7075-T651
UTS YS Elongatio
Condition Failure in
(MPa) (MPa) n (%)
Base metal,
622 571 14.5
T651
As-FSW 468 312 7.5 HAZ

Low YS compared to base metal

fracture always occurred in the HAZ

HAZ has the lowest strength

due to significantly coarsened precipitates
and the development of the PFZs
 strengths and elongation
are lowest in the as-
welded weld.

The aged weld has

slightly higher strengths
than the base material
with concurrently
improved ductility.

The SHTA increases the

strengths of the weld to
above those of the base
material with almost
completely restored
ductility

Tensile properties of base metal,

as-welded weld, aged weld,
and SHTA weld for 6063Al-T5
Room-temperature tensile properties of base material and welded joints
in both longitudinal (L) and transverse (T) orientations
of FSW 2024Al-T3 plates of 4 and 1.6 mm thickness
Rotation Traverse speed YS UTS Elongatio UTSFSW/
Material
rate (rpm) (mm/min) (MPa) (MPa) n (%) UTSbase

Base-
424 497 14.9
4 mm-L
FSW-
800 80 279 408 6.6 0.82
4 mm-L
FSW-4
1000 100 296 423 8.1 0.85
mm-L
FSW-
1250 125 304 432 7.6 0.87
4 mm-L
Base-
325 472 21.0
1.6 mm-L

FSW-
1200 120 301 424 6.3 0.90
1.6 mm-L

FSW-
1800 180 315 434 6.9 0.92
1.6 mm-L

FSW-
2400 240 325 461 11.0 0.98
1.6 mm-L

higher strength and joining efficiency

were observed in thinner plates than in thicker plates.
 Base metal Friction stir weld Joint efficiency
Alloy
UTS UTS (%)
AFC458-T8 544.7 362.0 66
2014-T651
479–483 326–338 68–70
(6 mm)
2024-T351
(5 mm)
483–493 410–434 83–90 joining efficiency of FSW
2219-T87 475.8 310.3 65
welds ranges from 65 to
2195-T8 593.0 406.8 69 96% for heat-treatable
5083-O (6–
285–298 271–344 95–119
aluminum alloys
15 mm)
6061-T6 (5 mm) 319–324 217–252 67–79
7050-T7451
and is 95–119% for non-
(6.4 mm)
545–558 427–441 77–81
heat-treatable aluminum
7075-T7351 472.3 455.1 96 alloy 5083Al.
7075-T651
622 468 75
(6.4 mm)
The joining efficiency for
6056-T78 (6 mm) 332 247 74
FSW is significantly
5005-H14 (3 mm) 158 118 75 higher than that for
7020-T6 (5 mm) 385 325 84 conventional fusion
6063-T5 (4 mm) 216 155 72 welding,
2024-T3 (4 mm) 478 425–441 89–90
7475-T76 465 92
particularly for heat-
6013-T6
(4 mm)
394–398 295–322 75–81 treatable aluminum
6013-T4
alloys
320 323 94
(4 mm)
2519-T87
480 379 79
(25.4 mm)
 the fatigue strength of
the FSW weld was
higher than that of
MIG and laser welds

finer and uniform

microstructure after
FSW leads to better
properties as compared
to fusion (laser and
MIG) welds.

Second, surface quality

of the FSW welds
exerted a significant
effect on the fatigue
strength of the welds

S–N curves of base metal, FSW weld, Overall, the fatigue

laser weld and MIG weld for 6005Al-T5 results for FSW
aluminum alloys are
very encouraging.
 Plate thickness
Material Base FSW
(mm)
Nugget TMAZ/HAZ
fracture toughness
values
5005Al-
H14
3 0.35 1.57 1.40 (CTOD(δ5)m, mm)
2024Al-
5 0.30 0.22 0.20 of FSW 5005Al-H14,
T351
6061Al-T6 5 0.28 0.96 0.63 6061Al-T6 and 7020Al-
T6 are much higher
7002Al-T6 5 0.40 0.48 –
than that of respective
base metals,

fracture toughness of
the nugget zone was
superior to that of the
TMAZ/HAZ region
 FSW FSW GTAW 5356Al filler
Condition Base-L GTAW top
top bottom bottom metal
Deaerate
−680 −650 −650 −740 −690 −730
d
Aerated −680 −670 −690 −730 – –
Pitting potentials of 5454-O base and welds

