IMRFSWGCam

Friction stir welded structural materials:
beyond Al-alloys
G. Çam*
The friction stir welding (FSW) technique is widely accepted to be one of the most significant
welding techniques to emerge in the last 20 years. Friction stir welding of Al-alloys is now
commonplace and is covered in several recent reviews, including one in this journal.
Consequently, the technique is currently being used for joining of these alloys in various
industrial applications. Complementary to these developments has been a dramatic increase in
research into joining of other alloys and systems by FSW. This field is very active, but less mature.
Thus, the aim of this review article is to build on our understanding of the fundamentals, as
applied to Al-alloys that laid out in the previous review in this journal, and to address the current
state-of-the-art of FSW developing beyond Al-alloys, including Mg-alloys, Cu-alloys, steels, Ti-
alloys and metal matrix composites, focusing particularly on microstructural aspects, including
texture formation, and the resulting properties of these joints. Material selection for tooling will also
be covered to some extent while modelling studies of material flow during FSW are outside the
scope of this paper. Finally, residual stresses are mentioned in a number of places and while
these have been measured extensively for Al-alloy systems there are fewer measurements for
other systems.
Keywords: Joining, Friction stir welding, Texture formation, Recrystallisation, Grain refinement, Joint performance
Introduction are needed for welding some of these materials such as

metal matrix composites (MMCs) and those with high
Friction stir welding (FSW), developed and patented in melting temperatures, i.e. steels and Ti-alloys.11,15
the UK in early 1990s by The Welding Institute, is usually In this method, the plates-to-be-welded clamped
used in welding of plates and is different from conven- together rigidly in butt or overlap condition. A stirring
tional friction welding.1–20 Friction stir welding is tool with a suitable geometry is pressed against abutting
considered to be one of the most significant welding or overlapping plates and moves along them. An
techniques to emerge in the last 20 years.1–23 Currently, important part of the tool is a probe (i.e. pin) which
this welding technique is commercially used only for protrudes from the base of the tool shoulder and its
joining Al-alloys in several industries, such as ship length is marginally shorter than the thickness of the
building,2,3,14,21 high speed train manufacturing2,14,21 plates to be welded in butt-joining.16 The stirring tool
and aviation industry.2,14,22,23 Standard length Al extru- rotating at a high rate is plunged into the clamped plates
sion panels used in high speed cruise ships are currently causing friction. The heat caused by the friction between
joined by this method. Furthermore, this method is the tool shoulder and the workpiece results in intense
successfully used in welding of fuel tanks used in local heating that does not melt the plates to be joined,
aerospace applications.23 This welding technique is also but plasticises the material around the tool. On the other
used in carriage manufacturing of high speed trains in hand, there are some recent reports of incipient melting
Japan, for the production of hollow Al extrusions.21 occurring during friction stir spot welding (FSSW) of
Even though the FSW technique was initially devel- Al- and Mg-alloys, particularly when the plunging is
oped for Al-alloys,1–23 it also has great potential for rapid.24,25 There is also evidence of incipient melting for
welding of Mg-, Cu-, Ti-, Al-alloy matrix composites, some Al-alloys (e.g. 7010).16 However, incipient melting
lead, some steels, stainless steels, thermoplastics and is very unusual. The plasticised material is pressed
different material combinations, particularly those with downwards by the tool shoulder, which also prevents the
close melting temperatures and similar behaviour such plasticised material from being expelled from the weld
as hot workability. However, cost effective stirring tools nugget. The friction at the probe surface provides
additional frictional heat to the workpieces to a lesser
extent. Then, the rotating tool moves along the plates
Mustafa Kemal University, Faculty of Engineering, 31200 l̇skenderun, transferring the softened material around itself, stirring
Hatay, Turkey the plates together. The material is transported from the
*Corresponding author, email [email protected] front of the tool to the trailing edge where it is forged
ß 2011 Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and ASM International

Published by Maney for the Institute and ASM International
DOI 10.1179/095066010X12777205875750 International Materials Reviews 2011 VOL 56 NO 1 1
Çam Friction stir welded structural materials: beyond Al-alloys
1 Schematic diagram of FSW11
into a joint. Thus, the workpieces are mechanically

3 Schematic illustration of double-sided FSW applied to
mixed under severe deformation conditions during this
thicker plates28
solid-state joining technique. The process generates very
high strains and strain rates, both of which are
substantially higher than those experienced in other machines with complex motions and control systems
solid-state metalworking processes, such as forging, will cost well over $1 million though machines that cost
extrusion and rolling.16 The application of this method much lower are also available. With this method, 50 mm
is shown schematically in Fig. 1.11 thick or thicker (up to 70 mm) Al-alloy plates can be
Generally, a tool with a cylindrical threaded probe is butt-welded and plates of up to 100 mm thickness can
employed in friction stir butt-welding of thin plates of also be butt-joined by double-sided welding.11,14,28,29
Al-alloys, whereas a tool with a conical or truncated The double-sided FSW application is shown schemati-
probe should be used in butt-welding of thicker plates. cally in Fig. 3.28 This welding method can also be used
In both tools with cylindrical and conical probes, the successfully in lap-welding of plates.28 Furthermore, the
probe surfaces are mostly threaded. On the other hand, joining of plates with different thicknesses can be
lap-welding requires a modified tool to ensure full achieved with this welding method by plunging the
disruption of the tenacious oxide layer present on the tilted tool into the plates. The welding speed is
surfaces of workpieces, particularly of Al-alloys, and a dependent on the thickness of the plate to be welded,
wider stir zone (SZ) than butt-welding.26 Hence, more typically 600 mm min21 for 6 mm thick Al-alloy plates.
complex shaped tools must be used in lap-welding Another progress made regarding this joining techni-
applications to break the stable oxide layers and to que is the hybrid application of FSW, in which it is
obtain a better metallurgical bond (Fig. 2). Various assisted by another heat source such as laser (Fig. 4).29
FSW tools have been developed and patented for For materials with high melting points such as steels, or
different applications. More information regarding the high conductivity such as copper, the heat produced by
developments in stirring tool design can be found in the method may not be sufficient to soften and plasticise
excellent reviews of Ma and Mishra,11 Nandan et al.15 the material around the tool and produce a defect-free
and Defalco.27 joint. An external source of heat can in this case
This welding process can be performed using special facilitate the material flow and increase the process
FSW equipments or a conventional vertical milling window.11 In the FSW, one has to wait 30 s after
machine. There exist FSW devices of different sizes plunging the tool into plates for the tool and the plates-
manufactured for commercial purposes. Larger to-be-welded to reach the required temperature in some
cases, particularly in the welding of materials with high
thermal conductivity. In the hybrid application, how-
ever, this waiting period can be avoided and also the
lifespan of tools can be increased because the friction is
reduced in the welding of materials with higher melting
temperatures, such as steels or stainless steels.29
Therefore, defect-free joints of materials such as
stainless steels can be obtained with the laser assisted
FSW application. This hybrid technique is, however,
still in the research stage and regarded with scepticism
by many as it complicates the process and increases the
total cost.
General process related aspects of FSW are weld
variables, microstructural evolution and grain refine-
ment. Although these characteristics of FSW are mainly
derived from the studies conducted on Al-alloys, most of
these are also relevant to FSW of other structural
a cylindrical pin used in welding of thin plates; b conical materials. They are very briefly discussed below to form
shape pin in welding of thick plates; c Triflute type pin the basis for further discussion on FSW of other
developed for friction stir overlap-welding11,26 materials beyond Al-alloys. There are several excellent
2 Various FSW pins reviews and books covering these issues11,15,16,19,20 and
2 International Materials Reviews 2011 VOL 56 NO 1

4 a schematic illustration and b application of laser assisted FSW (hybrid welding)29
the readers should read these articles for more detailed of tool surface with workpiece governs the heat
information. generation. Hence, the tool geometry plays an impor-
tant role and is the third factor affecting the heat
Weld variables generated within the SZ and the decreasing tool
The welding (traverse) speed, the tool rotational speed shoulder diameter leads to a decrease in heat generation
(rotation rate), the vertical pressure on the tool (axial to some extent. Moreover, the heat generated within the
pressure), the tilt angle of the tool and the tool design stirred zone is mainly determined by two factors,
are the main independent variables used to control the namely tool rotational speed and traverse speed, in
FSW process.15 These variables determine the peak addition to the tool geometry. Another important factor
temperature, x-direction force, torque and the power affecting the heat generated within the SZ is the thermal
features of the process. Peak temperature significantly conductivity of the material-to-be-welded. The detailed
rises with the increase in tool rotational speed and axial information regarding this issue can be found in an
pressure, and decreases slightly with increasing traverse excellent review of Ref. 11.
speed. The torque depends on parameters such as the
applied vertical pressure, tool design, the tilt angle, local Grain refinement
shear stress at the tool/workpiece interface, the friction Several investigations have well demonstrated that grain
coefficient and the extend of slip between the tool and refinement in the SZs of Al-alloys,4–7,9–11,31–39 carbon
the workpiece. steels40–48 and brass,49–52 is achieved in FSW provided
Microstructural evolution that the peak temperature during welding is not
excessively high. The reason for this is the intense
A typical microstructure of a friction stir welded Al-alloy
plastic deformation taking place within the SZ as
joint is schematically shown in Fig. 5.1,15,30 The weld
pointed out earlier. Even ultrafine grained microstruc-
zone consists of three distinct zones, namely base
ture (average grain size ,1 mm) can be achieved within
material (BM), heat-affected zone (HAZ) and the nugget
stirred zone by employing special tool geometries and
zone (NZ). The HAZ is only influenced by heat whereas
external cooling during welding.11,32–34,36–39
the NZ is affected by both heat and plastic deformation
during welding. The NZ consists of two regions, namely Parameters of FSW process, such as tool rotational
thermomechanically affected zone (TMAZ) and dyna- and traverse speeds, tool geometry, vertical pressure
mically recrystallised zone, when the recrystallisation is applied (i.e. weld pressure) and hence spindle torque,
not easily induced (Fig. 5).11,14–17,30 However, the NZ which determine the heat generated, are the important
consists of only a recrystallised region since the entire factors influencing the grain size evolving within the
TMAZ is completely recrystallised in the cases when the stirred zone as well as materials properties, such as
recrystallisation is easily induced. The frictional coupling thermal conductivity and external cooling. The degree of
deformation is the crucial factor determining the grain
size of the recrystallised grains.11 As the increasing
degree of deformation promotes dynamic recrystallisa-
tion the grain size decreases, i.e. grain refining, accord-
ing to the general principles of recrystallisation. On the
other hand, the excessive peak temperature reached
during welding as a result of slow travel speeds promotes
grain growth resulting in grain coarsening. However, it
is a complex relationship since slow travel speeds may
reduce torque and hence the heat input. Generally,
increasing tool rotational speed or ratio of tool
rotational speed to traverse speed leads to an increase
5 Schematical presentation of the joint area of a friction both in the degree of deformation and the peak
stir weld when the recrystallisation is not easily temperature.11 Several investigations have well demon-
induced. A: HAZ; B: TMAZ; C: dynamically recrystal- strated that the grain size in the stirred zones of Al-
lised zone (the SZ or NZ consists of areas B and C in alloys can be reduced by decreasing the tool rotational
this case).1,17 Note that the SZ consists of only TMAZ speed at a constant traverse speed or decreasing the ratio
region when the recrystallisation is easily induced of tool rotational speed to traverse speed.11,34–37
International Materials Reviews 2011 VOL 56 NO 1 3

Most of the FSW studies reported in the literature are metallurgical potential to apply FSW. Furthermore, no
on the joining of Al-alloys by this technique.1–39 industrial implementation of this technique to other
Recently, there have been some excellent reviews of structural materials has been reported to date. However,
FSW covering a wide range of materials by Mishra and the growth potential for the future can be considerable.
Ma,11 which includes friction stir processing (FSP) as The physical metallurgy of the material to be welded
well, and by Nandan et al.15 which mainly deals with the plays an important role in the microstructural evolution,
heat generation, heat transfer and tool–material flow thus in the mechanical performance of the friction stir
interactions of friction stir joining. Furthermore, an welded joints. Therefore, brief information of the
excellent review on FSW of Al-alloys has recently been physical metallurgy of structural materials beyond Al-
conducted by Threadgill et al.16 This work discusses alloys (i.e. Mg-alloys, Cu-alloys, steels, Ti-alloys and
various aspects of FSW of Al-alloys in detail, including particulate reinforced Al-matrix composites) will be
historical background and principles of the process in introduced in separate sections. Then, the FSW studies
addition to the mechanical and corrosion performance existing in the literature will be discussed for each
of friction stir welded Al-alloy joints. There are also material. This review is, however, confined only to the
some recent books on FSW and FSP.19,20 Friction stir microstructural and mechanical properties of FSW of
welding has already found remarkable industrial appli- structural materials beyond Al-alloys. Some speculation
cation for Al-alloys and its industrial use is expected to on future work needed in FSW of structural materials
increase. beyond Al-alloys will also be offered.
As has already been pointed out, the predominant
focus of FSW has been on welding of Al-alloys covered in Friction stir welding beyond Al-alloys
several recent reviews and books, and the technique is
currently being used for joining of these alloys in various Friction stir welding of Mg-alloys
industrial applications. Numerous studies have also Physical metallurgy of Mg-alloys
recently been conducted on the applicability of this Although Mg has the lowest density of common
technique to materials beyond Al-alloys, particularly in structural materials, its formability is very limited due
the last decade. Thus, the objective of this work is to to its hcp crystal structure at room temperature.
discuss the recent works completed to date on FSW of However, the formability increases rapidly with tempera-
structural materials beyond Al-alloys, such as Mg-alloys, ture, and not all but most Mg-alloys can be worked
particulate reinforced Al-matrix MMCs, Cu-alloys and extensively at temperatures of 200–310uC.53 Since Mg-
high temperature alloys such as steels and Ti-alloys. alloys have inferior formability, sheet material of Mg-
Although the fundamentals of the process are briefly alloys is produced commercially by casting or die-casting
introduced, not all details of process aspects can be except some wrought alloys, such as AZ31 and AZ61.11
presented within these pages, and readers are encouraged The cast and wrought grades possess very different
to obtain the original references for more details, e.g. weld characteristics, and thus quite different welding beha-
parameters. viour. The cast grades contain some defects originated
Mg-alloys display similar FSW characteristics like Al- from the casting process, which might affect the weld-
alloys due to the fact the peak temperatures reached ability significantly. Owing to their better mass equivalent
during FSW are similar. It is well demonstrated that properties, Mg-alloys have gained increased attention in
FSW can be successfully employed in joining of Mg- recent years for applications in transport industries, such
alloys. Cu-alloys (y1000uC) are intermediate in FSW as automotive industry, where the weight saving hence
temperature between Al-alloys (y500uC) and ferrous fuel consumption is a major concern.15,54–56 They are
alloys (y1100 to 1200uC). Although these studies have mainly used for light-weight parts of transport systems
well demonstrated that this joining technique produces which operate at high speeds, such as autos and high
sound joints in these materials, the process has now been speed trains.15
well developed only for Cu- and Mg-alloys.16 Most Mg-alloys can be joined by arc welding
Furthermore, there is up to date only very limited processes.99 However, there are some difficulties in
industrial implementation, i.e. for copper. welding these alloys, especially the cast grades. The
With the development of high-temperature tooling, major problems encountered in welding of Mg-alloys are
that is, cermets (e.g. sintered WC–Co), W-based alloys the presence of porosity11,57 and the emission of large
(e.g. W–25Rh) and polycrystalline cubic boron nitride volumes of non-toxic fumes in arc welding.15,58 These
(pcBN) tools, FSW is rapidly expanding into the alloys oxidise rapidly at welding temperatures, thus
welding of high-temperature alloys, and considerable shielding is needed in fusion welding to prevent
interest is anticipated in this area. Particularly, Ti-alloys oxidation. Furthermore, the relatively high coefficients
offer unique difficulties, and although the available data of thermal expansion and thermal conductivity of Mg-
are limited at this time, the results obtained up to date alloys tend to cause intolerable distortions in the fusion
are encouraging. However, most of these studies welds particularly in thin plates when the heat input is
conducted on FSW of steels and Ti-alloys concentrate sufficiently high.15 The other difficulties experienced in
on microstructural and mechanical properties of the fusion welding are the evaporation and segregation of
joints and only in some cases on fracture toughness. solute atoms.15 The loss or segregation of solute atoms
Moreover, tool wear is still the main obstacle to results in softening in the joint area since these alloys
overcome for joining of these materials by FSW. This derive their strength mainly from precipitation hard-
leads to an increase in running costs of the process as it ening. Other problems experienced in fusion welding
requires more tools for a given length of weld. The these alloys is crack formation, particularly in high
challenge to identify long-life tooling to friction stir weld strength Mg-alloys (precipitation hardened grades),
Ti-alloys remains, but early results illustrate the which have higher propensity for cracking during

