ARTICLE IN PRESS

International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 49 (2009) 814823

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijmactool

Effect of tool geometry on hook formation and static strength of friction stir
spot welded aluminum 5754-O sheets
H. Badarinarayan a,, Y. Shi a, X. Li a, K. Okamoto b
a
b

Hitachi America Ltd., R&D Division, Automotive Products Research Laboratory, Farmington Hills, MI 48335, USA
Hitachi Ltd., Hitachi Research Lab., Materials Processing Unit Hitachi, Ibaraki, 319-1292 Japan

a r t i c l e in f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 23 April 2009
Received in revised form
2 June 2009
Accepted 4 June 2009
Available online 11 June 2009

Friction stir spot welding is performed on 5754 Al alloy to investigate the effect of tool geometry on
hook formation. Partial metallurgical bond (called as hook) is formed in the weld region between the
overlapped metal sheets. The tool geometry is found to signicantly affect the hook formation. First,
welds are made to compare the effect of three shoulder proles: concave, convex and at (all having
threaded cylindrical pins) on the hook geometry and static strength. The inherent concave prole
resulted in a higher effective top sheet thickness that produced the highest weld strength. Next, with
the concave shoulder prole selected, the effects of two different pin proles: cylindrical and triangular
are evaluated. Under the same process condition, welds made with the cylindrical pin have a continuous
hook which bypasses the stir zone and terminates close to the keyhole. By contrast, for welds made with
the triangular pin, the hook is directed upwards and then arrested at the periphery of the stir zone. The
difference in the hook shape can be attributed to the material ow. Prior study shows that the static
strength of welds made with the triangular pin is twice that of welds made with the cylindrical pin.
& 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Friction stir spot welding
Hook geometry
Shoulder prole
Triangle pin

1. Introduction
The recent spike in energy costs has been a major contributor to
propel the use of light weight alloys in the transportation industry.
In particular, the automotive industry sees benet in using light
weight alloys to increase the fuel efciency and enhance the
performance. In this regards, light weight design by replacing steel
with Al and/or Mg alloys have been considered as promising
initiatives. The joining of structures made of light weight alloys is
therefore very important and calls for more attention. In
comparison with other joining techniques, the higher joint
efciency of friction stir welding (FSW) is associated with a ne
recrystallized grain structure in the consolidated weld region [1].
Friction stir spot welding (FSSW) is a derivative of FSW, and is
now being considered as a competitive joining technique to
conventional processes such as riveting and resistance spot
welding. Unlike FSW, FSSW can be considered as a transient
process due to its short cycle time (usually a few seconds). During
FSSW, tool penetration and the dwell period essentially determine
the heat generation, material plasticization around the pin, weld
geometry and therefore mechanical properties of the welded joint.
As the case may be with any new joining technique, for the
successful application of FSSW as a viable joining technique it is

 Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 248 473 9119; fax: +1 248 473 8420.

E-mail address: hb@hap.com (H. Badarinarayan).

0890-6955/$ - see front matter & 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2009.06.001

imperative to have a thorough understanding of the weld strength

and the resultant failure mechanism of the spot welds. The
strength of friction stir spot welds is believed to depend primarily
on two factors: weld process conditions and tool geometry. Weld
process conditions include tool rotational speed, plunge depth and
hold (dwell) time. Tool geometry variations include shoulder
geometry and pin geometry. There have been several studies done
in the past that relate the effect of weld process conditions on the
strength of friction stir spot welds. It has been reported that the
strength of friction stir spot welds mainly depends on the size of
the weld region, which is further closely related to process
conditions. Higher weld strength is attributed to a larger stir zone
(SZ) size attained by lowering rotational speed [2,3]. Increasing
tool plunge depth can increase weld strength, however, a deep
plunge depth may lead to decreased weld strength due to
excessive thinning of the top sheet [4,5]. The effect of the shoulder
geometry on the failure mode and fatigue characteristics of
friction stir spot welds has been investigated using a fracture
mechanics approach [6,7]. The previous research focuses only on
the effect of weld conditions (process input) on the strength of
spot welds. However, in order to fully understand the factors
governing the strength of spot welds, it is necessary to also have a
thorough understanding of the geometry of the weld itself
(process output).
In a more recent study, it has been reported that the static
strength of spot welds depends upon the hook geometry [8].
A characteristic feature of friction stir spot welds in lap

