FEATURE | Nonferrous

Melting/Forming/Joining

Friction Stir Welding

Scott
Gordon
Denver W
Welding
Research;
Golden,
Colo.
S
tt G
d D
ldi
&R
h G
ld
C
l
Friction Stir Processing (FSP), Friction Stir Welding (FSW) and Friction Stir Spot
Welding (FSSW) are three novel joining processes that are making signicant
inroads in a variety of industries. They are focused on a solid-state interaction
that uses the mechanical energy of a rotating tool to heat, plasticize and disrupt
an oxide layer that covers the interfaces of a joint.

ll three of the friction-stir processes can use the

same tool, the same machinery and share the same
basic process variables. They differ in nature mainly by the selection of parameters, the joint congurations and inherent defects to each joint type. FSP and FSW use
a tool that is plunged into the material and translated across the
surface of one or more sheets in either the lap or butt conguration. FSSW is used to join a material at a single point in a lap
conguration. Under optimal operating conditions, a stir zone is
developed around the periphery of the tool without any transverse
movement of the working area. The processing breaks up the oxide layer, mixes the material and creates a metallurgical bond.
Since its invention in 1991 at The Welding Institute, FSW has
undergone signicant development and gained great acceptance.
It is now commonly used for joining low melting-temperature alloys such as aluminum, although ongoing research on welding
iron, Inconel and NiAl alloys has been reported in the literature.
This process is particularly suitable for joining dissimilar, precipitation hardened and metal-matrix materials that would otherwise
be considered unweldable using conventional welding methods.
The solid-state welding process has now been implemented into
the aerospace, rail, shipbuilding and automotive industries.
How it Works
In all three variants of friction-stir processing, a rotating tool is
plunged into a material to create a heat and a shear layer near the
periphery of the tool. The shear-layer thickness and velocity are a
function of the rotational speed, travel speed and contact pressure
of the tool shoulder. Traversing the tool across the surface causes
the material in front of the tool to displace behind it. If a critical travel speed is met, the shear-layer thickness is reduced such
that the shear strength of the layer becomes less than the bond
strength and may further result in the velocities of the shear layer
and the tool being equal.
If the rotational speed and contact pressure at the shoulder are
at the proper relationship with the travel speed, a temperature gradient will decrease from the outside of the shoulder to the edge of
the pin. The shear strength of the material should decrease proportionally to the temperature gradient such that bond and shear
strength at the interface are equal. If the shear-strength gradient is
correct, there will be a quasi-symmetrical volume of material that

deforms around the periphery of the tool. For a given travel speed,
materials with a high coefcient of friction will require a lower
rotational speed because the heat generated at the interface will
be greater. The greater heat will cause the base material to soften,
making deformation away from the interface easier, which creates
a larger stir zone without a gross melt layer.
Defects
Defects such as worm holes, surface galling, lack of fusion, scalloping and liquation cracking can occur outside the operating
window. Defects can originate as a result of improper ow or geometry. Geometric defects occur when either the tool geometry
is insufcient to penetrate the entire thickness of the material or
the seam is not properly tracked by the tool during welding. It is
believed that the optimum welding parameters provide conditions
where there is balance between sticking and slipping of the material around the pin. The material produces almost a whipping
ow. Flow-related defects occur when welding is conducted outside
the proper processing window, such as when the welding conditions are either too hot or too cold.
Cold-Processing Defects
Under cold-processing conditions with slip, the resulting defect
is either a surface defect or wormhole. The loss of material on
Shoulder

Pin
FSW tool
Base material

Advancing side
Direction of tool travel

FSW tool

Tool
rotation
direction

Retreating side

Fig. 1. Schematic drawings showing the different components of a

friction-stir weld and tool (top). The bottom drawing schematically
shows the development of the advancing and retreating side.
IndustrialHeating.com - February 2012 55