welding, solidification cracking and HAZ liquation produced in sheets thicker than 3 mm contained defects
cracking, which occurs during cooling as a result of associated with an inability to supply sufficient heat
thermal contraction due to their limited ductility and the during welding. On the contrary, Xie et al.68,75 demon-
segregation of low melting temperature phases along the strated that 6 mm thick wrought Mg–Zn–Zr plates can
grain boundaries within the HAZ respectively.59,60 be successfully friction stir welded.
However, the low heat input welding processes such as
Grain refinement and texture
laser beam welding can be used for joining these alloys.
For instance, crack-free welds with low porosity and There are conflicting results in the literature considering
slight loss of strength can be achieved in laser beam grain refining within the SZ, in some of which a grain
welding using appropriate weld parameters.60,61 refining was reported whereas in the others a grain
Therefore, solid-state joining processes, such as FSW coarsening was observed. The grain size within the SZ of
techniques, are the optimum choice for joining these cast friction stir welded Mg-alloys largely depend on the
alloys. Most of these problems are not encountered in original grain size of the alloy. In several studies, grain
FSW. For instance, solid-state FSW does not result in refinement was observed in the SZs of the friction stir
significant distortion, in emission of fumes or in solute welded cast, thixomolded and wrought Mg-alloys
loss by evaporation or segregation during solidifica- joints,58,62–66,73,83,85,86,89 as it is the case for Al-alloys
tion.15 Park et al.58 demonstrated that FSW resulted in (Fig. 6; Table 1).85 This is particularly valid for the
homogeneous distribution of solutes in the weld. grades which are cast and exhibit larger grains. The
Moreover, many Mg-alloys in the cast condition contain grains in both the NZ and the TMAZ tend to be in a
porosity which can be healed by FSW.15 recrystallised form if the alloy is easily recrystallised
(Fig. 7).70,73,75,86 Although dynamic recrystallisation is
Weld microstructure of Mg-alloys easier in Mg-alloys than in Al-alloys in general, the
Numerous reports can be found on FSW of Mg-alloys in recrystallisation does not take place in the TMAZ in the
the literature.24,58,62–92 These studies show that stirring alloys, in which the recrystallisation does not take place
tools made of tool steels employed for joining Al-alloys easily. The TMAZ in these alloys is plastically deformed
can be used in FSW these alloys. as shown in Fig. 6. It was also observed by some
researchers64,66,70,73,91 that the grain size in the SZ tends
Cast alloys to be finer when the peak temperature during welding is
Ma and Mishra11 proposed that the quality of the lower. For instance, the decreasing tool shoulder
friction stir welded joints of cast Mg-alloys is highly diameter leads to a finer grain size of recrystallised
sensitive to tool rotational speed and travel speed. For grains in the SZ, due to the lower net heat input applied
instance, Nakata et al.63 proposed that the weld to the workpiece.73 Yang et al.89 have recently reported
parameter window is very narrow for sound FSW of similar results for friction stir welded hot-rolled AZ31
thixomolded AZ91D Mg-alloy, i.e. higher rotational Mg-alloy plates, indicating that the grain size in the SZ
and lower travel speeds. They achieved defect-free joints decreases with decreasing tool shoulder diameter due to
at the optimum parameter combinations of traverse a lower heat input (Fig. 7).
speed of 50 mm min21 and rotational speeds of 1240– Moreover, higher rotational and lower travel speeds
1750 rev min21. Higher traverse or lower rotational tend to result in larger grain sizes, which promote the
speed leaded to the formation of internal voids or a lack coarsening of the recrystallised grains (Fig. 8). Further-
of bonding in the weld, which can be attributed to the more, Afrin et al.70 reported that the base metal grain
inherent poor formability of cast AZ91D Mg-alloy. size (y5 mm) was considerably coarsened (to about 8?5–
There is also a similar report indicating that the weld 9?3 mm) in the centre of the SZ of the friction stir welded
parameter window is very narrow for obtaining sound wrought AZ31B-H24 Mg-alloy joints when friction stir
FSW joints in other cast Mg-alloys, such as AM50, welded with a wide range of welding conditions (i.e.
AM60 and AZ91.72 This can be attributed to the fact rotational speeds in the range of 500–1000 rev min21
that the cast grades usually exhibit lower inherent and traverse speeds of 60–240 mm min21). They used a
formability than the wrought grades. tool diameter of 6?35 mm and a large shoulder diameter
of y20 mm, which probably results in a high heat input,
Wrought alloys but the tool geometry was not reported. The grain
On the contrary, Lee et al.65 and Park et al.58 reported coarsening in the SZ may be attributed to the fact that
that sound friction stir welded joints of wrought AZ91D the original grain size of the base alloy was very fine
can be achieved at relatively high rotational speeds of (i.e. y5 mm) and was coarsened due to the apparently
800–1600 rev min21 for a wide range of traverse speeds. high heat input applied to the material during welding.
For instance, Park et al.58 demonstrated that sound Similarly, the formation of coarser grains within the
joints can be produced in wrought AZ91D even with a stirred zone was also reported by Lim et al.80 for 4 mm
traverse speed of 750 mm min21 at a tool rotational thick wrought AZ31-H24 Mg-alloy plate and by
speed of 800 rev min21. Moreover, Park et al.58 and Lee Chowdhury et al.92 for 2 mm thick AZ31B-H24 sheet.
et al.65 indicated that very high rotational speeds lead to Moreover, Chang et al.82 observed that the grain size
the formation of inner void and surface crack and the was smaller at the bottom of the weld than at the top
lack of bonding in the SZ of wrought AZ91D Mg-alloy. of the nugget in FSP of wrought AZ31 Mg-alloy,
They did not report on the geometry of the tool they which can be attributed to the temperature profile
used, which may affect the frictional heat generated and heat dissipation in the weld nugget as explained
during welding. Mironov et al.67 proposed that sound earlier.11
friction stir welded joints can be produced in thin sheets As mentioned earlier, increasing tool rotational speed
of ZK60 Mg-alloy over a wide range of welding leads to an increase both in the degree of deformation
parameters. However, they also reported that the welds and the heat input. The increase in the ratio of tool

6 Images (SEM) showing microstructures of a BM, b TMAZ, c SZ and d TMAZ/SZ interface of friction stir weld in 2 mm
thick thixomolded Mg-alloy (6 wt-%Al, 3 wt-%Ca, 0?5 wt-% Rare earth, 0?2 wt-%Mn, balance Mg): note grain refinement
in the stir zone (SZ) after FSW85
rotational speed to traverse speed has a similar effect.11 Several workers have also reported texture formation
Thus, the recrystallised grain size is determined by the within the SZ of friction stir welded Mg-alloys.58,79
competition between the degree of deformation and heat Plastic deformation of Mg-alloys is attributed to slip
input. Several investigations have well demonstrated deformation on the (0001) basal plane at room
that the grain size in the stirred zones of Al-alloys can be temperature due to its hcp crystal structure, and thus
reduced by decreasing the tool rotational speed at a heterogeneous distribution of the (0001) basal plane in
constant traverse speed or decreasing the ratio of tool the SZ may significantly affect the mechanical properties
rotational speed to traverse speed.11,34–37 Friction stir of the friction stir welds. For instance, Park et al.58
welding of Mg-alloys has not yet been systematically reported that the friction stir welded joints of hot-rolled
studied with respect to this issue. AZ31 Mg-alloy failed in the weld zone in transverse
Table 1 Summary of grain size in stirred zones of friction stir welded Mg-alloys
Thickness, Rotation rate, Feedrate, Grain size,

Material mm Tool geometry rev min21 mm min21 mm Reference
Cast grades
Cast AM50, 6.0 Plain threaded pin 250–500 160–450 … 72
AM60 and AZ91 or MX Triflute
Cast AZ91D 4.0 … 1098–3600 32–187 7–19 64
Die-cast AE42 4.0 Plain threaded pin 1120 120 5–8 74
Thixomolded AZ91D 2.0 Screw pin 880–1750 50–500 2–5 63
Thixomolded AZ91D 2.0 … 800–1800 90–750 0.9–5.4 86
Thixomolded AM60 2.0 Screw pin 2000 120 10–15 71
Wrought grades
Wrought AZ31 6.4 Plain threaded pin or 250–500 160–450 … 72
MX Triflute
Wrought AZ31B 6.4 Screw pin 800 60 25 66
Wrought AZ31B 10.0 … 180–1400 90 2.4–8.1 82
Wrought AZ31-H24 4.0 … 1200 200 13 80
Wrought AZ31B-H24 4.0 Simple tool 1250–2500 87–507 y90 65
AZ31B-H24 2.0 Threaded pin 2000 600 8 92
Wrought AZ61 6.3 … 1220 90 14 58
Extruded ZK60 8.0 Coniform threaded pin 800 100 5.3 75
Wrought AZ31 4.0 … 375–2250 20–375 … 76
Hot-rolled AZ31 6.3 Cylindrical threaded pin 800 100 10, 13, 19* 89
*These grain sizes were obtained with the tool shoulder diameters of 18, 20 and 24 mm respectively. High rotation speed and low
travel speed can both cause higher peak temperatures during welding.

7 Grain size evolution with tool shoulder diameter in a friction stir welded 6?3 mm thick hot-rolled AZ31 Mg-alloy plate:
microstructures of a BM and the joints produced with tool shoulder diameters of b 18 mm, c 20 mm and d 24 mm
(Ref. 89)
tensile testing, although the distribution of grain size above. Thus, Park et al.58 observed that crystallographic
and dislocation density were roughly uniform through- microtextures with an accumulated (0001) plane were
out the weld. This indicates that the tensile properties heterogeneously distributed in the SZ. This local texture
cannot be explained only by distribution of grain size evolution has been explained by shear plastic flow taking
and dislocation density. Besides grain size and disloca- place along the pin column surface.
tion density, crystallographic orientation also strongly Woo et al.90 also reported that a significant texture
influences plastic deformation during the tensile testing variation between the transition zone and the SZ of
since the plastic deformation arises from the slip on the friction stir processed AZ31B Mg-alloy plates. It was
close-packed basal planes in Mg-alloys as mentioned pointed out that the drastic texture variation during FSP
8 Microstructure of a friction stir weld in a Mg-alloy: a macrograph showing the cross-section of the joint, and micro-
structures of b SZ, c transition zone and d BM. Note grain growth in the SZ due to the high peak temperature the
material exposed to during welding as a result of the low welding speeds used80

significantly influences the tensile behaviour. They also

claimed that the incompatible boundary between the
transition zone and the SZ due to the different texture
formation in these regions causes a fracture in this area
in transverse tensile testing of anisotropic hcp Mg-
alloys. Yang et al.89 recently conducted a detailed study
to investigate the effect of tool shoulder diameter, thus
the peak temperature, on texture formation in the SZ of
hot-rolled AZ31 plates. They observed that the tool
shoulder diameter did not exert any significant effect on
the texture in the SZs. However, the nearly random
grain orientations were observed in the TMAZ of the
weld produced with 24 mm tool shoulder diameter
whereas the (0002) texture still existed in that of the
weld obtained with 18 mm tool shoulder diameter.
9 Grain size and hardness profiles of the friction stir
These contradictory results are not surprising since
welded AZ31B-H24 plates at a rotation rate of
Mg-alloys exhibit very different weldability depending
2000 rev min21 and a travel speed of 5 mm min21.91
on its type (i.e. cast or wrought, the cast grades often
Note a gradual hardness decrease from the base metal
contain a high amount of porosity), its hardening
through the HAZ and TMAZ and then to the SZ where
mechanism (whether it is precipitation hardened or
the lowest value lies due to the grain coarsening as a
not) and its formability. Moreover, the weld parameters
result of the high heat input during welding
(i.e. the peak temperature reached during welding which
affects the grain size, dislocation density, and texture) as plates during welding. Afrin et al.70 also reported that a
well as the composition and thermomechanical history hardness reduction occurred in the stirred zone of the
of the alloy before joining play an important role in the friction stir welded wrought AZ31 Mg-alloy, the
microstructure and thus in the joint performance. reduction being substantial when the starting hardness
Hardness profiles of Mg-alloys is higher. They also well demonstrated that the varia-
tions in hardness are consistent with grain size in
Cast alloys
accordance with the Hall–Petch relationship. It can be
Early studies showed that FSW leads to an increase in said that the hardness tends to increase with decreasing
hardness of cast Mg-alloys, such as AZ91.63,64,84 grain size in the stirred zone.58,70
However, Esperza et al.71 observed that the friction stir
On the other hand, there are some reports,58,71,83
welded thixomolded AM60 joint displayed similar
indicating that no significant variations in hardness
hardness values across the whole weld. This is possibly
across the joint area of the friction stir welded Mg-alloys
due to the absence of defects in the base plate which is
take place, thus the hardness can be retained after FSW.
thixomolded. Friction stir welding may also result in a
For example, Park et al.58 and Chang et al.83 reported
hardness reduction within the SZ of the cast grades
that the hardness values of the friction stir welded
provided that the plate contain a very small amount of
wrought AZ61 joints were uniform throughout various
defects or no defects and the peak temperature reached
during joining leads to grain coarsening. For instance, zones of the joint (Fig. 10). The homogeneous hardness
Dobriyal et al.74 reported a reduction in hardness in the profile of the friction stir welded AZ61 joint was
stirred zone of the friction stir welded joint of die-cast attributed to the absence of significant differences in
AE42 Mg-alloy, indicating that a loss of strength in the
weld zone occurred. This can be attributed to the fact
that this special die-cast alloy contains less defects than
the more conventional cast grades. They also observed
that the hardness was higher at the bottom than at the
top of the weld, which can be attributed to the
temperature profile and heat dissipation in the weld
nugget as explained earlier.11
Wrought alloys
In contrast to cast Mg-alloys, where a hardness increase
is usually observed within the SZ, a decrease in hardness
in the SZ is observed in the wrought alloys. For instance,
Lee et al.,65 and Cao and Jahazi91 reported a gradual
hardness decrease from the base metal through the HAZ
and the TMAZ and then to the SZ where the lowest
value was reached, for the friction stir welded AZ31B-
H24, which they attributed to the grain coarsening as a 10 Hardness distribution perpendicular to the welding
result of the high heat input during welding (Fig. 9). direction in the wrought AZ61 Mg FSW joint obtained
Satoshi et al.78 also observed a hardness reduction in the at a rotation rate of 1220 rev min21 and a travel speed
stirred zone of the friction stir welded wrought AZ31 of 90 mm min21.83 Note uniform hardness values
Mg-alloy, although the grains were finer in the weld throughout the various zones of the joint which can
zone than in the base metal. This can be attributed to the be attributed to the absence of significant differences
loss of cold-work hardening due to the heating of the in dislocation density throughout the weld