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conguration is the formation of a geometrical defect originating

at the interface of the two welded sheets, called as hook. Metallic
materials oftentimes have a thin oxide lm present on the surface.
During welding, hook is formed because of the upward bending of
the sheet interface due to the tool penetration into the bottom
sheet. The oxide lm is broken up into particles by the stirring of
the tool. Depending upon the volume and distribution of these
oxide particles in the weld region, it may inhibit the metallurgical
bonding that forms between the overlapping sheets. It is shown
that the pin shape signicantly affects the hook geometry
which in turn affects the failure mode and therefore the static
strength of friction stir spot welds. Hence, it is necessary to have a
thorough basic understanding of the formation of the hook
geometry during FSSW.
In view of the aforementioned, the objective of this paper is to
systematically study the effect of tool geometry on the key weld
geometrical features. Three different shoulder proles and two
different pin shapes were considered. The key weld geometric
features such as hook height, effective top sheet thickness and stir
zone size are monitored and their effect on the static strength of
spot welds is discussed.

2. Experiment
Annealed 5754 sheets of 1.32 mm thickness are chosen for the
present study. Specimens are welded in lap conguration. The
individual sheet dimensions are: length 150 mm, width 40 mm
and are welded on an overlap area of 40  40 mm. Prior to
welding, the sheets are cleaned with acetone to remove any
impurities on the surface such as dirt, oil, etc. The FSSW tool is
made from standard tool steel (H13) material, having a shoulder
with a diameter of 12 mm and a pin length of 1.6 mm. The pin
length is dened as the distance from the shoulder edge to the at
end of the pin. The welding process parameters are: tool rotation
speed 1500 rpm, tool plunge speed of 20 mm/min and a dwell
time of 2 s. These parameters are the same as the ones carried out
in a previous study [8].

For the rst part of the study, to determine the ideal shoulder
geometry, three different proles are considered: concave, convex and at. These geometries are schematically illustrated in
Fig. 1(a). The concave and convex faces are angled at 101. The pin is
threaded with a diameter of 5 mm (M5). The shoulder plunge
depth was xed at 0.2 mm. The shoulder plunge depth is
indirectly measured by subtracting the pin length from the total
tool plunge depth. For simplicity of nomenclature, spot welds
made with the concave, convex and at shoulder proles are
designated as FSSW-C, FSSW-X and FSSW-F, respectively.
Mechanical properties of the spot welds are characterized using
lap shear testing. Welded specimens are tested on an Instron
screw-driven machine (Model 1123) at a constant cross head
speed of 5 mm/min. The lap shear weld strength is obtained by
averaging the strengths of 4 individual specimens.
For the second part of the study, to determine the ideal pin
geometry, two different pin proles are considered: a conventional cylindrical pin and a triangular pin as shown in Fig. 1(b).
The shoulder prole for these tools is concave. The goal is to
design a pin geometry that results in welds having a relatively a
at (short) hook and large stir zone so that when these welds are
subjected to external loading, the crack propagation can occur
through the consolidated stir zone rather than through the base
material. The cylindrical pin tool is similar to the one used in the
rst part of the study (already designated as FSSW-C). The
triangular pin has a circumscribed circle with a diameter of 5 mm
with no threads. Spot welds made with the triangular pin are
designated as FSSW-T. In order to observe the evolution of the
hook geometry for each pin prole, a partial plunge method is
proposed. Here, for each pin prole multiple spot weld specimens
are made. The plunge depth for the specimen welded rst is such
that the pin tip just penetrates the interface of the two overlapped
workpieces. For the subsequent welded specimens, the plunge
depth is increased by about 0.1 mm. Thus, observing the series of
macrostructure for welds made with each pin prole the
formation of the hook geometry will be clearly understood.
Macrostructure examinations are conducted on the as-welded and
mechanically tested specimens. As-welded and tested specimens are

ii

iii

10 concave
shoulder

Lp=1.6mm
(M5 threaded)

815

100 convex
shoulder

Flat shoulder

Lp=1.6mm
(M5 threaded)

Lp=1.6mm
(M5 threaded)

12mm

12mm

5mm

1.6 mm

iv

1.6 mm

Fig. 1. Schematic illustration of FSSW tool geometries: (a) cylindrical pin tools having (i) concave shoulder, (ii) at shoulder and (iii) convex shoulder. All pins have a length
of 1.6 mm and M5 threads. (b) Concave shoulder proles having (iv) cylindrical pin (1.6 mm pin length and M5 threads) and (v) triangular pin (1.6 mm pin length, no
threads).