FEATURE | Nonferrous
Melting/Forming/Joining

Wormhole

Hot-Processing Defects
During the welding of sheet material in
a lap conguration under hot conditions,
the material in the thermal mechanically affected zone on the retreating side
is forced upwards, causing the thinning
of sheets. A critical total mass of material must move from the front to the rear
of the tool through the extrusion zone to
maintain mass balance and prevent void
formations.
Heat Sources
Localized heating from the shoulder allows for a material that is both in contact
and in close proximity with the pin to
be deformed and transported around it.
There are two main heat sources intrinsic
to FSW:
Friction from the contact between the
tool and the base material
Deformation around the tool
Unlike conventional arc-welding processes, the heat generation cannot be
considered as axis-symmetric. Consideration of both the rotational and translational velocities leads to the denition of
the retreating side (RS) and advancing
side (AS) in a weld. The AS has resultant
vectors from the tool rotation and advancement of the material that point in
opposite directions, and on the RS they
point in the same direction. As expected,
each side would have a different thermal
experience.
The friction condition between the
tool and workpiece interface, along with
the material ow within the weld, dictate
how much heat is produced. Interface
heat is generated by friction, while the
56 February 2012 - IndustrialHeating.com

Inadequate ll of advancing
side avove swirl zone

Faying
surface
remnant

Surface lack of ll

DXZ

Advancing side

LOF
Root ow defect

Excessive indentation

Chip LOF
Wormhole
Scalloping

Welding
direction
Longitudal view

Surface galling

Lack of fusion

Faying
surface
remnant

LOP

Cold

Scalloping

IPM

the retreating side of the stir zone (below

the pin) or the retreating side close to the
shoulder surface results in a wormhole
lack of surface ll or volumetric defect on
the advancing side. The appearance of
these defects is a direct result of the lifting of the sheet, or sheet separation, and
can be observed as a ash or raised crown
depending on the amount of the forging
force.

Lack of penetration

Lack of penetration (LOP)

Lack of fusion (LOF)
e
p
lo
e
nv
ess e Operating
Proc
Nugget collapse
Ribbon ash
window
Nominal
Surface LOF
Advancing
side
schedule
Root ow
Collapsed nugget
Faying surface
Surface galling

Hot
Advancing

RPM

Fig. 2. Friction-stir welding processing map showing the rotational speed, travel speed, different types of defects that form and their corresponding photographs.

owing material dissipates heat primarily

from plastic deformation. It is the contact
condition, such as when there is sliding,
sticking or partial sliding/sticking, which
determines the heat generation. Tool design, welding parameters and alloy type all
contribute to the contact condition during FSW. Relative velocity differences between the workpiece and the tool increase
as the distance from the tool increases.
More heat is generated further away from
the center of the tool.
The same can be said about the heatgeneration rate below the pin. The nonuniform heating is a result of a difference
in relative velocities along different angular locations on the pin surface. Local
differences in heat generation do not lead
to large variations in local temperatures
because of the rapid recirculation of plasticized material along the pin surface.
Weld Characterization
Finished welds have different regions that
can be characterized as a function of the
different processing conditions during
welding. These regions include the stir
zone (SZ), the thermal mechanically affected zone (TMAZ), the heat-affected
zone (HAZ) and the base material (BM).
The SZ is characterized by the most mechanical working caused by sticking and
direct contact with the pin. TMAZ experiences both thermal and mechanical effects (i.e. heating of the material and plas-

tic deformation caused by the tool). Yet,

the tool has no direct contact with this
region. The HAZ is the region in which
the process heat causes microstructural
changes, such as grain coarsening, along
with the formation and dissolution of precipitates. Mechanical properties may be
deteriorated in this region.
Material ow during FSW has been
studied using pre-embedded tungsten
markers that can later be observed using
radiographic methods. Realizing that several velocity elds exist during welding,
their combined input would cause the
material to not only ow from the front of
the pin to the rear but also with a vertical displacement component. The material in close proximity to the pin becomes
more plasticized at higher temperatures.
When this material is swept around the
pin to a colder region, it forms a stronger
solid. While this hot material yields, the
adjacent material is not strained.
When both the bulk material and the
high-temperature material cool down, the
material next to the pin then becomes
sticky attempting to drag the bulk material along with it, resulting in a period of
high strain. Since new material is continuously entering into the stir zone, heat
generation is not always constant, resulting in asymmetric ow. The hot-cold-hot
cycle repeats, giving way to the oscillating
stir zone. This variation in temperature
results in a variation of viscosity. As the

AS

RS
HAZ

TMAZ

SZ

1000 m
Fig. 3. Transverse cross section of FSW on 1-mm-thick AA2024 plate showing the different
regions of the weld etched with Kellers reagent.