dislocation density throughout the weld.58 Moreover,

the solid-state FSW does not result in solute loss by
evaporation or segregation by solidification, so that
solute elements are homogeneously distributed in the
weld. Therefore, the microstructural factors governing
hardness in Mg-alloy AZ61 would be grain size and
dislocation density. Similar results were also reported
recently for friction stir welded hot-rolled AZ31 plates
by Yang et al.89 They conducted TEM examinations
which revealed that the difference of dislocation density
in the SZs of the welds produced with varying tool
shoulder diameters was negligible. Thus, the welds
produced with different tool shoulder diameters exhib-
ited similar hardness profiles. For all the welds, the
hardness is reduced slightly in the TMAZs, which is
attributed to the crystal orientation, in which the (0002)
plane rotated around the stirring tool, thereby produ- 11 Hardness variation across the NZ of the friction stir
cing the softest region around the TMAZ. welded 6 mm thick hot-forged Mg–Zn–Y–Zr alloy (the
Moreover, there are some reports,64,66 indicating that rotational and the travel speeds being 800 rev min21
the hardness increases in the stirred zone of the friction and 100 mm min21 respectively).68 Note the hardness
stir welded Mg-alloys, provided that the grain refine- increase in the NZ, due to the generation of the fine
ment is achieved in the stirred zone and the alloy is not recrystallised grains and dispersed ternary eutectic
of high strength, i.e. softer grade. For instance, Esparza phases (I-phase and W-phase), and the lowest hard-
et al.66 also observed an increase in hardness of the ness values in the HAZ, due to the coarsening and/or
friction stir welded AZ31 wrought Mg-alloy, due to the dissolution of the MgZn precipitates
refined grain structure in the stirred zone compared to
coarser grained base plate microstructure. Similarly,
different weld parameters employed. This also has an
Wang and Wang76 also reported a hardness increase in
influence on the hardness obtained after FSW.
the stirred zone of the friction stir welded wrought AZ31
As mentioned earlier, the weldability of Mg-alloys
Mg-alloy due to the grain refinement within the weld
significantly depend on their properties, such as their
area. The results indicate that the grains in both the NZ
formability and strengthening mechanism (i.e. precipita-
and TMAZ of the friction stir welded Mg-alloys seem to
tion hardened). It can also be said that when interpreting
be in a recrystallised form, and tend to be finer when the
the hardness data in the literature on FSW of Mg-alloys,
heat input is smaller (for example at higher traverse
these points should be taken into consideration as well
speeds).15 Although the authors of both publications did
as the heat input applied to the alloy during FSW, and
not state the original temper condition of the base its effect on the grain refinement and texture in the weld
plates, it is very likely that they are in a softer condition zone.
than the H24 grade. Similarly, Xie et al.68 recently
reported an increase in hardness in the NZ of the friction Tensile properties of Mg-alloys
stir welded 6 mm thick hot-forged Mg–Zn–Y–Zr alloy Cast alloys
(the rotational and the travel speeds being 800 rev min21
Early studies showed that FSW leads to an improvement
and 100 mm min21 respectively) (Fig. 11). This is due to
in tensile properties of cast Mg-alloys, such as AZ91
the generation of the fine recrystallised grains and
(Table 2).63,64,84 The tensile data given in the table are
dispersed ternary eutectic phases (I-phase and W-phase)
obtained from the transverse tensile specimens which
in the NZ. The original state of the plate before FSW also
were tested in the as-welded condition (i.e. the specimens
plays on the hardness obtained. Thus, the plate not being
were not subsize machined) although the authors did not
cold-worked before FSW apparently contributed to the
give the details of tensile testing in some cases. The
hardness increase in the weld nugget. Moreover, the
increase in tensile properties of friction stir welded cast
lowest hardness values were observed in the HAZ. This is alloys is not surprising because Mg-alloy castings often
attributed to the coarsening and/or dissolution of the have a high defect incidence, i.e. porosity, which close up
MgZn precipitates during FSW thermal cycle. However, in the SZ after FSW. This leads to the failure within the
the decrease in the hardness of the HAZ over that of the base plate in the transverse tensile testing of friction stir
parent material for this Mg–Zn–Y–Zr alloy is not so large welded joints. For instance, Park et al.84 reported that
as that for heat-treatable Al-alloys because soluble MnZn all transverse tensile specimens extracted from the
phase is not the main secondary phase in the alloy. friction stir welded thixomolded AZ91D Mg-alloy joint
These conflicting hardness results can be contributed produced at a rotational speed of 1220 rev min21 and a
to the fact that AZ31 Mg-alloy is available under a travel speed of 90 mm min21 failed in the base metal,
variety of conditions induced by different amount of indicating very good joint quality. However, this is most
cold working. The alloys that are more severely cold- likely due to the presence of defects in the BM.
worked before joining (i.e. H24 condition) tend to soften
in the nugget after FSW as the dislocation density is Wrought alloys
reduced. Thus, the original temper state of Mg-alloys Controversial results have been reported on tensile
plates plays an important role in the hardness variation properties of the friction stir welded wrought Mg-alloys.
across the joint area. Furthermore, as discussed above The reason for this is the temper condition of the plate
there were significant variations in the heat input due to and the original grain size which change the hardness of

the base plate considerably. Furthermore, the texture concluded that crystallographic orientation distribution
formation within the weld zone plays a role in strongly affects tensile properties of friction stir welded
determination of the strength of the weld as well as the AZ61 Mg-alloy.
recrystallised grain size. Thus, the tensile data of the Xie et al.75 also observed a slight reduction in strength
friction stir welded joints should be interpreted carefully. in the friction stir welded wrought ZK60 Mg-alloy, the
A reduction in tensile strength was most often observed joint efficiency being 87%. They also reported that post-
in wrought Mg-alloys, such as AZ31B-H24,65 and weld aging increased the joint efficiency value to 94%. A
AZ61.84 For instance, Lee et al.65 studied the effect of similar joint efficiency was reported for a hot-rolled
weld parameters on the tensile strength of the friction AZ31 Mg-alloy with a thickness of 6?3 mm, i.e. y86%,
stir welded wrought AZ31B-H24 Mg-alloy and reported by Yang et al.89 They also reported that the decreasing
that the hardness of the weld zone was lower than that tool shoulder diameter from 24 to 18 mm also decreased
of the base metal owing to grain growth, thus a the joint efficiency from 86 to 82%, with the failure
reduction in the tensile strength took place after FSW. location shifting from SZ to TMAZ. The elongation was
They also reported that higher welding speeds at also the highest for the joint produced with the largest
constant rotation rates resulted in insufficient heat input tool shoulder diameter. This was attributed to the lack
and thus in weld defects, such as inner void or lack of or presence of texture in the TMAZ as the nearly
bonding in the SZ, leading to lower tensile strengths. random grain orientations were observed in the weld
Similarly, Lim et al.80 studied the FSW of the same alloy produced with 24 mm tool shoulder diameter whereas
with a thickness of 4 mm using rotation rates of 1200– the (0002) texture still existed in the weld obtained with
1400 rev min21 and welding speeds of 100 and 18 mm tool shoulder diameter as discussed earlier. It
200 mm min21 and reported a reduction in the tensile was also reported by other workers88 that the tensile
strength of y40%. The reduction in strength in the strength of friction stir welded joint of Mg–Zn–Al–Ca–
stirred zone can be attributed to the reduction in La alloy was strongly influenced by both the crystal-
dislocation density and the coarse grains formed. They lographic orientation distribution and grain size within
also observed no significant effect of welding conditions the weld nugget.
on the tensile strength within the weld parameter range However, Wang et al.77 recently reported that a joint
they studied. However, Wang and Wang76 observed that efficiency of 98% could be achieved for the friction stir
the tensile strength of the friction stir welded AZ31B- welded wrought MB3 Mg-alloy. Similarly, Wang and
H24 Mg-alloy increased with increasing tool rotational Wang76 demonstrated that the strength can be retained
speed. These results show that the welding conditions after FSW for wrought AZ31 Mg-alloy, although the
have significant effects on the performance of the grain size coarsened slightly in the SZ. They reported
friction stir welded joints in wrought Mg-alloys. Thus, that only a slight reduction in strength took place after
it is possible to produce sound welds with high joint FSW, the joint efficiency being 93%, at a rotation rate of
efficiencies in these alloys with FSW by using optimum 1500 rev min21 and a travel speed of 90 mm min21.
welding conditions. Thus, acceptable joint efficiencies can also be achieved in
Similarly, Lee et al.65 reported a slight reduction in FSW of wrought Mg-alloys, provided that appropriate
tensile properties of the friction stir welded wrought welding conditions are employed. Moreover, Xie et al.68
AZ31B-H24 Mg-alloy with fracture occurring in the recently reported even a higher joint efficiency value, i.e.
HAZ region next to the NZ. Similar results were also 95%, for the friction stir welded 6 mm thick hot-forged
observed by Park et al.58,84,86 for the friction stir welded Mg–Zn–Y–Zr alloy (the rotational and travel speeds
wrought AZ61 Mg-alloy. They also studied the texture being 800 rev min21 and 100 mm min21 respectively).
in friction stir welded AZ61 Mg-alloy and found that the This is not surprising due to the fact that the alloy was
heterogeneous basal plane texture in the fracture region hot-rolled before FSW. Thus, the temper condition of
caused the preferential plastic deformation and even- the plate plays an important role in the tensile properties
tually decreased the tensile properties. Thus, it can be of the joints produced in addition to the process
Table 2 Summary of friction stir welded joint efficiency values for Mg-alloys*
Material Thickness, mm Rm of BM, MPa Rm of FSW, MPa Joint efficiency, % Reference
Cast grades
Cast AZ91D 4.0 … … .100 64
Thixomolded AM60B 0.15 210 192, 195 91–93 71
Wrought grades
AZ31 9.0 284 185–232 65–82 69
Wrought AZ31B-H24 4.0 293 240 82 65
Wrought AZ31B-H24 4.95 304 182–200 60–66 70
AZ31B-H24 2.0 284 210 72 92
Wrought AZ31-H24 4.0 321 185–211 58–66 80
Extruded ZK60 8.0 295 257 87 75
Wrought AZ31 4.0 275 256 93 76
Hot-rolled AZ31 6.3 250 203–216 82–86 89
Wrought AZ61 6.3 298 280 94 58
Wrought MB3 3.0 245 178–240 73–98 77
Hot-forged Mg–Zn-Y–Zr 6.0 275 261 95 68
Wrought Mg–Zn–Al–Ca–La … 367 335 91 88
*Results of transverse tensile tests (the tensile direction perpendicular to the welding direction). Rm, tensile strength.

comparable tensile properties to those of the BM,

particularly in the cast grades. However, some reduction
in strength occurs in FSW of wrought Mg-alloys, which
are normally cold-worked. This decrease in strength of
the friction stir welded joints can be attributed to the
loss of work hardening as a result of heating during
welding as it is the case in cold-worked non-heat
treatable Al-alloy weldments. This shortcoming can
partly be overcome by optimising the weld conditions so
that the peak temperature is not so high during welding.
Moreover, the loss of strength in the NZ of the friction
stir welded Mg-alloys is lower than that occurs in fusion
welding where the heat input applied to the material is
significantly higher. Furthermore, comparable tensile
properties to those of the base plates can be obtained in
FSW of hot-forged Mg-alloys.
These contradictory results reported on the grain size,
hardness and tensile strength of the friction stir welded
Mg-alloys, particularly for wrought grades, are not
12 Comparison between longitudinal residual stresses surprising since Mg-alloys exhibit very different weld-
sxx measured using contour method and neutron dif- ability depending on its type (i.e. cast or wrought, the
fraction in friction stir processed AZ31B Mg–alloy: dif- cast grades often contain high amount of porosity), its
fraction data include SPF (pyramidal peak) and hardening mechanism (whether it is precipitation
Rietveld results87 hardened or not) and its formability. Moreover, the
weld parameters (i.e. the peak temperature reached
parameters used and the texture patterns. The tensile during welding which affects the grain size, dislocation
performance of cold-worked Mg-alloys friction stir density and texture) as well as the composition and
welded joints are usually lower than those obtained for thermomechanical history of the alloy before joining
the hot-rolled ones. Table 2 summarises the joint play an important role in the microstructure and thus in
efficiency values obtained for the friction stir welded the joint performance. Thus, the tensile data of the
Mg-alloys. friction stir welded Mg-alloys joints should be inter-
The frictional heating and severe plastic deformation preted carefully.
involved in FSW/FSP can also induce significant Although the studies reported in the literature so far
residual stresses. However, there are very few reports indicate that sound joints with reasonable properties can
on residual stresses of friction stir welded Mg-alloys. For be produced in many Mg-alloys by FSW, there are
instance, the residual stresses were measured in the currently very limited mechanical data reported in the
friction stir processed Mg-alloy using the neutron literature. Apparently, texture formation in the SZ also
diffraction (both the single peak fitting, SPF and influences the transverse tensile properties of friction stir
Rietveld methods) and the contour methods by Woo welded Mg-alloys in addition to grain size and disloca-
et al.87 The maximum residual stresses were on the order tion density. Thus, further work is needed to thoroughly
of the yield strength of the base plate, i.e. 110 MPa determine the properties of the friction stir welded Mg-
(Fig. 12). An inhomogeneous distribution of residual alloy joints. For instance, the structural integrity related
stresses across the joint area was also observed due to properties of the friction stir welded Mg-alloy joints, i.e.
the presence of a strong texture in the SZ of Mg-alloys. fracture toughness, are needed to be assessed in
The residual stress profiles also showed significant acceptable depth for critical structural applications such
decreases (up to 70 MPa) near the SZ (¡2 mm), as aerospace applications. There is, however, very clear
suggesting that this decrease is related to the severe indication that FSW may become a reliable method for
plastic deformation rather than the frictional heat. The producing joints with acceptable mechanical perfor-
severe plastic deformation caused significant texture mance in these light-weight materials. It is also worth
variation which leads to a sharp decrease in residual pointing out that argon shielding is usually employed in
stress in the SZ due to localised texture-induced FSW of Mg-alloys to avoid oxidation as it is the case in
softening. steels or Ti-alloys.
General remarks on FSW of Mg-alloys
Although Mg-alloys possess very limited cold work-
Friction stir welding of Cu-alloys
ability stemming from its non-symmetrical hexagonal Physical metallurgy of Cu-alloys
crystal structure, their workability increases with Cu has an fcc crystal structure, a very good corrosion
increasing temperature. Thus, no problem is encoun- performance and a high thermal conductivity. But its
tered in FSW of these alloys as the material is readily strength is unacceptably low for load bearing applica-
plasticised at the temperatures obtained during joining. tions. However, pure Cu is mainly used in applications
Standard tools (i.e. cylindrical with threads) made of where high corrosion resistance and electrical conduc-
tool steels (e.g. H13) similar to those employed in tivity is required. Its strength can be increased by
friction stir joining of Al-alloys can also be used for alloying. Most commercial Cu-alloys are solid solution
FSW Mg-alloys. hardened (single-phase alloys). Cu-alloys exhibit no
Friction stir welding studies reported in the literature allotropic or crystallograpic changes in heating and
up to date indicate that FSW yields joints with cooling, but several have limited solubility with two

phases stable at room temperature, i.e. azb-brass. Two- (i) insufficient penetration due to the high
phase Cu-alloys harden rapidly during cold working, conductivity
but they usually have better hot working and welding (ii) high distortion
characteristics than those of solid solutions of the same (iii) change of colour due to oxidation
system, particularly than those with a higher alloy (iv) loss of strength in fusion zone (FZ) due to the
content.53 Only pure Cu and two Cu-alloys, namely Cu– evaporation of Zn, particularly in high Zn-
Zn alloys, i.e. brass, and Ni–Al–bronze (NAB) alloys, content alloys
will be considered in this study. (v) loss of strength at the weld surface due to the
The most known Cu-alloy is brass, which is a Cu–Zn formation of ZnO
alloy. The alloying with Zn increases the strength of Cu by (vi) formation of weld surface irregularities.
solid solution strengthening. Zn has a high solubility in the High power density welding processes, such as laser or
a phase, formed by Cu atoms, up to 36 at-%. Thus, the electron beam welding, can be employed to avoid some
microstructure of alloys containing up to 36%Zn consists of these problems, such as distortion and insufficient
of a single phase a and known as a-brass, while the penetration. However, the loss of strength in the FZ due
microstructure of alloys with more than 36%Zn comprises to the evaporation of Zn cannot be overcome. On the
azb phases. Brass offers very useful properties, such as other hand, almost all of these problems are not
high strength, conductivity, formability, wear resistance expected to be experienced in FSW.50 However, the
and corrosion performance. The best combination of higher heat input requirement for FSW of Cu means
ductility and strength is obtained by 30 at-%Zn and, that the FSW must be conducted at lower welding
therefore, Cu–30%Zn alloys (i.e. 70 : 30 brass) possesses speeds and/or higher rotational speeds. This is particu-
excellent deep drawability. As mentioned above, azb larly valid for pure Cu and not for Cu-alloys, which have
brass exhibits better weldability than single-phase a-brass lower heat conductivity than pure Cu.
and, moreover, the weldability of single-phase a-brass Weld microstructure and hardness of Cu-alloys
diminishes as the Zn content of the a-brass increases.50,53
Although the heat input required for FSW of Cu-alloys
Ni–Al–bronze alloys are important naval alloys which is much higher than those required for other materials
are used extensively in propulsion and sea water because of the higher dissipation of heat through the
handling systems. These alloys are usually cast and workpiece, particularly for pure Cu,15 this is not
have very complex metallurgy. They typically contain 9– expected to hinder FSW of these alloys. This short-
12%Al with additions of up to 6% each of Fe and Ni. coming can be overcome by conducting the FSW at
The addition of Ni and Fe into binary Cu–Al alloys lower welding speeds and/or higher rotation rates. For
extends the terminal fcc a-phase field and suppresses the example, copper nuclear waste canisters with a thickness
formation of c-phase that occurs in the Cu–Al alloys, of 50 mm have successfully been joined by FSW.93–98
Al4Cu9, which is deleterious to the corrosion resistance Recently, several attempts have been made to join
of the alloys due to the high Al content.53 The cast NAB pure Cu and Cu-alloys (brass and cast NAB) by FSW/
is mainly composed of coarse Widmanstätten a phase, FSP.49–52,93–118 It is well demonstrated that the tool
Ni–Fe–Al k phases and island martensite b9 phase. The material and geometry exert a significant role in the
transformation phases and their precipitation sequence feasibility of FSW of thick copper plates.94,95 A stirring
are complex.53 The bcc b phase is formed during tool made of regular tool steel (i.e. H13) normally used
solidification in this alloy. b phase transforms to the for FSW Al-alloys cannot be used in FSW of Cu-alloys
fcc primary a phase with a Widmanstätten morphology due to the fact that the filling of finely machined threads
beginning at y1030uC. At 930uC, nucleation of globular with Cu and the softening of the tool steel above 540uC,
kii, which is nominally Fe3Al with a DO3 structure, which can only be used for pure Cu up to a thickness of
starts in the b phase. When the temperature reaches 3 mm.11 So, a tool made of high temperature resistant
860uC, fine kiv precipitates, which are also nominally alloys, such as hot-work tool steel, is required for FSW
Fe3Al, begin to form in the a phase. The remaining b thin Cu-alloys. For thicker pure Cu or Cu-alloys, special
decomposes by the eutectoid reaction bRazkiii at tools made of even higher temperature resistant alloys,
y800uC, resulting in the formation of a lamellar are needed.11,95 For instance, Cederqvist and Andrews95
constituent. The kiii is nominally NiAl with a B2 studied FSW of 50 mm thick pure Cu plates and the
structure. Proeutectoid kiii may exhibit a globular effect of tool material and shape on the weldability of
morphology, or may form by epitaxy on the globular thick Cu plates. They evaluated several high temperature
kii. When the cooling rates are increased to y1 K s21, resistant tool materials such as cemented carbides
or greater, the rapid cooling suppresses the eutectoid (consisting of W-carbide particles in Co-matrix), cubic
reaction. And therefore, the Widmanstätten morphol- boron nitride, Mo-based alloys, W-based alloys and
ogy of the a phase as well as bainitic and martensitic several superalloys produced in various forms, i.e. cast
products of b phase decomposition may become (MAR-M-002 and Satellite 12), produced via powder
apparent.53 metallurgy (IN100 and PM3030), and wrought
Although Cu-alloys can be welded with conventional (Nimonic 90, Inconel 718, Waspalloy and Nimonic
fusion welding processes, i.e. arc welding, they require a 105). They reported that all tools made of these
fast heat delivery due to their high heat conductivity, materials exhibited endurance problem except the
which is 10–100 times higher than that of steels and Ni- wrought alloy Nimonic 105 indicating that it is the
alloys.11,15,53 Therefore, the heat input required for most suitable for FSW thick Cu plates. Increased wear
joining these alloys is much higher, causing quite low resistance has also been achieved using a proprietary
welding speeds. Furthermore, several other difficulties carbonitriding process. They also proposed that the
are encountered in fusion welding of Cu-alloys with probe shape is an important variant for FSW thicker Cu
conventional joining processes,50 which are: plates and the most suitable probe shape is reported to