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sectioned along the diameter of the weld in a plane containing the

normal direction and rolling direction of the top sheet. All
specimens are subjected to mechanical grinding and polishing
with 0.05 mm silica suspension. Specimens are etched with the

Kellers reagent (1 ml HF, 1.5 ml HCl, 2.5 ml HNO3 and 95 ml H2O).

Microstructures are examined using cross-polarized optical
microscopy. Weld geometric parameters (such as hook height,
etc.) are computed directly from the macrostructure using
Keyence VHX-600 microscope.

3. Results

Fig. 2. Cross-sectional macrostructure of a typical friction stir spot weld

illustrating the different weld geometrical features.

Fig. 2 shows the macroscopic cross-section of a friction stir

spot weld. There are several weld geometrical features that can be
observed in the macrosection: effective top sheet thickness (Teff) is
dened as the distance between the shoulder indentation surface
and the position at which the partial metallurgical bond of the
hook begins (which is indicated as A in the gure). Hook height
(Hh) is dened as the distance between the interface of the two
sheets and the point A. Hook width (Hw) is dened as the
distance between the vertical face of the keyhole and the point A.
The width of the stir zone (SZwidth) is dened as the distance
between the edge of the keyhole and the widest region of the stir
zone.
Fig. 3(a) shows a macrosection of a weld made with the FSSW-C
tool. Three main characteristic regions exist in sequence from the
periphery of the weld keyhole towards the base material:

T eff_FSSW-C
A
A
unbonded

partial
metallurgical bond

complete
metallurgical bond

0.25 mm

T eff_FSSW-F

0.25 mm

Fig. 3. (a) Typical cross-sectional macrostructure of a friction stir spot weld showing different bonding regions, (b) fractured FSSW-C specimen (after external loading) and
(c) fractured FSSW-F specimen (after external loading).

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completely bonded region, partially bonded region and unbonded

region. These have been dened in detail elsewhere in [8]. The
partial metallurgical bonding starts from the position indicated as
A (similar to the one in Fig. 2). Fig. 3(b) and (c) shows the
macrostructure of a FSSW-C and FSSW-F weld after fracture. Here,
it is seen that the crack rst propagates preferentially along the
hook till position A after which it abruptly fails through the
remaining top sheet thickness (Teff).
Fig. 4 compares the static strength and macrosection of welds
made with the 3 different shoulder proles: concave, convex
and at under the same weld process conditions. FSSW-C
welds exhibit the highest strength while FSSW-X welds have
the lowest strength. The difference in the strength magnitude is
about 15%.

Fig. 5 shows the vertical load (Z-axis load) and spindle power
consumption during welding for the different shoulder proles at
different tool plunge depths. Variation in Z load is observed only
at lower plunge depths (before shoulder comes in contact with
the workpiece), however the spindle power consumption for all
the shoulder proles at different plunge depths is similar.
Fig. 6 illustrates a series of macrosections taken at different
plunge depths (from shallow to deep) for the FSSW-C welds. These
images illustrate the formation of the hook geometry as a function
of tool plunge depth. When only the pin is in contact with the
workpiece, the hook height increases as a function of plunge
depth, however, once the shoulder comes in contact with the top
sheet the hook height plateaus. A further increase in plunge depth
only increases the hook width. This variation in geometrical

3600

0.70

3500

0.60

3400

0.50

3300
0.40
3200
0.30

Teff (mm)

Static Strength (N)

817

3100
0.20

3000

0.10

2900
2800

0.00
Concave
Shoulder

Flat
Shoulder

PD 1.73mm

Convex
Shoulder

PD 1.73mm

FSSW C Tool

FSSW F Tool

1 mm

1 mm

PD 1.77mm
FSSW X Tool

1 mm

Fig. 4. (a) Static strength and effective top sheet thickness comparison for welds made with concave, at and convex shoulders. (bd) Macrosections of welds made with
concave, at and convex shoulders, respectively, at similar plunge depths.

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15

Spindle Power (kW)

Z Load (kN)

12
9
Flat

Concave
Convex

3
0
1.2

1.3

1.4

1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8
Tool Plunge Depth (mm)

1.9

2
Flat
Concave
Convex

0
1.2

1.3

1.4

1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8
Tool Plunge Depth (mm)

Fig. 5. Comparison of (a) Z load and (b) spindle power for welds made with different shoulder proles at different tool plunge depths.