AA 5454 FSW welds showed better pitting resistance than

those of base alloy and GTAW welds

•current densities and

corrosion potentials of both 2024 and 2195 FSW welds
were nearly identical to those of the base alloys
 Corrosion Weld Base
Material
zone nugget metal
7075Al-
−798 −772 −758
T651
7010Al-
−712 −704 −686
T7651
2024Al-
−638 −566 −540
T351

Pitting potentials of FSW aluminum alloy welds

in different locations (mVSCE)

AA 7075 FSW weld showed poor pitting resistance than those of

base alloy
FSW 2219and 2195 showed no SCC susceptibility,

whereas FSW 7075 showed a reduced ductility

It has been suggested that the observed

environmental susceptibility in FSW
7075 was due to hydrogen embrittlement.
 Material specific issues
•commercial applications for non-ferrous materials (Mg, Cu) and
even thermoplastics

•obstacle to the commercial success of

materials such as titanium and steel
development of suitable tool materials

copper limited preliminary investigations,

FSW has potential for joining of copper.

Titanium Unfortunately, information on FSW of titanium alloy is

very limited so far
Transverse tensile properties of FSW Ti–6Al–4V and base metal at room temperature

Materia YS UTS Elongation Failure

l (MPa) (MPa) (%) location
Base 897.0 ± 957.7 ±
12.7 ± 0.5 NA
metal 0.7 3.4
912.9 ± 1013.6 ±
FSW 12.7 ± 0.9 Base
8.3 8.3
Steels:
lower heat inputs associated with FSW (relative to fusion welding
processes) are expected to produce less metallurgical changes in
the HAZ and to minimize distortion and residual stresses in steels
Transverse tensile properties of FSW welds in various steels at room temperature
UTS YS Elongation
Materials Conditions Reduction in area
(MPa) (MPa) (%)

304L Base metal 483 172 – –

FSW welds 621 340 – –

HD-36 Base metal 579 428 –

FSW welds 624 566 – –

HSLA-65 Base metal 537 448 20 –

FSW welds (12.7 mm) 569 493 30 –
FSW welds (6.4 mm) 569 483 18.5 –

C–Mn steel Base metal 248 204 9.5

FSW welds 179 151 2.6
GMA welds 136 126 5.5
Magnesium alloys

all the test specimens fractured in the base metal

This implies that the joint efficiency of these FSW joints was 100%
 Comparison between room-temperature
tensile properties of FSW, TIG, and base 6061–B4C composites

UTS YS Elongatio
Materials
(MPa) (MPa) n (%)
Base material 248.0 124.0 12.0
FSW (114 mm/min
202.5 134.3 5.0
traverse speed)
FSW (138 mm/min
209.4 136.4 4.0
traverse speed)
TIG 157.7 119.9 4.0

tensile properties of the FSW composite are considerably

superior to those of TIG composite.

The yield strength of the FSW composite is even higher

than that of the base material.

This indicates that FSW is an effective welding technique for

joining metal matrix composites.
Optical micrographs showing SiC particle distribution in
(a) base metal and (b) the weld nugget in
(b) 7093Al–15 vol.% SiCp composite.

ceramic particle distribution in the FSW welds was uniform

•Dissimilar metal welding

•strength of 2024/7075 FSW joints is 76–82% of 2024 base material.

•Fracture always occurred in overaged HAZs.

•The reduced ductility in 2024/7075 FSW joints

was attributed to localized deformation in the low-strength HAZs.

•strength and ductility of 2024/7075FSW joints

are comparable to those of 7050Al FSW joint.
 Application highlights

Aerospace

Boeing for its Delta rocket tanks and C17 internal structures.