be the MX Triflute, which is considered to be break-

through in welding thick Cu plates.95 They also
investigated the effect of tool shoulder design and
material on FSW of thick Cu plates and reported that
the most suitable material for tool shoulder was sintered
W-alloy Densimet with a plain concave contact face.
Similarly, Savolainen et al.99 investigated double-
sided friction stir butt-welding of oxygen-free pure Cu
13 Typical macrograph in cross-section of friction stir
and two Cu-alloys (i.e. Al–bronze and Cu–Ni) with a
welded 3 mm thick pure Cu joint (tool rotation rate:
thickness of 10–11 mm using tools made of various
800 rev min21; welding speed: 100 mm min21)105
materials such as H13-type tool steel, Ni-based super-
alloys, sintered TiC/Ni/W (2 : 1 : 1), hipped TiC/Ni/Mo
(3 : 2 : 1), pure tungsten and pcBN. They reported that rotational speed of 500 rev min21 or with a decrease in
tools made of Ni-based superalloys are suitable for only tool rotational speed from 500 to 250 rev min21.
10–11 mm thick pure Cu and Cu-alloy, i.e. aluminium Similarly, Çam et al.50 observed a tunnel-like void in
bronze (Cu–Al–5Zn–5Sn) and not for Cu–Ni alloy the friction stir welded work-hardened 3 mm thick
(CuNi25) in double-sided butt-welding. They also 70 : 30 brass plate joined at a rotational speed of
pointed out that pcBN tools can be used in welding 1600 rev min21 and a feedrate of 260 mm min21. They
Cu–Ni alloys. However, tools made of this ceramic are detected no void formation when the traverse speed was
very brittle and should be used with special arrange- decreased, i.e. 210 or 160 mm min21.
ments. They also pointed out that the oxygen content of Cederqvist and Andrews95 first studied FSW of 50 mm
pure Cu increases during FSW, which may lead to thick pure Cu plates and demonstrated that FSW can
hydrogen sickness, and machining of the joint surfaces successfully be employed for joining these plates with a
before welding, as well as the use of shielding gas, may variety of process parameters (i.e. rotation rate: 300–
prove to be beneficial in preventing hydrogen sickness. 500 rev min21; weld speed: 60–100 mm min21), pro-
More recently, tools with convex scroll shoulders made vided that the MX Triflute tools made of Nimonic 105
of Ni-based superalloys (i.e. Nimonic 105) have, are used. Similarly, Savolainen et al.99 successfully dem-
however, been proven to be most suitable for FSW of onstrated pure Cu and two Cu-alloys (i.e. Al–bronze and
thicker Cu-alloy sections.98 There is evidently a potential Cu–Ni) with a thickness of 10–11 mm thick can be
for the convex scroll shoulder to be used in applications double-sided friction stir butt-welded. They also reported
with other materials and thicknesses. Table 3 sum- that dynamic recrystallisation took place in the SZ in
marises the tool materials and geometries used for both pure Cu and Cu-alloys in various amounts, the
FSW Cu and Cu-alloys. volume percentage of recrystallised regions in NZ being
Welding conditions have a considerable influence on much higher in the cold-worked condition than hot-
the joint performance of friction stir welded Cu-alloys. worked condition.
For example, while Park et al.49 obtained sound friction Friction stir welding in Cu-alloys have all the typical
stir welded joints of work-hardened 60 : 40 brass with a zones existing in FSW joints of other materials, namely
relatively wide range of weld parameters, they observed the NZ, TMAZ and HAZ (Fig. 13).106 However, the
some weld defects in some cases. They also reported that HAZ region is not very distinct in FSW Cu-alloys,49,51
the frequency of generation of groove-type voids due to the fact that the recrystallisation occurs rela-
increased with increasing traverse speed at a constant tively easily in these alloys, particularly in pure Cu and
Table 3 Summary of tool materials and geometries used for FSW Cu and Cu-alloys
Thickness,
Material (Cu/Zn) mm Tool material Pin geometry Reference
Pure Cu
Pure Cu 2.0 Hardened steel Standard1 102
Pure Cu 5.0 … Standard1 103
Pure Cu 10.0 Ni-based superalloy MX Triflute 99
Pure Cu 50.0 Ni-based superalloy (Nimonic 105) MX Triflute (convex scroll shoulder) 98, 107
(shoulder: sintered W-alloy Densimet)
NAB (as-cast)
UNSC95800* 10.0 Ni-based superalloy conical threaded 117
(Cu–9Al–4.5Ni–4Fe) (with a concave shoulder)
Brass
90 : 10 3.0 Hot-work steel{ Slightly conical with threads 50
70 : 30 3.0 Hot-work steel{ Standard1 100
60 : 40 2.0 … … 49
*Friction stir processed plates.
{X32CrMo3-3.
{X32CrMoV12-28.
1Cylindrical threaded tool.

15 Hardness profile of the friction stir welded pure Cu

joint produced using a relatively lower rotational
speed, i.e. 1000 rev min21, and a traverse speed of
30 mm min21.102 Note that the hardness is higher in
the SZ than in the base plate due to the presence of
extremely fine grain size and the minimum hardness
just outside the FSW zone as a result of annealing
effects
14 Hardness variation across the friction stir welded
4 mm thick pure Cu joint produced at a rotational cold-worked) of the BM and the heat input applied to
speed of 1250 rev min21 and a traverse speed of the workpiece during welding.
y60 mm min21.52 Note that the hardness is slightly Several workers reported that grain refinement in the
lower in the SZ than the base plate due to the reduc- NZ also occurs in FSW Cu-alloys.49–52 For instance, Lee
tion in dislocation density and the minimum hardness and Jung52 conducted FSW on pure Cu plates with a
just outside the FSW zone as a result of complex thickness of 4 mm at a rotational speed of 1250 rev min21
annealing effects and a traverse speed of y60 mm min21 and reported
the evolution of fine equaxied grains within the SZ (the
single-phase alloys, and so the nugget region extends grain size being 100 mm), compared to the elongated
across almost the entire TMAZ. Thus, the boundaries coarse grained structure of the base metal with high
between the HAZ and TMAZ can be difficult to deformation twins, grain size being y210 mm. They
determine. also reported that even though the grain size decreased
The complete dynamic recrystallisation was generally from 210 to 100 mm, the hardness decreased slightly in
observed in the SZs of friction stir welded single phase the SZ (Fig. 14). This result means that the hardness
and quasi-single phase pure Cu and Cu-alloys, producing distribution near weld zone was independent with grain
fine and uniform equiaxed grains.103 However, this might size considering Hall–Petch relation. Therefore, other
not be the case for dual- or multiple-phase Cu-alloys. The factors may govern the mechanical properties of weld
existence of multiple-phases in these materials would zone such as second phase and dislocation density.
complicate the plastic flow and recrystallisation process They attributed the hardness decrease to the reduction
during FSW. Recently, Xie et al.109 reported that the in dislocation density in the SZ relative to the BM. This
incomplete dynamic recrystallisation was observed in the indicates that the loss of cold-work hardening due to
SZ of 5 mm thick FSW dual-phase brass (Cu–38Zn the disappearance of deformation twins is more
alloy) plates. Similarly, Çam et al.50,51,103 observed that pronounced than the grain size effect on determining
complete recrystallisation takes place in FSW of single the hardness of the SZ of pure Cu. Nandan et al.15
phase Cu–10Zn brass whereas incomplete recrystallisa- stated that a similar decrease in dislocation density in
tion is present in Cu–37Zn dual-phase alloy. the SZ compared to the BM has also been observed for
Grain sizes in the nugget can exceed the parent grain Al-alloys, i.e. Al7075,5 and Al6061.31 Moreover, the
size if the heat flow is not managed correctly, even weld of the Cu exhibited the minimum hardness just
though the weld may still be sound. For instance, outside the FSW zone as a result of complex annealing
Okamoto et al.101 observed coarsened grains within the effects in this region (i.e. HAZ).
SZ of pure Cu, which can be attributed to the relatively Similarly, Sakthivel and Mukhopadhyay102 reported
high heat input used in FSW (i.e. 1300 rev min21, that the grain size in the base metal (i.e. 30 mm)
170 mm min21). Several other workers also reported decreased down to y11 mm in the SZ when they joined
that coarse recrystallised grains are formed within the a 2 mm thick pure Cu plate using a relatively lower
NZ if the heat input is not sufficiently low.52,101 How- rotational speed, i.e. 1000 rev min21, and a traverse
ever, it is possible to reduce the size of the recrystallised speed of 30 mm min21. In contrast to the results of Lee
grains by decreasing the heat input.96,103 It is worth and Jung,52 they also observed that the weld nugget was
pointing out that although recrystallisation refines harder than the base metal (Fig. 15). The minimum
grains during plastic deformation it also gives rise to hardness was, however, observed to be just outside the
rapid grain growth when the deformation has ceased. FSW zone as a result of annealing effects in the HAZ as
Thus, the NZs of FSW Cu-alloys exhibit coarse or fine reported by.52 Similarly, Flores et al.8 also observed that
equiaxed recrystallised grains and its hardness being the weld nugget of as-cast Al-alloy 7073 was harder than
higher or lower than that of the BM depending on the that of the BM, while the hardness was reduced in the
original grain size or the condition (i.e. annealed or SZ of a 50% cold-rolled alloy, indicating that the

a BM; b 300 rev min21; c 600 rev min21; d 800 rev min21
16 Microstructures of pure Cu BM and friction stir welds produced at different rotation rates with constant welding
speed of 100 mm min21:105 Note increase in grain size with increasing rotation rate at constant welding speed
dislocation density in the material before joining is an rings were formed within the SZ unless higher rotational
important parameter determining the joint quality as speeds and lower traverse speeds, i.e. higher heat inputs,
already mentioned above. were used as it is the case in Al-alloys (see the section on
On the other hand, Xie et al.103 recently reported that ‘Friction stir welding beyond Al-alloys’). Variations of
a grain refinement down to 3?5 mm in the SZ of work- both microhardness and yield strength of the NZs with
hardened pure Cu also increased hardness in this region. grain size were also reported to be in agreement with the
They also reported that the grain size in the SZ Hall–Petch relationship only for fine-grained Cu. Similar
decreased from 12 to 3?5 mm as the welding speed was observations were made by Liu et al.105 that the
changed from 800 to 400 rev min21 at a constant increasing tool rotational speed beyond 400 rev min21
welding speed of 50 mm min21, apparently resulting in at a constant welding speed of 100 mm min21 resulted in
a lower heat input. They also observed that the onion a grain coarsening within the SZ of pure Cu (Fig. 16). The
tensile strength of the pure Cu joint was comparable to
that of the base metal for this set of weld parameters.
There are also some reports indicating that the grain
refinement takes place in the SZ of the friction stir
welded Cu-alloys.49–51,104 For instance, Park et al.49
observed that the microstructures of the welds yielded
extremely fine grains in the SZ of the friction stir welded
work-hardened 60 : 40 brass with some deformed grains
in the SZ and elongated grains in the TMAZ. This
indicates that incomplete dynamic recrystallisation took
place due to the more complicated plastic flow and
recrystallisation process in this dual-phase Cu-alloy.
They also reported that a and b grain sizes varied in the
range of 0?8–1?5 mm and 0?7–1?4 mm respectively,
depending on the welding conditions while the grain
17 Hardness profiles in cross-sections of the brass sizes of these phases in the BM were 22?5 and 6?7 mm
(60 : 40) joints produced at different welding speeds respectively. The hardness values within the SZ
with the rotation speed 1000 rev min21.49 Note that including all the welding conditions were reported to
the hardness values within the SZ including all the be much higher than those of the base metal (Fig. 17).
welding conditions were reported to be much higher This was attributed to the generation of extremely fine
than those of the base metal due the evolution of grains in the SZ. Similarly, Çam et al.50,51,103 also
extremely fine grains in the NZ observed grain refinement in the SZ of the friction stir