1 mm

PD 1.26m m

1 mm
1 mm

PD 1.27m m

1 mm
1 mm

PD 1.41m m

1 mm

PD 1.70m m

PD 1.52m m

1 mm

PD 1.82m m

PD 1.35m m

1 mm

PD 1.62m m

1 mm

PD 1.92m m

Fig. 6. Macrosections of welds made with cylindrical pin tool (with concave shoulder) at different plunge depths.

1.9

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819

2.5

1.8

1.4
Hook Heigth

1.2

Hook Width
T_eff

1
0.8
0.6
0.4

SZ Area (mm2)

Length dimension in (mm)

1.6

1.5
1
0.5

0.2
0
1.2

1.3

1.4

1.5

1.6

1.7

1.8

1.9

2.0

Tool Plunge Depth (mm)

0
1.2

1.3

1.4

1.5

1.6

1.7

1.8

1.9

2.0

Tool Plunge Depth (mm)

Fig. 7. For weld made with FSSW-C tool: (a) variation of weld geometric parameters and (b) variation of SZ size as a function of plunge depth.

features (of hook height, hook width, effective top sheet thickness
and stir zone area) is shown in Fig. 7.
Fig. 8 illustrates a series of macrosections taken at different
plunge depths (from shallow to deep) for the FSSW-T welds. These
images illustrate the formation of the hook geometry as a function
of tool plunge depth. When only the pin is in contact with the
workpiece, the hook height increases as a function of plunge
depth, however, once the shoulder comes in contact with the top
sheet, the hook height is reduced. A further increase in the plunge
depth not only increases the hook width but also reduces the hook
height. This variation in geometrical features (of hook height,
hook width, effective top sheet thickness and stir zone area) is
shown in Fig. 9.
Fig. 10(a) schematically illustrates the difference between the
geometry of the triangular and cylindrical pins. Fig. 10(b) and (c)
illustrate a proposed schematic of the material ow pattern for
the FSSW-C and FSSW-T welds.
Fig. 11(a) and (b) show the Z-axis load and spindle power
consumption during welding for the FSSW-C and FSSW-T welds at
different tool plunge depths. For the FSSW-C welds, as the plunge
depth increases the Z load increases, whereas for the FSSW-T
welds the Z load spikes once the shoulder comes in contact with
the workpiece. Furthermore, for FSSW-C welds, the spindle power
is relatively constant at different plunge depths, whereas for
FSSW-T welds, the spindle power once again shows a spike once
the shoulder comes in contact with the workpiece. The data for
FSSW-C welds are the same as those plotted in Fig. 5(a) and (b).

4. Discussion
In the rst part of the study, static strength comparison of
welds made with different tool prole showed that the FSSW-C
welds have higher strength than FSSW-F welds while the FSSW-X
welds have the lowest strength. Referring to Fig. 3(b) and (c), the
fractured specimen images for both the FSSW-C and FSSW-F
reveal that the nal crack path is through the effective thickness
of the top sheet. Therefore, this geometrical feature is one of
the key factors in determining the weld strength. Fig. 4a clearly
shows a direct correlation between the effective top thickness
and the strength. Since the failure is through the top sheet,
this dimension (Teff) is very signicant. The effective top sheet
thickness offers resistance against external loading, therefore
to achieve high welds with high static strength, it is desired
to have Teff as large as possible. In the current study, for the same