Shoulder
penetration
depth
Hook
Bonded width

Sheet
Stir zone width thickness
(t)

Curvature

Hook
height
(v)

Displaced
material width

Fig. 4. Schematic drawing showing the different regions of a friction stir spot weld, which is
a substitute to conventional spot welding processes for materials such as aluminum.

viscosity decreases, so will the extent of

sticking of the material to the pin.
Tool shoulder-to-pin diameter ratios
play an important role in SZ development.
Tools with shoulder-to-pin diameter ratios
close to 1 do not produce a TMAZ and
do not adequately preheat and soften the
material before the tool advanced. Tools
with very large shoulder-to-pin diameter
ratios may preheat and soften too much of
the material, resulting in the material not
sticking to the pin. As an empirical suggestion, tools with shoulder-to-pin diameter ratios close to 2 or 3 are more favorable
than those outside this range to induce
plastic ow around the pin, provided there
is sufcient heat input. Without sufcient
heat input, inadequate plastic ow occurs
with the formation of voids.
A friction system will stick or seize
when the contact pressure is high and the
coefcient of friction is low because the
contact becomes plastic. Seizure occurs
when the strength properties vary little
with depth. A owing surface will not
cause any large-scale mass ow if the velocity gradient is on the order of 1010-1011
poise per micron. Seizure may take place
if the surface temperature gradient is less
than or equal to a critical value.
The critical temperature gradient is that
at and below which mechanical momentum can be transferred between adjacent
layers. The system will also seize if, while

in the steady state, deceleration or surface

cooling lowers the surface temperature so
that the temperature gradient falls below
the critical value. When the sliding speed
increases, surface temperatures at both local and bulk contact areas are raised by
frictional heating. The heat is conducted
into the bodies, causing their temperature
to rise, giving thermal stresses that superimpose on the mechanical ones, causing
thermo-mechanical wear. The temperature rise depends on the mechanical and
thermal properties of the materials, on the
load acting across the interface and on the
velocity of sliding.
Applications and Future Markets
FSW offers users a number of advantages
over many traditional arc-welding procedures. By eliminating melting of the
target materials, a high-quality weld can
be formed with minimal distortion and
ller metals and potentially an elimination of a variety of toxic fumes and output. In addition, with the elimination of
many ller materials, the process can be
considered environmentally friendly and
energy-efcient.
Until recently, applications for these
processes were limited to aluminum and
other nonferrous low melting-point alloys. In addition, remote and on-site applications were difcult because of the
complexities and size of the equipment

and tooling. However, recent work at Oak

Ridge National Laboratory and other research institutions is leading the way in
formulating new tool compositions that
allow for FSW of higher-strength and
higher melting-point materials. Portable
equipment, including robotic pigs, allows FSW to be used in the lucrative and
expanding pipeline segments.
One of the benets of this process is
the ability to join dissimilar metals. As
such, a number of potential applications
are possible. Currently, this facet is being
utilized by the aerospace industry. Another high-growth industry that may benet from this technology is health care,
specically biomaterials. Many biomaterials feature a combination of unique,
low-melting intermetallics such as nickeltitanium, cobalt-chromium, Ti-6Al-4V
and alpha/beta titanium mixes. Typically,
these materials are joined using diffusion
bonding, an expensive and time-consuming process that does not guarantee
a homogenous microstructure around
the joining area. FSW may allow these
materials to be joined in a fast, efcient
manner that will provide manufacturers
and end-users a cheaper and more reliable
product. Other areas that are beginning
to look into FSW include the nuclear and
automotive industries.
Conclusion
FSW and its sister processes are opening
many possibilities for the future of joining
ferrous and nonferrous metals. Signicant opportunities exist to reduce energy
requirements and offer customers a weld
with a minimal heat-affected zone and
homogenous microstructure. Recent advances allow this process to move from
the laboratory to the eld and offer users
an interesting and innovative tool for a
number of new applications. IH
For more information: Contact Matthew
Karsh, materials engineer, Denver Welding &
Research, 1500 Illinois St., Golden, CO 80401;
tel: 917-306-3775; e-mail: matt@denverweld.
com; web: www.denverweldingandresearch.
com. The author, Scott Gordon, is the president of Denver Welding & Research.
IndustrialHeating.com - February 2012 57