18 Microstructure of friction stir welds in 3 mm thick Cu–30Zn and Cu–37Zn alloys (i.e. 73 : 30 and 63 : 37 brass):
a macrograph showing the cross-section of the joint, and microstructures of b BM and c SZ of 70 : 30 brass joint,
and microstructures of the SZs of the 63 : 37 brass joints produced at a rotational rate of 1250 rev min21 with different
traverse speeds: d 100 mm min21, e 125 mm min21 and f 150 mm min21. Note grain refinement in the SZ after FSW
and reduction of grain size with increasing travel speed at a constant rotation rate50,51,104
welded cold-worked brass with different Zn contents, variety of conditions induced by different amount of
i.e. 90 : 10, 70 : 30 and 63 : 37 brass (Fig. 18). However, cold working. The alloys that are more severely cold-
they reported a hardness decrease in the NZ, the lowest worked before joining tend to soften in the nugget after
hardness value lying in the HAZ region, which can be FSW as the dislocation density is reduced unless the
attributed to the loss of cold-work hardening as a result peak temperature is very low. Thus, the original temper
of annealing effect as it is the case for pure Cu. Xie state of Cu-alloy plates plays an important role in the
et al.108 also studied the effect of rotation rate (i.e. 400– hardness variation across the joint area. Furthermore, as
1000 rev min21) on the microstructural evolution within discussed above there were significant variations in the
the NZ of a 5 mm thick brass plate at a constant welding heat input due to differing weld parameters employed.
speed of 100 mm min21. They reported that the NZ This also has an influence on the hardness obtained after
consisted of the incompletely and completely recrystal- FSW as it is the case in Mg-alloys.
lised regions. With increasing rotation rates, the fraction More recently, a number of studies were conducted to
of the non-recrystallised grains decreased and the size of understand the microstructure evolution of the cast NAB
the recrystallised grains increased. The hardness values in during FSP.110–117 For instance, Oh-ishi et al.110–114
the NZs were higher than those in the parent material. studied the microstructures of the friction stir processed
However, the hardness data were not correlated to the NAB (Cu–9Al–5Ni–4Fe–1Mn; UNS C95800), in detail.
Hall–Petch equation. Considering incomplete dynamic It was shown that the main characteristic of the NZ of the
recrystallisation in this dual-phase Cu-alloys, it can be friction stir processed NAB was inhomogeneous micro-
said that the hardness cannot be explained by the grain structures, including Widmanstätten structure, equiaxed
size alone. Thus, the amount of dislocation density and fine grain structure, and banded or lamellar structure,
deformation twins also play an important role in implying incomplete dynamic recrystallisation as it is the
determining the hardness and strength values obtained case in other dual-phase Cu-alloys.51,103 Although the
in the weld nugget as well as the initial state of the alloy predominant refinement effect is the dynamic recrystalli-
and the peak temperature reached during FSW. sation due to severe deformation resulting from the FSP
These conflicting hardness results can be contributed in these multiple phase alloys as well, the material self-
to the fact that pure Cu and Cu-alloys are available in a characteristics should be considered for explaining the

inhomogeneous structure of the onion ring observed in high heat input applied to the material during welding as
the NZ. For the banded structure, substructure and discussed earlier. The initial state of the plate also plays
annealing twins were apparently visible within the a an important role in the joint efficiency as well as the
grains, indicating that the recovery and recrystallisation heat input during welding. For instance, Savolainen
occurred simultaneously with phase transformations et al.99 reported that a joint efficiency of only 73% was
during FSP. Furthermore, Oh-ishi et al.113 reported that achieved for double-sided friction stir welded cold-
many low-angle boundaries were observed in the upper worked pure Cu whereas tensile strengths comparable to
region of the NZ, implying that part of the a phase was those of the base plates could be achieved in double-
retained without dynamic recrystallisation during FSP. sided FSW of hot-worked pure Cu and Al–bronze plates
They also reported that the processing parameters (i.e. a joint efficiency of above 100%). Although they
affected the microstructure and temperature distribu- employed a higher rotation rate in FSW of cold-worked
tion in the friction stir processed NAB apparently. pure Cu plates (i.e. 1400 rev min21) than those used for
Mahoney et al.115 and Fuller et al.116 also studied the hot-worked materials (i.e. 350–1125 rev min21), it is
microstructure of friction stir processed NAB. The obvious that the initial state of the plates also played a
microstructure they reported was similar to those role in the strength achieved in the NZ.
reported by Oh-ishi et al.110–114 Similarly, a more recent Friction stir welded pure Cu plates exhibit tensile
study conducted by Ni et al.117 has also demonstrated strength comparable to that of the BM or even higher if
that the microstructure of the friction stir processed as- FSW is conducted under low heat input conditions.
cast NAB was greatly refined and inhomogeneous in the Furthermore, the strength of the friction stir welded
NZ, indicating incomplete dynamic recrystallisation. It pure Cu increased with decreasing tool shoulder
consisted of fine Widmanstätten primary a phase in the diameter which lowers the heat input.96 Moreover, Xie
surface layer, banded primary a and b9 phases in the et al.103 recently reported that the friction stir welded
subsurface layer, equiaxed a and b9 phases with a size of work-hardened pure Cu displayed higher tensile strength
less than 10 mm in the centre, and stream-like a and b9 than that of the base metal when welded under relatively
phases at the root. low heat input conditions, i.e. at rotational speeds of
400–800 rev min21 and a weld speed of 50 mm min21.
Tensile properties of Cu-alloys Furthermore, Cederqvist et al.98,107 also reported that a
Table 4 summarises the mechanical properties of the tensile performance of y99% was achieved in friction
friction stir welded pure Cu and Cu-alloys found in the stir welded 50 mm thick pure Cu plates.
literature. Early reports indicated that tensile perfor- Similarly, Park et al.49 indicated an increase in tensile
mance values lower than 87% could be achieved in strength of the welds compared to the BM for the
friction stir welded pure Cu plates.52,93–96,99,102 The friction stir welded 60 : 40 brass. They also reported that
reason for this low joint performance values is the coarse an increase in welding speed caused an increase in the
recrystallised grains formed within the NZ due to the strength of the weld, but a reduction in its ductility. Xie
Table 4 Summary of friction stir welded joint efficiency values for Cu-alloys*
Welding condition
(rotation rate/traverse
Thickness, speed), rev min21/ Rm of BM, Rm of FSW, Joint efficiency,
Material (Cu/Zn) mm mm min21 MPa MPa % Reference
Pure Cu (cold-worked unless otherwise stated)

Pure Cu 4.0 1250/61 256 223 87 52
Pure Cu 2.0 1000/30 273 231 85 102
Pure Cu 3.0 400/100 … 282 y100 105
Pure Cu 5.0 400–800/50 236 236–240 100–102 103
Pure Cu{ 10.0 1400/600 298 217 73 99
Pure Cu{ (hot-worked) 10.0 1000–1125/200–400 208 215–230 103–111 99
Pure Cu1 50.0 300–500/60–100 … … 99 95, 107
Al–bronze (hot-worked)
Cu–Al–5Zn–5Sn 10.0 350–500/70–100 433 439–443 101–102 99
NAB (as-cast)"
UNSC95800 (Cu–9Al–4.5Ni–4Fe) 10.0 800–2000/50, 645 775–852 120–132 117
100, 200
Brass (cold-worked)
90 : 10 3.0 1600/160–260 249 233–252 94–101 50
70 : 30 3.0 1600/160–260 341 329–400 96–117 50
70 : 30 3.0 1250/125, 150 341 342, 367 100, 108 104
70 : 30 3.0 2050/20–140 360 270–340 75–94 100
70 : 30 5.0 400–1000/100 … … 99 108
63 : 37 3.0 1250/100–150 376 333–393 88–105 51
63 : 37 3.0 1600/175–225 376 383–402 102–107 51
60 : 40 2.0 1000/500–2000 381 375–390 98–102 49
*Transverse tensile test results. Rm, tensile strength.
{Cold-worked electrolytically refined oxygen-free copper.
{Hot-worked phosphorus-deoxidised copper with high residual phosphorus,
1The parameters set for a tool temperature of 850uC are used.
"The results obtained from all weld nugget microtensile specimens extracted from friction stir processed materials.

et al.108 also reported comparable tensile strength for may exceed the annealing softening effect provided that
friction stir welded 5 mm thick brass plate joints the recrystallised grains are sufficiently fine. Thus, the
produced at a constant traverse speed of 100 mm min21 tensile properties of the welds of pure Cu or brass should
with varying rotation rates (400–1000 rev min21), i.e. be treated by taking these issues into account.
99%. Similarly, Çam et al.50,51 produced friction stir
General remarks on FSW of Cu-alloys
welded joints on two a-brass, i.e. 90 : 10 and 70 : 30, and
an azb brass, i.e. 63 : 37, all being 3 mm thick, and also A stirring tool made of regular tool steel normally used
obtained transverse tensile strengths comparable to for FSW Al-alloys cannot be used in FSW of Cu-alloys,
those of BMs which were not heavily cold-worked particularly for those with a thickness higher than
before welding (Table 4). They also observed that sound 3 mm, due to the fact that the filling of finely machined
joints can be produced in a-brass with a lower Zn threads with Cu and the softening of the tool steel above
content and in azb brass with a wider range of weld 540uC. Therefore, a tool made of high temperature
resistant alloys, such as hot-work tool steels, is required
conditions than in a-brass with a higher Zn content, i.e.
for FSW thin Cu-alloys. For thicker pure Cu or Cu-
30%Zn, for a given tool geometry. This is not surprising
alloys, special tools made of even higher temperature
since the increasing Zn content in brass increases the
resistant alloys, such as sintered tungsten-based alloys or
strength, but diminishes the weldability.53
tools with convex scroll shoulders made of Ni-based
Ni et al.117 recently demonstrated that FSP signifi-
superalloys (i.e. Nimonic 105), are needed.
cantly improves tensile strength and ductility of as-cast
Studies of FSW reported in the literature up to date
NAB alloy, which is widely used in naval applications
concentrated only on the microstructural aspects and the
(Table 4). This is not surprising due to the fact that FSP
tensile properties of the joints obtained. These studies
effectively eliminates the porosities and refines the
have well demonstrated that the complete dynamic
microstructure in the cast NAB alloys, as it is the case
recrystallisation was generally observed in the SZs of
in the cast Mg-alloys grades. However, the microstruc-
friction stir welded single-phase and quasi-single-phase
ture is heterogeneous in the NZ. Moreover, the pure Cu and Cu-alloys, in which recrystallisation readily
microstructure, and thus mechanical properties takes place, producing fine and uniform equiaxed grains.
obtained, depend on process parameters (i.e. rotation However, this might not be the case for dual- or
rate and traverse speed). Ni et al.117 also investigated the multiple-phase Cu-alloys. The existence of multiple-
directionality of mechanical properties of the NZ by phases in these materials may hinder the plastic flow and
extracting microsized tensile specimens both in long- recrystallisation process during FSW leading to incom-
itudinal and transverse directions. Both strength and plete recrystallisation. Moreover, FSW produces joints
ductility values in the longitudinal direction were slightly with tensile properties higher than or comparable to
lower than those in transverse direction. Although there those of the BM, in pure Cu, Cu–Zn alloys (i.e. brass),
is no report in the literature on FSW of these alloys it is and particularly in cast NAB alloys, by employing
expected that FSW will produce joints with mechanical adequate welding conditions. As seen from Table 4, the
properties higher than or comparable to those of the joint efficiencies higher than 100% have been achieved
base plate in these cast alloys. More recently, Ni et al.118 for pure Cu, 90 : 10, 70 : 30, 63 : 37, and 60 : 40 brass.
also demonstrated that FSP improved the corrosion Moreover, significantly higher transverse tensile proper-
resistance of the as-cast NAB alloy. This is an area ties than the base plate can easily be achieved for cast
where there is certainly a need for further research to NAB alloys due to the fact that FSW effectively closes
establish the correlation between FSW parameters, up the porosities and refines the microstructure in these
microstructure and mechanical and corrosion properties cast alloys as it is the case in the cast Mg-alloys.
of the cast NAB alloys. Early results indicate that the FSW process can
Some variations in the grain sizes of the SZs and the successfully be used for achieving high quality sound
tensile performance of the friction stir welded pure Cu joints even in the single-phase a-brass with higher Zn
and Cu-alloys joints were reported in the literature as contents, which are hard-to-fusion welds, i.e. 70 : 30
discussed above. The heat input plays an important role brass. Although the work hardening in brass diminishes
in the determination of grain size within the SZ as well during FSW due to the heat applied to the workpiece,
as the prior thermomechanical state of the material, thus the formation of refined grains in the NZ recovers this
the microstructural aspects, such as the dislocation strength loss fully, leading to a higher joint strength than
density and mechanical twinning. For instance, grain that of the BM. This is apparently the reason why
sizes in the NZ can exceed the parent grain size if the strength overmatching is achieved in FSW of several Cu-
peak temperatures experienced within the NZ is alloys. In conclusion, Cu-alloys joints with higher
sufficiently high and the heat flow is not managed mechanical performance than those of the respective
properly even though the weld may still be sound. BMs can readily be achieved by this solid-state
Moreover, even though a grain refinement within the technique. This can be achieved using tools with a
NZ of a cold-worked pure Cu or Cu-alloy is achieved larger surface area, i.e. conical tools, or tools with a
the hardness and strength of the weld zone may still be larger shoulder diameter than those employed in FSW
lower than that of the base plate unless the recrystallised of other materials and/or by conducting FSW using
grains are extremely fine due to the loss of cold-work adequate welding parameters, particularly for pure Cu,
hardening, i.e. the reduction in dislocation density or the the heat conductivity of which is very high. Higher
disappearance of deformation twins. In other words, the rotation rates at a constant welding speed usually result
hardness and strength of the NZ may still be lower than in grain coarsening in the SZ, particularly in pure Cu.
those of the base plate although the grain refinement is To date, FSW has found very limited industrial
achieved within the NZ if the annealing softening effect implementation for joining Cu and Cu-alloys. For
is dominant. However, the fine grain strengthening effect instance, it was successfully demonstrated that this

process can be used for joining 50 mm thick Cu canisters Low alloy steels contain alloying elements, such as
containing spent nuclear fuel, although it has not yet nickel, chromium, molybdenum, manganese and silicon,
been implemented.96,97 Furthermore, there are some at varying amounts in addition to carbon, which is kept
industrial implementation of this joining method in heat below 0?25% developed for welded applications. How-
exchangers. However, Cu and its alloys are mostly used ever, there are also many low alloy steels having more
in applications where one or more of conductivity, than 0?25% alloying elements, e.g. many Cr–Mo heat
corrosion resistance, biocidal properties or aesthetic resistant steels. Although alloying elements increase the
appearance is required. Out of these aspects, the strength as well as impart better low temperature
appearance is not a problem in FSW which produces toughness they also adversely affect the crack suscept-
clean surfaces. However, there is a need for detailed ibility. Thus, the weldability of these steels depends on
investigation to fully understand the microstructural their chemical composition. As already mentioned, the
evolution during FSW with respect to the heat input higher the carbon equivalent of the steel is, the farther
experienced and its effect on the other properties rather the nose of the CCT diagram is moved to the right,
than mechanical properties, such as electrical conduc- hence martensite forms even at slower cooling rates.
tivity and corrosion behaviour, although there is a single Thus, the welding of these steels should be performed
recent work indicating that FSP improves corrosion under controlled conditions, i.e. preheat, if it is heavily
resistance of cast NAB alloy. alloyed.53
Fully ferritic stainless steels, which contain minimum
Friction stir welding of steels 12%Cr, can be welded without any difficulty. As the
Physical metallurgy of steels ferrite phase is stable up to the melting point, no
The welding of most types of steels can be readily desirable martensite is formed during the thermal cycles
conducted by various conventional fusion welding associated with welding.53 In this type of steels, the
processes, such as arc welding and its variations, and strengthening mechanisms are the grain refinement and
by solid-state welding techniques, such as conventional the solid solution strengthening. Therefore, the effect of
friction welding.53 The weldability of steels depends on the thermal cycle during welding is small in these steels,
its microstructure, whether it is a fully ferritic, fully and the properties of the HAZ are almost unaffected by
austenitic, pearlitic, martensitic or duplex. In this study, the welding. A slight grain coarsening in this region may
only plain C steels (i.e. C–Mn steels) including high C take place which does not usually alter the properties
steels, ferritic stainless steels, austenitic stainless steels significantly. However, a softening in the HAZ may
and duplex stainless steels will be considered. However, occur if the original microstructure of the workpiece is
the other types of steels are out of the scope of this work ultrafine, due to the coarsening of finer grains to a larger
although some examples are included in the discussion. extent, particularly when the heat input is high.53
In C–Mn steels, the microstructure of which consists On the other hand, fully austenitic steels have good
of a mixture of ferrite and pearlite phases, phase changes weldability and do not undergo allotropic phase
take place as the temperature rises above A1 temperature transformation, namely martensitic transformation, in
and, upon cooling, brittle phases may form depending contrast to C–Mn steels. However, they generally do
on the cooling rate involved resulting in brittleness. undergo an allotropic change at high temperatures to a
Although plain C steels are not quite the same as C–Mn bcc phase (d ferrite). This issue should be taken into
steels, they will also be treated together since their basic account in welding of these steels, including FSW, since
metallurgy is similar. In these steels, increasing C this may have a profound effect on weld microstructure.
content is the most important factor determining the Thus, the thermal cycle should be well controlled during
cooling rate required for the formation of brittle phases, FSW, otherwise d ferrite might form leading to high
i.e. martensite. As the C increases the slower cooling levels of ferrite retention, which is not desirable. Similar
rates result in the formation of brittle phases. The to ferritic steels, the strengthening mechanisms in
weldability diminishes as the C content increases.53 austenitic steels are also the grain refinement and the
Thus, the welding of steels containing higher levels of solid solution strengthening. Therefore, the properties of
carbon often includes the undesirable results of low the HAZ are almost unaffected by the welding.53
ductility and high hardness, which has to be improved Moreover, the duplex stainless steels exhibit difficul-
by relatively expensive pre- and post-weld heat treat- ties in fusion welding. In these steels, a good combina-
ments, which increase the production costs. Another tion of properties is achieved at a ferrite to austenite
problem experienced in fusion welding of these steels is ratio of approximately 1 : 1. However, this desired ratio
the formation of coarse-grained microstructure in the is upset in fusion welding due to the melting and rapid
HAZ which decreases the toughness. Although the solidification involved. Furthermore, the precipitation of
toughness of the FZ can be tailored to the desired level brittle intermetallic phases (i.e. Cr2N) may occur in the
using appropriate filler alloy, the HAZ properties fully FZ. As a result, fusion welding results in reduction of
depend on the thermal cycle associated with the welding corrosion resistance and mechanical properties, such as
process. Therefore, the heat input should be kept as low ductility and toughness.53 Although, as a solid-state
as possible in order to avoid excessive base metal joining technique, FSW is not expected to lead to these
degradation in the HAZ region. Another problem problems as much as fusion welding processes, the
encountered in welding of these steels is the problems precipitation of Cr2N may also take place in the solid-
associated with hydrogen cracking, which is not state which should be taken into consideration in FSW
expected to be a problem in FSW. Most of the fusion of these steels.
welded steel joints are often strength-overmatched and, The welding metallurgy of steels has been well estab-
therefore, the failure usually takes place in the BM, lished and various fusion welding processes were devel-
albeit often close to the HAZ boundary. oped in order to overcome the difficulties encountered