plunge depth, FSSW-C has the highest magnitude of Teff (thereby

highest static strength) whereas FSSW-X has the lowest Teff
(thereby lowest strength). The magnitude of Teff is a result of
the inherent shoulder geometry. The concave shoulder offers
an additional pocket of volume around the root of the pin.
This volume is rst lled up by the extruded material before
the shoulder comes in contact with the workpiece. On the other
hand, the convex shoulder protrudes out and comes in contact
with the workpiece at a much earlier plunge depth compared to
the FSSW-C tool thereby thinning the top sheet sooner. The effect
of the at shoulder lies in between these two. This explains the
difference in static strength between the different shoulder
proles.
Furthermore, owing to the inherent shoulder prole, at lower
plunge depths the FSSW-C welds required relatively lower Z
load when compared to FSSW-F and FSSW-X welds (as shown in
Fig. 5a). At low plunge depths (before the shoulder comes in
contact with the top surface of the workpiece), the material
extruded upward by the pin rst occupies the volume of space
between the shoulder and the workpiece before coming in contact
with the shoulder. As a result, for the same shoulder plunge depth,
lesser amount of extruded material is in contact with the concave
shoulder compared to the convex or at proles hence resulting in
the lower Z load. On the other hand, for convex shoulder prole,
more material is in contact with the shoulder resulting in higher Z
load. These ndings indicate that the shoulder prole is dominant
in determining the vertical load applied during welding. The
spindle power consumption (as shown in Fig. 5b) for all three
shoulder congurations is similar. This reiterates the fact that the
spindle power is mainly dependent upon the shoulder size
(diameter). From the ndings of the rst part of the study,
concave shoulder prole yielded high strength spot welds,
moderate levels of Z load and comparable spindle power
consumption when compared to the other shoulder proles.
Hence, for the next portion of this study, the shoulder conguration is xed as concave.
The second part of the study addresses the effect of pin
geometry on the hook formation. Referring to Fig. 6, at low plunge
depths the hook height increases as the plunge depth increases.
The hook geometry is primarily formed when the pin penetrates
past the interface of the workpieces, which results in the material
being mostly extruded upward from the bottom of the pin. In
addition, due to the presence of threads on the pin (that enhance
vertical ow and mixing), the formation of stir zone is evident
even at low plunge depths.

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1 mm

1 mm

P D 1 .3 3 m m

1 mm

P D 1 .3 9 m m

P D 1 .4 6 m m

1 mm
1 mm

1 mm
P D 1 .5 1 m m

PD 1.68m m

PD 1.78m m

1 mm
1 mm
P D 1 .8 6 m m

PD 1.97m m

Fig. 8. Macrosections of welds made with triangular pin tool (with concave shoulder) at different plunge depths.

On further increasing the plunge depth, the shoulder comes in

contact with the top workpiece at a tool plunge depth of about
1.52 mm (although the pin length is 1.6 mm). This is because the
material extruded upward by the pin lls the volume between the
shoulder and the workpiece. At this plunge depth, due to the effect
of the shoulder, more heat is generated which results in more
material ow. The threads on the pin signicantly enhance plastic
ow along the thickness direction. As reported by Fujimoto et al.
[9], immediately next to the pin the material driven by the threads
moves downward from the upper sheet to the lower sheet,
forming the major portion of the stir zone; the material originally
from the lower sheet is pushed outward as well as upward
towards the upper sheet. This is schematically illustrated in

Fig. 10(b). Hence, once the shoulder comes in contact with the
workpiece, due to this material motion, the SZ size signicantly
increases. When only the pin is in contact with the workpiece, the
hook lies very close to the keyhole, however, once the shoulder
comes in contact, the hook geometry gets pushed outward (away
from the keyhole) since the material ow has now signicantly
increased giving rise to a much larger SZ. This can be explained as
follows: as the plunge depth increases, although more volume of
material is being extruded by the pin, the effect of the shoulder
now becomes more prominent. The shoulder offers resistance to
the upward ow of material that is extruded from the bottom of
the pin and consequently this volume of material is displaced
(pushed) away from the keyhole as seen in Fig. 6 (comparing

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2.5

1.8
Hook Heigth

1.6

Hook Width

T_eff

1.4
1.2

SZ Area (mm2)

Length dimension in (mm)

821

1
0.8
0.6
0.4

1.5

0.5

0.2
0

0
1.2

1.3

1.4

1.5

1.6

1.7

1.8

1.9

2.0

Tool Plunge Depth (mm)

1.2

1.3

1.4

1.5

1.6

1.7

1.8

1.9

2.0

Tool Plunge Depth (mm)

Fig. 9. For weld made with FSSW-T tool: (a) variation of weld geometric parameters and (b) variation of SZ size as a function of plunge depth.

Fig. 10. (a) Qualitative comparison of pin surface area of FSSW-C and FSSW-T tools, (b) schematic illustration of material ow for welds with FSSW-C tool and (c) schematic
illustration of material ow for welds with FSSW-T tool.

images of PD 1.70, 1.82 and 1.92 mm). This in turn affects the hook
geometry that is present on the periphery of the stir zone
resulting in an increase in the hook width. Fig. 7(a) and (b) shows
the variation of the key geometric parameters as a function of
plunge depth. As described earlier, the hook height rst increases
and then plateaus off at higher plunge depths. The hook width is
primarily dependent on the stir zone size. The effective top sheet
thickness reduces as a function of tool plunge depth since the
shoulder now penetrates deeper to the top workpiece.