The combined efforts of aerospace industries have produced

miles of FSW welds in commercial set-up without defects
Armor
in the past few years, attempts were made in
General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) and
Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC)
to friction stir weld 2519Al-T87

armor aluminum alloy 2519-T87 is being used as the main

structural alloy in the
Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAAV)
because it offers higher ballistic protection and static strength
than the mainstay aluminum armor alloy
Critical research issues
Material flow
material flow process during FSW is quite complicated and poorly
understood

Tool material and shape

further research is needed to understand the tool wear,
optimization of tool geometry and selection of tool material

Microstructural stability
few studies reported so far indicate that
PWHT (solution treatment + aging) results in
abnormal grain growth,
thereby leading to the reduced properties of welds
Although it is only 14 years
since FSW technology was invented
at The Welding Institute (Cambridge,
UK) in 1991,

quite a few successful

industrial applications of FSW
have been demonstrated.
Metal flow
material flow during friction stir welding is quite complex
depending on the
•tool geometry,
•process parameters, and
•material to be welded

number of approaches
•tracer technique by marker,
•welding of dissimilar alloys/metals,
•FEA

Experimental observations
Tracer technique by marker
One method of tracking the material flow
in a friction stir weld is
to use a marker material as a tracer
that is different from the material being welded.
•copper foil
• small steel shots
•Al–SiCp and
•Al–W composites
• tungsten wire
In this technique,
markers made of 5454Al-H32 were embedded in the path of the
rotating tool as shown in Fig
and their final position after welding was revealed by milling off
successive slices of 0.25 mm thick from the top surface of the
weld, etching with Keller's reagent, and metallographic
examination

1. The flow was not symmetric about the weld centerline.

2. material was not really stirred across the interface during the FSW
process, at least not on a macroscopic level.
3. material was pushed downward on the advancing side and moved
toward the top at the retreating side within the pin diameter
4. This indicates that the “stirring” of material occurred only at the top
of the weld
5. friction stir welding process can be roughly described as an in situ
extrusion process
6. extrusion around the pin combined with the stirring action at the
top of the weld created within the pin diameter a secondary,
vertical, circular motion around the longitudinal axis of the weld.
Schematic drawing of the marker configuration
It was suggested that the friction stir welding process can be thought
to be simply extruding one layer of semicylinder in one rotation of the
tool and a cross-sectional slice through such a set of semicylinder
results in the familiar onion ring structure.

understanding of formation of onion rings is far from complete and an

insight into the mechanism of onion ring formation would shed light on
the overall material flow occurring during FSW.
Optical micrographs showing the microstructure of as-cast and FSP A356
(standard threaded pin, 900 rpm and 203 mm/min)

Clearly, the material within the processed zone

of the FSP A356 experienced intense stirring and mixing,
thereby resulting in breakup of the coarse acicular Si particles
and dendrite structure and homogeneous distribution
of the Si particles throughout the aluminum matrix.
(a) Metal flow patterns and (b) metallurgical processing zones
(b) developed during friction stir welding
Shape of nugget zone
Depending on processing parameter,
tool geometry,
temperature of workpiece,
and thermal conductivity of the material,

various shapes of nugget zone

have been observed.

classified into two types,

basin-shaped nugget that widens near the upper surface and
elliptical nugget.

upper surface experiences extreme deformation and frictional heating

by contact with a cylindrical-tool shoulder during FSW, thereby
resulting in generation of basin-shaped nugget zone.
5083Al-O Base metal 0.159 47