in welding steels for obtaining sound joints. For tool wear is still an issue in FSW of steels. Moreover, it
instance, against gas entrapment shielding is used in was reported that most of the tool wear occurs during
various forms, such as fluxes in submerged arc welding the initial plunge period.11,41 One way of thermal man-
(i.e. slag shielding in which the slag covers the molten agement, thus reducing tool wear during FSW of steels,
metal) or gas shielding in gas tungsten arc welding is the heating of the workpiece or tool.19,29,41,163–166 As
(feeding of an inert gas into the weld area during Thomas et al.40 suggested preheating of workpieces
joining). Another common difficulty in fusion welding of before welding may lead to the increase in tool life and
steels is the hydrogen entrapment in the FZ, which welding speed. Even the local heating of the plunge
results in cracking. The measures to avoid hydrogen region of the workpieces is suggested to minimise the
entrapment are also well established in practice.53 tool wear and the tool travel speed.41 For instance,
Weld microstructure of steels preheating of the 6 mm thick 1018 steel workpiece with
induction heating reduced the thrust load by 30%, the
Joining of steels by FSW has attracted a great interest in side load by 110%, the normal load by 10%, and the tool
last 10 years,40–48,119–167 owing to the fact that the lower
torque by 20%.163 Workpiece surface heating during
heat inputs associated with FSW compared to fusion
FSW for improved tool travel speed has been demon-
welding processes cause less metallurgical changes in the
strated with flame or arc/plasma164,165 and lasers.29
HAZ and this process has potential to join some
Alternatively, the tool may be cooled during the welding
difficult-to-fusion weld steels grades. In addition to
to decrease wear. Thus, steels are commonly friction
these advantages, the problem of hydrogen cracking is
stirred with coolant-cooled tools.19,134,135,139,144 Table 5
not expected to be encountered in FSW due to the
summarises the tool materials and geometries used for
elimination of the normal source of hydrogen in fusion
FSW steels.
welding.11 Early studies40,41 reported that a peak
Although numerous studies were conducted on FSW
temperature between 1000 and 1200uC (i.e. y1100uC)
of steels in last 10 years, it has not progressed as rapidly
was observed in FSW of steels, which is much lower
as for Al-alloys for various important reasons15 in
than that in conventional arc welding.15 Therefore, the
addition to the development of suitable tools. One
part of the HAZ of pearlitic steels which becomes fully
austenitic is expected to be smaller in dimension and the reason of this is that there are various ways in which
size of austenite grains in this region will be finer than steels can be reliably joined. Second, the consequences of
those in arc welding. The latter helps avoid detrimental phase transformations taking place during FSW have
transformations, for instance to untempered martensite not been studied in adequate depth. Last but not the
by not increasing the hardenability of the steel.15 least, the variety of steels commercially available is much
Therefore, FSW has been expected to be an alternative larger than for any other alloy system, tendering
way to join ferrous materials with poor fusion weld- considerable experiments necessary to optimise the weld
ability, i.e. high C steels (or high C equivalent steels), for a set of desired properties.15
owing to the fact that the process is a solid-state welding Early studies have shown that defect-free joints can be
method. However, coarse structures arise in the SZ, obtained in C–Mn steels, such as mild steel and other
particularly when the peak temperatures achieved low to medium carbon ferrous alloys by FSW and grain
during welding is high, which cannot be controlled refinement in the SZ of the carbon steel is achieved.40–43
using oxide metallurgy as in arc welds.146 In addition, These encouraging results have also stimulated the
unreliable tool wear is also a hindrance for application investigations on FSW of high C steels.
of FSW to steels, particularly to high C steels. Early reports on FSW of high C steels show that
The application of FSW to steels and other high joints with higher mechanical properties than the BM
temperature materials had originally been limited due to can be achieved by grain refinement in the friction SZ by
the absence of a suitable tool material, which is required controlling the temperature during FSW in contrast to
to remain intact at temperatures higher than 1000uC. Al-alloys, particularly of high strength grades.48 Micro-
Considerable advances in tools needed for FSW of steels structural evolution during FSW of steels is quite
have been made, mainly through improved materials different from that in Al-alloys. It is supposed that the
selection and tool design, i.e. columnar tool without fine recrystallised grain structure in the SZ of Al-alloys is
threads, tapered tool with three flat surfaces, step spiral formed by continuous dynamic recrystallisation which is
tool with a convex shoulder or truncated tool with convex characterised by a strain-induced progressive rotation of
shoulder.19,42,43,161,162 Tool material development work subgrains with little boundary migration.10,156 On the
has looked primarily at refractory metals (e.g. W– other hand, steels such as type 304 and 304L stainless
Rh),42,161 polycrystalline boron nitride (pcBN),162 and steels have significantly lower stacking fault energy, and
WC-based material (e.g. WC–Co).43 The local stresses higher work hardenability than Al-alloys.134 Stacking
and strains produced during the plunge of the tool are fault energy affects recovery and recrystallisation
sufficient to break a tool, even when mitigation methods phenomena strongly; therefore, it is likely that micro-
are used (pilot hole, slow plunge speed, and preheating of structural evolution of these steels during FSW would be
the workpiece). Low-fracture-toughness tools, i.e. cera- much different from that of Al-alloys. Therefore,
mics such as pcBN, should only be used in friction stir particularly important to FSW of steels is texture
machines that contain low spindle runout (less than evolution as the process induces severe deformation.
0?0051 mm, or 0?0002 inch) to avoid premature tool Since the literature on texture formation during FSW of
fracture.19 steels is very limited at the moment there is clearly a
After the tool wear is minimised through the need for further work on this topic.
development of more heat-resistant tools than the ones Thus, the interest in the trial of this relatively new
initially used, several investigations were conducted on joining process has been expanded from low-to-medium
the applicability of FSW for steels.40–48,119–162 However, melting point non-ferrous alloys to higher melting point

difficult-to-fusion join ferrous alloys. However, there are are significantly affected by the alloy chemistry.11 For
no comprehensive characterisations of friction stir instance, Lienert et al.41 observed grain refinement in the
welded steels to a level of necessary to ensure fitness TMAZ of FSW mild steels. They also reported that the
for purpose.142 There are also difficulties associated with TMAZ should become fully austenitic at some stage of
the ingress of tool material (PcBN, W-based alloys, its thermomechanical history. Nandan et al.15 proposed
e.g. W–25Rh, or Si3N4) into the weld in FSW of that the severe deformation in this zone causes the
steels.144,145,155 For instance, an enrichment of tungsten austenite to recrystallise, perhaps repeatedly, before its
up to 7 wt-% was detected in the NZ of friction stir transformation during subsequent cooling. This can,
welded martensitic stainless steel by energy dispersive therefore, result in a finer microstructure than that in the
spectroscopy analysis.145 The contamination of SZ with HAZ.
some tool material might lead to the formation of Threadgill and Johnson120 also reported that the finest
intermetallic compounds, particularly in high carbon grains were formed at the TMAZ between the HAZ and
containing steels, which are detrimental to toughness. SZ of FSW C–Mn steel with a ferriticzpearlitic
Ohashi et al.155 investigated the effect of contamination microstructure. The TMAZ microstructure consists of
on the microstructure and hardness of friction stir spot fine grains of ferrite and transformed austenite, indicat-
welded DP590 steel using both bare and TiC/TiN coated ing that a transformation of deformed austenite to
Si3N4 tools. They observed contaminations of Si and N ferrite is accelerated and in the meanwhile displacive
in the welds produced with bare tool, causing higher transformations such as Widmanstätten ferrite,168 aci-
hardness. However, the coating of tools prevents the cular ferrite,169 bainite170 and martensite171 is retarded
contamination, thus improves the mechanical proper- by a phenomenon known as mechanical stabilisation.172
ties, i.e. the transverse tensile strength. On the other This is because these transformations are propagated by
hand, the tool wear is considered by some to be the displacement of glissile interfaces which are hindered
beneficial. For example, it might be of interest to by the presence of deformation debris in the parent
develop slowly consumable tools, which allows the austenite.15 On the other hand, the recrystallised
control of the chemistry of the SZ, and thus the austenite grains in the SZ were reported to transform
improvement of weld properties. However, it is too to coarser microstructures such as Widmanstätten ferrite
early to suggest that this deliberate tool wear as an (Fig. 19).120
alloying method is useful approach in FSW as it is still at In FSW of C–Mn steels or other structural steels, the
a research stage. process parameters, thus the peak temperature, play an
important role in microstructural evolution in the weld
C–Mn steels including high C steels region as well as the composition and thermomechanical
The microstructural evolution of pearlitic steels (i.e. C– history of the steel before joining. For instance, Fujii
Mn steels) during FSW is far more complicated than et al.47 studied FSW of C–Mn steels with varying C
that of Al-alloys due to the transformation and contents at different temperatures and reported that
recrystallisation as well as grain growth at the peak finer microstructures were obtained in SZs of these steels
temperatures experienced, i.e. .1000uC. These changes when they were welded in the two-phase (azc) region,
Table 5 Summary of tool materials and geometries used for FSW steels
Material Thickness, mm Tool material Pin geometry Reference
Structural steels
AISI 1012 1.6 WC-based material Columnar without threads 47
AISI 1018 6.4 Mo- and W-based alloys Standard (cylindrical with threads) 41,151
AISI 1035 1.6 WC-based material Columnar without threads 47
DH-36 6.4 W-based alloy Columnar slightly tapered 42
DP590, TRIP 590 … PcBN Tool with a convex scrolled shoulder 147
IF-steel 1.6 WC-based material Columnar without threads 47
High C steels
1070 1.6 WC-based material Columnar without threads 48
CK5 (0.85 wt-%C) 1.6 WC-based material … 148
1 wt-%C 2.3 PcBN Tapered 129
Ferritic stainless steels
12%Cr (1.4003) 12.0 W-based alloy Tapered with three flats 150
Austenitic stainless steels
304 2.5 Cold-work steel{ coated with TiN Conical with threads 137
304 2.0 PcBN Cylindrical{ 140
304 6.0 PcBN Columnar without threads 131, 132
304L 3.2 W-based alloy … 133
304L 6.4 PcBN Tapered with three flat surfaces 134
304L 15.0 PcBN Truncated (a convex shoulder1) 143
NSSC 270* 6.0 PcBN Step spiral tool with a convex shoulder 144
Duplex stainless steels
SAF 2507 4.0 PcBN Columnar without threads 135
SAF 2205 2.0 WC-based material Columnar without threads 139
*Superaustenitic steel (please note that W-based alloy is W–25Rh and WC-based material is WC–Co).
{X155CrVMo12-1.
{No information on pin surface details.
1Shoulder surface with spiral pattern

a ferriticzpearlitic microstructure of BM; b pearlite dissolution in HAZ region; c fine grained region near SZ; d SZ
microstructure (Widmanstätten ferrite)
19 Typical microstructure of friction stir welded joint in C–Mn steel120
i.e. at a temperature between A1 and A3. Moreover, 400 rev min21 and a travel speed of y76 mm min21,
Konkol et al.122 studied the microstructural evolution using a pcBN tool. Thus, the hardness in the NZ was
taking place in the NZ of HSLA-65 steel and reported significantly higher than that of the BM. Thus, the
that FSW resulted in a microstructural change from fine microstructural evolution within the NZ of structural
equiaxed ferrite with a small amount of pearlite in the steels depends predominantly on the alloy chemistry
BM to coarse blocky ferrite, Widmanstätten ferrite and (therefore on the Ceq) and the peak temperature reached
pockets of ferrite/carbide aggregate in the SZ. On the during FSW resulting from the weld parameters as well
other hand, Reynolds et al.42 reported that the micro- as the prior state of the material and the cooling rate.
structure of the NZ of FSW DH-36 steel consisted of a
mixture of bainite and martensite. Furthermore, Cui Fully ferritic stainless steels
et al.48 studied the FSW C–Mn steel SAE 1070 with The situation in FSW of ferritic stainless steels is quite
a high C content, i.e. 0?72 wt-%, and reported that different, which do not undergo austenitisation. These
the microstructural evolution strongly depends on the alloys which are lean in carbon tend to have a high Ac1
welding conditions. They also proposed that when the temperature. Furthermore, the peak temperature
peak temperature experienced by the material during reached during FWS of these steels is relatively low
welding reaches above the A1 temperature then a since they are mechanically weak provided that the grain
martensitic microstructure is obtained while a refined size is not excessively fine. Or they do not transform to
microstructure evolves if the peak temperature is in the austenite at all as it is the case for ferritic steels
range of the two-phase (azc) region. containing only a-stabilisers (i.e. Cr) at required levels.
Chung et al.148 well demonstrated that when steels Dynamic recrystallisation in ferritic steels does not
with high carbon content (i.e. 0?85%) were friction stir occur as easily as in the austenitic stainless steels because
welded above eutectoid temperature the SZ exhibited a the ferrite phase has high stacking fault energy.135
microstructure consisting of mainly martensite. The SZ However, dynamic recrystallisation also takes place in
exhibited a fine grained microstructure consisting of the NZ of these steels due to the intense plastic
ferrite with globular cementite when the welding was deformation and accompanying frictional heating dur-
conducted below the eutectoid temperature. Moreover, ing FSW. Fujii et al.47 conducted FSW experiments on
Sato et al.129 reported that a microstructural change interstitial-free (IF) steels in the ferritic condition and
from a ferritezcementite in the BM to a martensitic one indicated that the size of the grains in the TMAZ
containing some cementite particles and some retained depends on that of the starting microstructure, the
austenite in the SZ occurs in FSW ultra high C steel, i.e. originally coarse grains become much finer in the TMAZ
1?02 wt-%, when welded at a rotational speed of while ultrafine grains in a strong initial microstructure

a BM; b SZ of joint produced at rotation rate of 400 rev min21; c SZ of joint produced at rotation rate of 800 rev min21
20 Typical microstructure of friction stir welded joint in austenitic steel: note grain coarsening at higher rotational rate,
traverse speed being 30 mm min21 (Ref. 144)
become coarser following FSW. This can be attributed austenitic stainless steels with significant grain refine-
to the fact that the heat generated is greater when a ment, up to one order of magnitude relative to the BM.
material with more resistance to plastic deformation is Similar results were also reported by Posada et al.125 for
friction stir welded.47 So, the process occurring in FSW FSW 304L austenitic stainless steel. Park et al.140 also
of single phase ferritic steels is mainly excessive plastic reported that small grains with a very low density of
deformation and recrystallisation without phase trans- dislocations coexist with grains containing dislocations
formation. Thomas et al.150 also observed that the SZ of in the NZ of friction stir welded type 304 stainless steel.
a 12%Cr steel plate revealed a fairly equiaxed micro- This implies that dynamic recrystallisation occurred in
structure and recrystallisation within the SZ led to an the SZ, induced by the intense plastic deformation and
increased ferrite grain size. Similarly, Lakshminara- accompanying frictional heating during FSW. In
yanan and Balasubramanian160 also observed very fine contrast, the TMAZ regions have a grain structure
equiaxed ferrite grains with grain boundary martensite with a relatively high density of sub-boundaries and
of 4 mm at the top of the NZ and the semi-elliptical dislocations, suggesting that these regions are charac-
banded structure of ferrite and martensite in the bottom terised by dynamic recovery, which is in good agree-
region of the NZ of friction stir welded 409M grade ment with the typical microstructural characteristics in
ferritic stainless steel plates (the thickness being 4 mm) friction stir welds of Al-alloys.
using a W-alloy tool. They, however, reported in detail Friction stir welding also resulted in a fine equiaxed
on the weld parameters employed. grain structure with no segregation of alloying elements
and reduction in twin boundary fraction in the SZ of
Fully austenitic stainless steels NSSC 270 superaustenitic steel (Fig. 20).144 As seen in
Grain refinement takes place in the SZ of austenitic the figure, the grain size increases with increasing
stainless steels during FSW much easier than that in fully rotational rate. A banded structure consisting of a high
ferritic stainless steels. Thus, equiaxed austenite grains density of intermetallic phases was also formed in the
evolves in the SZ due to the dynamic recrystallisation, the SZ. Intermetallic precipitates, e.g. s and x phases, were
scale of which depends on the peak temperature detected by selected area diffraction analysis in weld
involved.11 For instance, Reynolds et al.123 observed the nugget. Intermetallic phase, namely the x phase of a
formation of fine equiaxed grains in the SZ of FSW cubic structure mainly consisting of Fe, Cr and Mo, was