Similarly, a series of spot welds were made with the triangular

pin tool at varying plunge depths. The resulting macrosections are
shown in Fig. 8. Since the triangular pin has no threads, there is no
signicant SZ formation when only pin is in contact with the
workpiece. Furthermore, due to the absence of threads, there is no
strong downward material motion at the pin periphery. Instead,
the volume of material displaced by the pin is just extruded
upward from the base of the pin towards the shoulder surface.
Since the volume of the triangular pin is less than the cylindrical

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15

Spindle Power (kW)

Z Load (kN)

12
9
6
Cylindrical Pin

Cylindrical Pin

Triangular Pin

Triangular Pin

0
1.2

1.3

1.4

1.5

1.6

1.7

1.8

1.9

0
1.2

1.3

1.4

Tool Plunge Depth (mm)

1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8
Tool Plunge Depth (mm)

1.9

Fig. 11. Comparison of (a) Z load and (b) spindle power of welds made with triangular and cylindrical pin proles at different tool plunge depths.

pin, the amount of material extruded upward is less. Once the

shoulder comes in contact with the workpiece, the SZ forms and
the upward hook geometry is observed. The SZ for FSSW-T welds
is smaller than FSSW-C welds. However, in contrast to FSSW-C
welds, due to the upward geometry of the hook, a further increase
in plunge depth causes the shoulder to disperse the hook thereby
reducing the hook height. Fig. 10(b) schematically illustrates
the material ow for FSSW-T welds. Therefore, for FSSW-T welds,
the hook height rst increases and then decreases as plotted
in Fig. 9(a).
For the tools in this study, the frontal surface area of the
triangular pin is 26% less than the cylindrical pin, while the
volume of the triangular pin is 21% less than the cylindrical pin.
Therefore, due to the smaller frontal surface area of the triangular
pin, less pressure is applied by the pin face when plunging into the
workpiece. This consequently results in lower Z load measured
during welding (plotted in Fig. 11(a)). Furthermore, since the
volume of the triangular pin is less, at low plunge depths, it causes
more of a drilling phenomena where small fragments of material
are chipped away from the workpiece. This is evident from the
spindle power consumption (plotted in Fig. 11(b)) of the triangular
pin tool which is signicantly less than the cylindrical pin tool.
The results of a previous investigation [8] showed that hook
geometry played an important role in determining the static
strength of welds. The presence of a continuous hook diminishes
the integrity of spot welds. Macrosections of partially pulled
samples showed that the crack preferentially propagated along
the hook geometry. The ndings of the current investigation show
that the tool prole signicantly alters the hook geometry of
friction stir spot welds. The presence of a larger stir zone does not
necessarily result in stronger welds. The hook height (thereby
effective top sheet thickness) can be said to be one of the
key geometric features that needs to be considered in friction stir
spot welding.

5. Conclusions
The effect of shoulder and pin geometry on the hook formation
and material ow of friction stir spot welded 5754-O aluminum
alloy is investigated. The following conclusions are made:
1. When comparing different tool shoulder proles, welds made
with FSSW-C tool yielded higher static strength than FSSW-X
and FSSW-F tools at similar plunge depth. This can be directly

attributed to the weld geometry that shows a higher effective

top sheet thickness for FSSW-C welds due to its inherent
concave shoulder prole. Furthermore, the Z load during
welding was lowest for the FSSW-C tool for the same reason.
2. When comparing different tool pin proles, welds made with
FSSW-C tool showed the presence of a continuous hook and a
large stir zone in the weld region. The hook geometry
originated at the interface of the two sheets, continued along
the periphery of the stir zone and nally terminated very close
to the keyhole. In contrast, welds made with the FSSW-T tool
showed an arrested hook but a much smaller stir zone for
similar plunge depths. Previous published data [8] has shown
that FSSW-T welds yield higher static strength than FSSW-C
welds, which can now be attributed primarily to the difference
in the hook geometry.
3. The tool geometry, in particular the pin prole, is a predominant factor in determining the weld geometry and thereby the
static strength of friction stir spot welded joints. Stir zone size
does not seem to play a signicant role in this aspect but
instead the effective top sheet thickness is an important
geometric feature that must be considered.

Acknowledgements
This work was supported by internal funding from Hitachi
America, Ltd. R&D.

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