Center of weld nugget 0.201 64

HAZ/TMAZ 0.177 50

HAZ/TMAZ 0.201 59

a
δ0.2BL and J0.2BL are very similar to the δIc and JIc fracture toughness, respectively, in the ASTM E 1820-99 test method.
b
RRA refers to retrogression and re-aging (rapid heating to 220 °C, kept for 5 min, cold water quenched, re-aged at 120 °C for 24 h).
Representative R—curves for all 2195Al FSW
crack planes, 2195 base metal, and centerline crack in the VPPA weld
Tensile properties-descrepancies in ductility
It should be emphasized that the strengths obtained in the
transverse tensile test of the FSW weld using large
specimens represent the weakest region of the weld and
the elongation is an average strain over the gage length
including various zones. Although such a tensile test is
meaningful for engineering applications, it does not provide
an insight into the correlation between the intrinsic tensile
properties and localized microstructure. Therefore, it is
necessary to utilize a more suitable test technique to
establish the intrinsic tensile properties of the weld
associated with localized microstructure.
Recently, two studies were conducted by von Strombeck
et al. [135] and Mishra et al. [139] to determine the tensile
properties at different locations of the FSW welds using
mini tensile specimens. Similar experimental results were
reported in these two studies. A typical variation of tensile
properties with the position across the weld of FSW
7075Al alloy is shown in Fig. 31. Fig. 31 shows the
following important findings. First, the strength is almost
constant in the nugget zone. While the yield strength in the
nugget zone is 80% of the base material, the ultimate
strength is close to 100% and the ductility is significantly
improved. The combination of comparable ultimate
strength and higher ductility was attributed to the fine-
grained microstructure in the nugget zone [139]. Second,
approaching the nugget/TMAZ transition region, the
strength remains similar to the nugget zone, but the
ductility starts decreasing toward the baseline. The
decrease in ductility as compared to the nugget center can
be correlated to the fact that the TMAZ retains the
deformed structure.
Third, both yield and ultimate strengths start to drop
beyond ±7 mm (TMAZ/HAZ) from the weld centerline. The
lowest strength, 60% of base material, was observed in
the HAZ (12 mm away from the weld centerline on the
retreating side). It is surprising that the drop in strength is
not accompanied by an increase in ductility. These results
provided additional insight to the large-specimen results of
Mahoney et al. [41] and Sato et al. [78]. The locally
concentrated strain of up to 14% occurred in the HAZ of
large-specimen is due to low strength of the HAZ and did
not mean that the HAZ has better ductility than other
regions. Fourth, the intrinsic strength and ductility of
retreating and advancing sides are different. The retreating
side has lower strength. This is consistent with the
previous observation that fracture always occurred on the
retreating side [78].
Material flow- findings
The flow was not symmetric about the weld centerline.
Bulk of the marker material moved to a final position behind its
original position and only a small amount of the material on the
advancing side was moved to a final position in front of its original
position. The backward movement of material was limited to one
pin diameter behind its original position.
there is a well-defined interface between the advancing and retreating
sides, and the material was not really stirred across the interface
during the FSW process, at least not on a macroscopic level.
material was pushed downward on the advancing side and moved
toward the top at the retreating side within the pin diameter.
Material flow- findings
The flow was not symmetric about the weld centerline.
Bulk of the marker material moved to a final position behind its
original position and only a small amount of the material on the
advancing side was moved to a final position in front of its original
position. The backward movement of material was limited to one
pin diameter behind its original position.
there is a well-defined interface between the advancing and retreating
sides, and the material was not really stirred across the interface
during the FSW process, at least not on a macroscopic level.
material was pushed downward on the advancing side and moved
toward the top at the retreating side within the pin diameter.
This indicates that the “stirring” of material occurred only at the top of
the weld where the material transport was directly influenced by
the rotating tool shoulder that moved material from the retreating
side around the pin to the advancing side.
Fourth, the amount of vertical displacement of the retreating side
bottom marker was inversely proportional to the weld pitch
(welding speed/rotation rate, i.e. the tool advance per rotation).
Fifth, the material transport across the weld centerline increased with
increasing the pin diameter at a constant tool rotation rate and
traverse speed.
Based on these observations, it was suggested that the friction stir
welding process can be roughly described as an in situ extrusion
process wherein the tool shoulder, the pin, the weld backing plate,
and cold base metal outside the weld zone form an “extrusion
chamber” which moves relative to the workpiece.
It was concluded that the extrusion around the pin combined with the
stirring action at the top of the weld created within the pin diameter a
secondary, vertical, circular motion around the longitudinal axis of the
weld.
Material flow- findings
Flow visualization by FSW of dissimilar materials

Three different regions were revealed in the welded zone. The first
was the mechanically mixed region characterized by the relatively
uniformly dispersed particles of different alloy constituents.
The second was the stirring-induced plastic flow region consisting of
alternative vortex-like lamellae of the two aluminum alloys.
The third was the unmixed region consisting of fine equiaxed grains
of the 6061Al alloy.
They reported that in the welds the contact between different layers is
intimate, but the mixing is far from complete. However, the
bonding between the two aluminum alloys was complete..
Material flow- findings
Further, they attributed the vortex-like structure and alternative
lamellae to the stirring action of the threaded tool, in situ extrusion,
and traverse motion along the welding direction.
The material flow was described as a chaotic–dynamic intercalation
microstructures consisting of vortex-like and swirl features.
They further suggested that the complex mixing and intercalation of
dissimilar metals in FSW is essentially the same as the
microstructures characteristic of mechanically alloyed systems.
Variation of grain size with pseudo-heat index
Note that the
grain size does not monotonically increase with increasing heat index.