21 Images (SEM) of banded structure within SZ of friction stir processed 316L austenitic steel plate at a low magnifica-
tion and b high magnification143
also be detected in the HAZ. The amount of inter- has a decisive influence on d phase precipitation.
metallic phases was observed to be dependent on the Previous studies have shown that cooling rates higher
rotation rate, i.e. higher rotation rates caused a larger than 0?25 K s21 prevent formation of s phase.173,174
amount of these phases which diminish the mechanical Thus, a possible approach to avoid the formation of s
(i.e. fracture toughness) and corrosion performance.144 during FSW of austenitic stainless steel may be to avoid
A banded structure consisting of Cr-rich precipitates low cooling rates.
(s phase) within the SZ was also observed for austenitic Type 304 stainless steels often experience similar
steels (i.e. 304L), which may result in highly degraded texture change, i.e. from a copper type rolling texture
corrosion resistance (Fig. 21).131,143 In general, s phase to a strong cube texture, to Al-alloys during static
is formed during aging at temperatures between 500 and recrystallisation.157–159 For instance, Sato et al.134
800uC. The direct decomposition of austenite to s phase examined recrystallisation phenomenon during FSW in
requires a long time due to the accompanying redis- type 304L stainless steels. They reported that type 304L
tribution of alloying elements by substitutional diffu- stainless steels initially undergo dynamic recrystallisa-
sion. However, s formation occurs faster in the duplex tion during the intense deformation and heating of
microstructure of ferrite and austenite phases and can be FSW. The non-uniform deformation associated with
significantly accelerated by strain and recrystallisation FSW produces disparate distribution of dislocation
during FSW. Park et al.131 suggest that the s phase can densities within the resulting microstructure. Under the
be rapidly formed by the transformation of austenite to subsequent heating of the FSW tool shoulder, those
d ferrite at high temperatures and the subsequent regions of high dislocation density undergo static
decomposition of the ferrite under the high strain and recrystallisation. The statically recrystallised grains
recrystallisation induced by friction stirring. It was also exhibit a different orientation from the dominant texture
observed that the advancing side of the SZ contained components. They also reported that some of the grains
fine carbide precipitates due to the tool wear. It is well having a ,111. fibre texture component are formed by
known that the intermetallic phases consume high Cr dynamic recrystallisation during FSW, and exhibit a
and Mo contents in the matrix resulting in Cr/Mo high density of dislocations in the friction stir welded
depletion around the intermetallic phases, which seems condition. They have also suggested that orientation
to be the reason for the reduction of the corrosion rotation by static recrystallisation, during post-weld heat
resistance in the HAZ and the weld nugget.144 Similarly, treatment, would also occur in the grains having the
finely dispersed niobium carbides were found in NZ of ,111. fibre texture component in friction stir welded
friction stir welded martensitic stainless steels.145 The austenitic stainless steels, like in Al-alloys.157
niobium is incorporated because of its high affinity to
carbon and prevents the precipitation of chromium Duplex stainless steels
carbides leading to a reduced corrosion resistance. This Friction stir welded duplex stainless steels, the micro-
should be taken into account when FSW austenitic structure of which consists of a mixture of a and c
stainless steels. However, of particular importance is phases, resembles ferritic and austenitic steels rather
that, unlike fusion welding, microsegregation may be than C–Mn steels. This is due to the fact that there is no
avoided during FSW. ferrite to austenite transformation in these steels at
Sorensen and Nelson167 also investigated s formation elevated temperatures. Results of FSW in the refinement
in FSW of various stainless steels with compositions at of both a and c phases grain sizes due to the dynamic
various distances from the szaustenite region of the recrystallisation as a result of severe plastic deformation,
Fe–Ni–Cr ternary diagram. They were able to predict as it is the case for the pearlitic steels when they are
the propensity for s formation and hypothesised that s friction stir welded in the azc phase region by
formation was a marker for recrystallisation in 304L controlling the welding conditions.48 However, a satis-
steels. They also demonstrated that welding parameters factory balance between the ferrite and austenite phases
influenced the amount and location of s phase. s phase should be kept within the joint area as indicated earlier.
usually forms after long holding times at temperatures For example, Sato et al.135 conducted detailed examina-
between 650 and 950uC and after cooling from high tion of the microstructure and the mechanical properties
temperatures during welding. The weld thermal cycle of FSW SAF 2507 duplex stainless steel joints using a

a macrograph showing cross-section of joint; b BM; c SZ/TMAZ interface

22 Macro- and microstructures of friction stir welded duplex stainless steel (SAF 2205) (600 rev min21 and
200 mm min21) showing various regions: note grain refinement in SZ after FSW139
pcBN tool and reported that FSW significantly refined during welding. They reported that FSW resulted in
the ferrite and austenite grains. Both the austenite and grain refinement of both ferrite and austenite grains in
ferrite phases in the SZ did not exhibit a heavily the SZ (Fig. 22). They also observed that the ratio of
deformed microstructure, e.g. many low angle grain ferrite/austenite was not altered by FSW. Moreover,
boundaries. This indicates that they were formed they demonstrated that the increasing weld speed at a
through dynamic recrystallisation induced by intense constant spindle rate leads to a larger reduction in the
plastic strain during FSW. Moreover, the ferrite content grain size (Fig. 23).
was held between 50 and 60% throughout the weld.
Hardness and tensile properties of steels
Similarly, Saeid et al.139 also produced FSW SAF 2205
duplex stainless steel joints using a WC-based tool and a C–Mn steels including high C steels
liquid cooled tool holder. Ar-shielding gas was also In general, the friction stir welds in steels displayed
introduced around the tool at a flowrate of 18 L min21 higher mechanical properties than the respective base
a 50 mm min21; b 100 mm min21; c 150 mm min21; d 200 mm min21

23 Micrographs showing variation of grain size in SZ of FSW weld in duplex stainless steel (SAF 2205) with different tra-
vel speeds at constant rotation rate of 600 rev min21 (Ref. 139)

plates (Table 6).11,40–42,122,124–137,139,143,144,147,148 Most On the contrary, Ueji et al.45 observed that FSW
of these studies revealed that the hardness of welds is caused a significant reduction in hardness within the SZ
higher than that of BM, which is consistent with the of mild steels with a ultrafine grain size. A slower tool
tensile strength values. For example, Fujii et al.47 rotational speed leads to a lesser decrease and a
reported that the hardness values in the SZ of FSW narrower weld. They also reported that the grain size
SAE 1012 and 1035 C–Mn steels as well as an IF-steel in the SZ of the welds was always coarser than that in
were higher than those of respective BMs (Fig. 24). the ultrafine starting microstructure (i.e. ,1 mm), which
Basically the hardness within the weld regions is higher were as-quenched martensite and rolled martensite.
than the base metals, though the hardness profile is Furthermore, FSW may also cause grain coarsening in
different depending on both kinds of steels and welding the HAZ of ultrafine grained materials with a subse-
conditions. For the IF-steel, the welding speed does not quent loss of properties.
significantly affect the hardness profiles of the joints, Of particular interest is the FSW of classical quenched
while for the S12C steel, the higher the welding speed and tempered martensitic steels. Early studies127,128
(the smaller heat input), the greater the hardness. show that softening takes place in the HAZ and SZ
However, the greatest hardness was obtained with the relative to the initial hard state, apparently due to the
medium heat input (near 200 mm min21) for the S35C cooling rates involved in FSW which is not sufficient to
steel, and a significant decrease in the heat input (i.e. reproduce a fully martensitic microstructure.15 For
100 mm min21) induced the decreasing hardness. instance, Sterling et al.127 indicated that in quenched
Similarly, Reynolds et al.42 reported that friction stir and tempered C–Mn steels, FSW leaded to a decrease in
welded DH36 (a low C steel) joints exhibited much the hardness in the NZ and, thus, in tensile properties,
higher strength values than the BM. However, the with failure occurring in the HAZ. However, the as-
higher tensile strength in the weld is actually over- welded strength values were superior to those observed
matching and is not favourable for structural applica- in gas metal arc welding using ER100S-1 filler wire.
tions. For these steels, weld performance is likely to be Of another special interest is the FSW of high carbon
governed by toughness and fatigue rather than strength. steels, which are hard-to-fusion weld materials. There
Moreover, the properties reported for friction stir are some encouraging results for FSW of high C steels.
welded C–Mn steel joints are at present elementary For example, Cui et al.48 reported that the FSW using a
and not sufficient to assess the fitness for purpose for WC-based tool resulted in significantly higher hardness
structural applications.142 Thus, there is a particular and strength values within the SZ of a high carbon steel,
need to assess the toughness and fatigue properties of i.e. SAE 1070, than those of the BM, provided that the
friction stir welded C–Mn steels in an acceptable depth. peak temperature is kept either at just above the A1
Table 6 Summary of friction stir welded joint efficiency values for different steel grades121*
Welding condition
Thickness, (rotation rate/traverse speed), Rm of BM, Rm of FSW1, Joint efficiency,
Material mm rev min21/mm min21 MPa MPa % Reference
Structural steels
Mild steel 12, 15 …/102 … 453–457 … 40
AISI 1012 1.6 400/100–400 317 … … 47
AISI 1018 6.4 450–650/25–102 463 476 103 41, 124
AISI 1035 1.6 400/100–400 533 … … 47
C–Mn steel 6.4 … 248 179 72 127
DH-36 6.4 …/200–450 579 800–940 138–162 42
HSLA-65 6.4, 12.7 400–500/99–120 537 569 106 124
DP 590 … 700/150 630 644 102 147
TRIP 590 … 700/200 627 628 100 147
IF-steel 1.6 400/100–400 284 … … 47
High C steels
1070 1.6 200/25 817 1214 149 48
CK5 (0.85%C) 1.6 100/100 600 610 102 148
1 wt-%C 2.3 400/76 … … … 129
Ferritic stainless steels
12%Cr 12 …/240 … 539–541 … 40
Grade 409M 4.0 … 536 574 107 160
Austenitic stainless steels
304 2.5 1000/40–100 505 210–485 42–96 137
304L 5, 10 300–700/150, 180 483 621 129 11, 120
304L 3.2 300, 500/100 667 735, 678 110, 102 133
304L{ … 240/24 545 558 102 143
NSSC 270{ 6.0 400/30 720 740 103 144
Duplex stainless steels
SAF 2507 4.0 … 920 900 98 135
SAF 2205 2.0 600/50–200 834 900–980 108–118 139
*Rm, tensile strength.
{Friction stir processed 15 mm plates (tool penetration being 5 mm).
{Superaustenitic steel.
1Results of transverse tensile tests (the tensile direction perpendicular to the welding direction).

occurs in the weld zone but the microstructure consists

of refined ferrite and pearlite phases, which is the reason
for the high strength. Similarly, Sato et al.129 success-
fully friction stir welded an ultra high C steel, i.e.
1?02 wt-%, using a pcBN tool at a rotational speed of
400 rev min21 and a weld speed of y76 mm min21.
They reported that FSW resulted in significantly higher
hardness in the NZ than that of the BM due to evolution
of a martensitic microstructure. Moreover, Miles
et al.147 also reported that high strength steels, such as
DP 590 and TRIP 590 increasingly used in automotive
applications, were defect-free joined by FSW. It was
observed that increasing feedrate at a constant rotation
rate produced softer welds with a large amount of
primary ferrite in the SZ compared to stronger welds
with a greater fraction of martensite in the SZ obtained
at higher feedrates. The joints produced exhibited tensile
strengths slightly higher than the BMs. Joints with
strength values higher than the BM were also obtained
for CK5 steel (0?85 wt-%C) when FSW was carried out
below eutectoid temperature by welding the plates at a
rotation rate of 100 rev min21 and a feedrate of
100 mm min21.148 One should, however, bear in mind
that the tool may wear more when the peak temperature
is lower during friction stir joining of steels.
Similarly, FSW in IF-steels generally exhibit high
levels of strength.15,40,47 For example, Fujii et al.47
reported that FSW resulted in grain refinement in the SZ
(down to 5–6 mm) of an IF-steel with an initial grain size
of 24 mm, which has a fully ferritic microstructure.
Therefore, the hardness and strength values of the joints
were higher than those of the BM.
Fully ferritic stainless steels
Friction stir welding in ferritic stainless steels generally
exhibit high levels of strength. For instance, Thomas
et al.150 reported that the transverse tensile specimens
extracted from the friction stir welded 12%Cr steel plates
failed outside the weld, indicating that the joints were
strength overmatching. Similarly, Lakshminarayanan
and Balasubramanian160 also claimed that the friction
stir welded 409M grade ferritic stainless steel joint
exhibited higher transverse tensile strength (574 MPa)
than that of the base plate (536 MPa). However, the
XRD results indicated the presence of Fe6W6C carbides
which essentially precipitated due to the tool wear
caused by high temperature and forces acting on the
tungsten alloy tool during friction stirring. The tool
debris in the pin influenced region resulted in reduction
of impact toughness of friction stir welded joint (28 J)
compared to the base metal (34 J).
Fully austenitic stainless steels
Friction stir welding in austenitic stainless steels generally
exhibit high levels of strength. This is also the case in fully
ferritic stainless steels, on which there is a very limited
24 Microhardness profile of friction stir welded 1?6 mm mechanical data reported in open literature. For instance,
thick carbon steels for a IF-steel, b S12C and Posada et al.126 reported that the hardness and strength
c S35C:47 note that hardness values in SZs of all values of FSW 304L austenitic stainless steel were
joints produced with different welding parameters are significantly higher than those of the BM (Table 6).
higher than those of respective BMs Similarly, Reynolds et al.133 and Chen et al.143 reported
that friction stir welded 304 and 304L joints respectively
temperature or in the range of the two-phase (azc) exhibited higher strength values than those of the BMs.
region. They obtained the highest strength at a Similarly, Park et al.140 also reported that FSW yielded
rotational speed of 200 rev min21 and a travel speed higher hardness in the weld zone of 2 mm thick 304
of 25 mm min21. In this case, no martensite formation austenitic stainless steel plates. The weld shows higher

26 Microhardness profile of friction stir welded 2 mm

25 Hardness profile along transverse direction in a 2 mm
thick 2205 duplex stainless steels (produced at
thick 304 stainless steel friction stir weld produced at
600 rev min21 and 50 mm min21 using WC-based
a rotation rate of 1300 rev min21 and a traverse speed
tool):139 note higher hardness values in NZ than BM
of 270 mm min21 using a pcBN tool.140 Note that the
due to small grain sizes
hardness of the weld increases from the unaffected
BM region toward the TMAZ, the maximum hardness
being in the TMAZ about 3 mm from the weld centre discussed earlier. On the other hand, Meran et al.137
obtained lower strength values from the FSW 304 joints
hardness than the BM (Fig. 25). The hardness of the weld than those of the BM, maximum joint efficiency being
increases from the unaffected BM region toward the 96%. This can be attributed to higher spindle speeds
TMAZ. The maximum hardness is measured in the they employed than those used by Posada et al.125,126
TMAZ about 3 mm from the weld centre. The hardness and Reynolds et al.,133 resulting in the formation of
of the SZ is slightly lower than that of the TMAZ. The SZ coarser grains in the joint area. Similarly, FSW
has a smaller average grain size than the BM although the produces joints in duplex stainless steels with higher
grain size is somewhat scattered in the weld. The TMAZ strength values than those of the BM due to the grain
has a slightly finer grain size than the BM. Although it is refinement in the SZ.135,139
well known that a finer grain size generally results in Another issue of interest concerning FSW of steels is
higher hardness, the hardness differences do not agree residual stresses developed during joining as the signifi-
with estimates from the Hall–Petch relationship. This cant material heating during FSW leads to expansion and
implies that the increase in hardness in the weld cannot be contraction during the welding process which in turn
explained by grain size alone. In addition to the grain size results in the development of residual stresses, particu-
distribution, they proposed that dislocation density may larly in steels where the material is heated to temperatures
also affect the hardness distribution in the weld, because higher than 1000uC. There are, however, only a few
dislocation densities in the SZ and the TMAZ were reports at the moment on residual stresses of friction stir
observed to be higher than that in the BM. Additionally, welded steel joints in the literature. For instance,
the TMAZ has many subgrains, which also cause an Luckhoo et al.176 conducted high resolution energy
increase in hardness. Thus, the high dislocation density dispersive X-ray diffraction in a friction stir welded
and subgrains formed during dynamic recrystallisation 12 mm thick 12%Cr ferritic steel plate to determine
and recovery processes result in higher hardness in the residual stresses. They reported that the distribution of
SZ and the TMAZ of austenitic stainless steels. residual elastic strains ezz across the joint exhibits
Moreover, the SZ of SAF 2205 duplex stainless steel compressive strain in the region between ¡16 mm, i.e.
exhibited higher hardness values than the BM provided in the weld zone, and becomes residual tension in the
that the rotation rate is sufficiently low.139 For instance, HAZ. They also observed that strain components
the typical hardness profile of SAF 2205 duplex transverse to the weld direction are lower in magnitude
stainless steel after FSW is illustrated in Fig. 26. and more localised than the longitudinal ones as it is often
Basically the hardness within the SZ is higher than the case for other joining and welding processes.
that in the base metal. Given the fact that the a/c ratio Residual stress measurements were also conducted by
is nearly uniform in the whole profile, the increase in neutron diffraction on the friction stir welded 3?2 mm
hardness may be related to the small grain sizes of thick 304L austenitic steel plates.133 The average,
ferrite and austenite phases in the SZ. Similarly, the SZ through thickness, residual stresses (sxx and syy) for
of NSSC 270 superaustenitic steel also displayed higher the 300 and 500 rev min21 welds produced are shown in
strength values than the BM.144 The joint produced at a Fig. 27. As seen from the figure, the maximum values of
rotation rate of 400 rev min21 using a pcBN tool with a longitudinal residual stres syy are similar in both welds
convex scrolled shoulder displayed a tensile strength and close to the base metal yield strength of the BM
value (y740 MPa) higher than that of the BM (y300 MPa) in FSW 304L stainless steel, which are
(y720 MPa), the joint efficiency being y103%. The therefore similar in magnitude to those produced by
fracture toughness of the joint (i.e. absorbed energy) fusion welding processes in austenitic stainless steels.
was higher than that of gas tungsten arc weld; however, The through thickness average values of the transverse
it was lower than that of the base plate. The reason for residual stress sxx are much lower than the longitudinal
this is apparently the presence of precipitates as stresses, also typical of fusion welding processes. Zhu

28 Residual strain and hardness measured at 4 mm

depth as a function of distance from the weld centre
for single partial penetration friction stir butt-welded
RQT-701 steel joint. Note that positive distances from
the weld centreline are the advancing side, longitudi-
27 Average, through thickness, longitudinal and trans-
nal strains are represented by filled circles, transverse
verse residual stresses plotted against distance from
strains by filled triangles and hardness values by
weld centreline of friction stir welded 3?2 mm thick
open circles16,178
304L austenitic stainless steel joints produced with
tool rotation rates of 300 and 500 rev min21 (Ref. 133)
and Chao177 also conducted the residual stress field ultrafine grained and also the material is not heavily
measurements on the friction stir welded 304L austenitic cold-worked. However, the corrosion resistance of
stainless steel joints by the neutron diffraction technique austenitic stainless steels may be degraded due to the
as well as numerical simulation studies. They also formation of s phase or intermetallic phases within the
reported similar results that the longitudinal residual SZ. The formation of s phase may take place during
stress can approach 100% of the yield strength of the FSW, which is detrimental to mechanical properties.
base plate. They also reported that the variation in Thus, this must be kept in mind in FSW of austenitic
rotational speed from 300 to 500 rev min21 does not steels. The peak tempearture must be kept sufficiently
alter the residual stress significantly. low to avoid the formation of s phase. For C–Mn steels,
Barnes et al.178 also determined the residual strain the weld performance is likely to be governed by
distributions in the longitudinal and transverse direc- toughness and fatigue rather than strength. Thus,
tions of the single and double sided partial penetration although it is not difficult to get 100% or more joint
friction stir butt-welded RQT-701 (low alloy) steel joints efficiency in such steels in terms of strength this is not
using energy dispersive synchrotron X-ray diffraction. generally enough for industrial implementation since the
Longitudinal strains in the weld are generally tensile in strength is not only the criterion as fracture toughness
nature, and arise because there is significant material and fatigue performance will often be important.
heating associated with FSW, even though no melting Furthermore, there are some indications that high C
occurs. The measured strains were indicative of long- steels, which are difficult-to-weld with fusion welding
itudinal tensile residual stresses at levels greater than the processes and require costly pre- and post-heat treat-
0?2% yield stress of the parent metal in both the single ment, can be defect-free joined by FSW technique under
and double pass welds as it is the case for Mg-alloys.87 appropriate welding conditions. However, unreliable
In both cases, the maximum tensile strain was found to tool wear is still the major obstacle for practical use of
be in the parent metal at the boundary of the HAZ. this technique in joining such steels. This also applies to
Figure 28 shows residual strain and hardness measured all types of steels. Argon shielding is also required to
at 4 mm depth as a function of distance from the weld avoid or minimise surface oxidation of the base plates
centre for single partial penetration friction stir weld during FSW.131,133–135,139,143,144
(positive distances from the weld centreline are the Thus, the shortcoming in the design and production
advancing side, longitudinal strains are represented by of tools which withstand to the temperatures encoun-
filled circles, transverse strains by filled triangles and tered in FSW of steels, i.e. above 1000uC, has not yet
hardness values by open circles. As seen from the figure, been fully overcome. Tools with simple columnar pins
the tensile strains in the weld nugget were somewhat without threads or truncated conical (tapered) pins
lower than would otherwise be expected due to the generally exhibit lower wear rates than the ones with
reduction in the misfit caused by the displacive nature of threaded pins. External cooling of tool holder is also
the austenite–martensite/bainite transformation during tried during FSW of steels in order to increase the tool
cooling of the weld nugget. life since the machine and the tool are exposed to high
temperatures during welding. For instance, the tool
General remarks on FSW of steels holder was cooled during FSW of austenitic and duplex
Early results reported on FSW of steels are promising, stainless steels by a liquid.134,135,139,144 Unreliable tool
particularly for fully ferritic and austenitic stainless wear is still a hindrance for the commercial application
steels provided that the initial microstructure is not of this technique to steels, particularly high strength

grades such as high C steels, and quenched and of phase transformations accompanying FSW, particu-
tempered steels. Preheating the workpieces before FSW larly in C–Mn steels, have not yet been studied in
is proposed to counteract this problem. Even a local sufficient depth.15 For critical structural applications,
preheating of the workpieces at the location where the the structural integrity related properties of the FSW
tool plunges is also suggested to reduce the tool wear as steel joints, i.e. fracture toughness, are thus needed to be
mentioned earlier.40,41 Another way of overcoming this assessed in acceptable depth. There is also a need for
difficulty is considered to be the use of another heat determination of residual stresses developed during
source, such as laser beam (so called laser-assisted FSW of steels.
FSW), for preheating the workpieces which may offer Some researchers40,120 suggested that FSW of steels
several advantages, such as increasing tool life and will also become commercially attractive for applica-
welding speed.29 Similarly, Mandal et al.175 proposed a tions such as fabrication of ships, pipes, trucks, railway
technique to reduce tool wear in which heat sources were wagons and hot plate. They demonstrated the feasibility
introduced in front of the tool to preheat the workpiece, of FSW of steel although it was pointed out that more
creating a hot channel for the tool to move in, thus development work needs to be carried out, primarily on
reducing the tool wear. However, any extra measures improved tool materials. They also pointed out that the
that adds complexity to welding for improved tool life FSW process seems ideally suited to the welding of hot
increases the cost and is, therefore, not desirable in terms plate where the entire plate or product is raised to a
of cost effectiveness. Moreover, the difficulties asso- higher temperature, e.g. hot plate welding in steel mills
ciated with the ingress of tool material into the SZ, i.e. or hot strip tube manufacture in pipe mills. However, as
the formation of intermetallic compounds which is pointed out by Bhadeshia and DebRoy,142 a wide spread
detrimental to corrosion resistance, should be overcome. industrial use of this method for steels is not expected
Thus, the biggest problem hindering the industrial owing to the fact that there are well established fusion
exploitation of this joining method for steels is welding processes producing cost effective and reliable
undoubtedly the development of a reliable, lasting and joints in steels as already discussed earlier. Thus, the
cost effective tool material and this is where potential advantage of FSW, which also requires argon gas
benefits in research could be large.142 shielding to avoid base plate surface oxidation,143,144
Even though these advancements are made, FSW may over more conventional welding methods (i.e. well
not become an alternative for current joining methods, established arc welding processes) should be clearly
i.e. various versions of arc welding, which are well demonstrated for steels. These shortcomings are to be
established and produce reliable joints since a filler is overcome for commercial exploitation of this technique
used in these methods allowing the weld composition for joining steels which is tough challange. Thus, it can
and hence microstructure to be controlled. Thus, it is be said that a wide-spread industrial implementation of
generally possible to get adequate fracture toughness this novel joining technique to steels is not expected.
and other properties by consumable selection. This However, the use of this method can be advantageous
luxury is not available in FSW since undesirable for joining steels in some special applications where
strength overmatching in the NZ is usually achieved, conventional fusion welding processes fail to produce
particularly in structural steels (i.e. C–Mn steels and sound cost effective joints, and the high tooling costs of
steels containing higher alloying additions). This may FSW can be justified (i.e. underwater joining of steel
limit its industrial implementation, even if the tool wear pipes or hot plate welding in steel mills or hot strip tube
problem can be sorted out.15 On the other hand, the tool manufacture in pipe mills).
wear may be considered to be beneficial in FSW of
steels, in which grain coarsening cannot be avoided, Friction stir welding of Ti-alloys
particularly when the peak temperatures are high, due to Physical metallurgy of Ti-alloys
the lack of oxide metallurgy as in arc welds.146 Thus, it Titanium alloys are usually divided into three groups,
might be of interest to develop slowly consumable tools, namely a and near-a alloys, b alloys and azb alloys. a
which allows the control of the chemistry of the SZ, and and near-a alloys cannot be strengthened by heat
thus the improvement of weld properties, such as treatment although near-a alloys contain some retained
toughness.15 However, it is too early to suggest that b phase. They are generally annealed or recrystallised to
this deliberate tool wear as an alloying method is useful remove residual stresses induced by cold working.53
approach in FSW as it is still at a research stage and These alloys, i.e. Ti–5Al–2?5Sn, Ti–6Al–2Sn–4Zr–2Mo
there are no published data. and Ti–8Al–1Mo–1V, have good weldability since they
On the other hand, early studies demonstrate that are insensitive to heat treatment. Fusion welding has little
FSW results in a decrease in hardness and strength in the effect on the mechanical properties of annealed material
SZ of quenched and tempered steels, the welding of in the HAZ while the strength decreases in the HAZ
which is of special interest. As raised earlier, weld fusion welded cold-worked material. Therefore, these
performance is likely to be governed by toughness and alloys are usually joined in the annealed condition and
fatigue rather than strength for such steels as it is the stress relieving after joining is mostly recommended.53
case for C–Mn steels. However, there is almost no data azb alloys can be strengthened by solution treating
in the literature on the toughness and fatigue properties and aging. During aging, a precipitation hardening
for such steels. The studies on FSW of steels up to date reaction takes place in which fine a particles form within
have mainly concentrated on obtaining defect-free joints the b grains. Alloys relatively low in b stabilisers (i.e. Ti–
by conducting experiments to establish the adequate 6Al–4V, designated hereafter as Ti64) have poor hard-
welding conditions needed to produce such joints and on enability and must be quenched more rapidly than those
determination of elementary mechanical properties, i.e. containing higher b stabilisers to achieve required
hardness and traverse tensile strength. The consequences strengthening. Most of the azb Ti-alloys undergo

significant microstructural changes during welding due Therefore, post-weld heat treatment is usually applied.53
to the thermal cycle they are exposed, their mechanical The use of high energy density welding processes, i.e.
properties, therefore, vary considerably, particularly laser and electron beam welding, which produce single-
when the heat input is high. The low ductility in the pass autogeneous welds, is desirable to minimise residual
FZ caused by phase transformations can be increased by stresses as well as distortion, instead of multipass arc
using high toughness filler wires. However, this measure welding.53 In addition, these low heat input welding
does not overcome the low ductility of the HAZ.53 On processes also minimise the cracking, solidification or
the other hand, Ti64 is not particularly difficult to weld, liquation cracking. Moreover, solid-state joining tech-
and many welds for critical applications are made each niques, such as diffusion bonding and friction welding,
year using fusion welding processes. do not result in most of these problems (particularly the
Several difficulties are encountered in fusion welding first four) due to the fact that they do not involve
azb Ti-alloys, except Ti64 which is lean in b stabilisers melting. Thus, the solid-state FSW process is also
and has a relatively good weldability. These short- expected to produce sound joints in Ti-alloys.
comings are:53 Stirring tools for Ti and Ti-alloys
(i) solidification cracking
Ti and most of its alloys usually have a limited number
(ii) liquation cracking
of independent slip systems which cannot provide an
(iii) solidification segregation
accommodation of arbitrary plastic strain due to their
(iv) hydrogen embrittlement
hexagonal crystal structure. Therefore, it is difficult to
(v) formation of porosity due to a very high affinity plasticise Ti-alloys during FSW sufficiently. The shield-
of Ti for oxygen above 500uC ing of joint area is also needed in FSW of these alloys to
(vi) the need for shielding of the weld zone prevent surface oxidation in contrast to rotary and
(vii) the need for cleaning of workpieces including linear friction welding. Moreover, the biggest problem in
filler wire before welding is needed FSW of Ti-alloys is the appalling thermal conductivity,
(viii) the necessity of post-weld heat treatments, i.e. which renders FSW this material with conventional tools
stress relieving (tools with threads) extremely difficult due to its
(ix) distortion, particularly in welding of thin plates, extremely high reactivity.179–204 Conventional tools hav-
due to the low conductivity ing threads wear very fast in FSW of these alloys. Thus,
(x) high residual stresses. the tool geometry is the first handicap to overcome.
Ti64 has the highest weldability among the azb alloys, Alternative simple tool designs have been developed to
owing to the fact that it is lean in b-stabilisers. This decrease tool wear, i.e. simple columnar or truncated
weldability can be attributed to two principal factors.99 conical (tapered) tools with no threads, which make the
First, the a prime martensite which forms in Ti64 is not as process much simpler. The shoulder surfaces of the tools
hard and brittle as those encountered in more heavily b- used for Ti-alloys are also usually given a special pattern
stabilised alloys, such as Ti–6Al–6V–2Sn or Ti–7Al–4Mo. in order to enhance the stirring effect, i.e. a step-spiral.
Second, this alloy has relatively low hardenability which The traditional large shoulder small cylindrical pin design
allows the formation of high toughness Widmanstätten a is not sufficient because the heat generated at the shoulder
microstructure with some retained b phase even at is not able to flow to the root of the joint and allow
relatively high weld cooling rates. This alloy is also highly stirring in Ti. Thus, a smaller shoulder and large tapered
resistant to solidification or liquation cracking owing to pin is used. Moreover, the heat distribution in the weld is
its single-phase mode of solidification (i.e. absence of low- not uniform during FSW due to the poor thermal
melting point eutectics).53 On the other hand, azb alloys conductivity of alloys such as Ti64. And the rotating
that are rich in b stabilisers, i.e. Ti–6Al–2Sn–4Zr–6Mo shoulder generates the majority of heat at the upper
and Ti–6Al–6V–2Sn, exhibit poor weldability. surface when conventional tools are used in FSW of these
Similar to azb-Ti-alloys, the above mentioned alloys. Thus, a significant temperature gradient through
problems may also be encountered in fusion welding the thickness is generated. Since the hot working
of b-Ti-alloys. However, most of the b-Ti-alloys, i.e. Ti– temperature range of Ti is not wide, an even temperature
13V–11Cr–3Al, Ti–8Mo–8V–3Al–2Fe and Ti–15V–3Al– distribution is essential for the best results in FSW. Russel
3Cr–2Sn alloys, are weldable under either the annealed et al.202 suggested the static shoulder approach to
or the heat-treated condition.53 Although welded joints counteract this problem resulting from low thermal
of b-Ti-alloys have good ductility, they display relatively conductivity of these alloys, in which the shoulder does
low strength under the as-welded condition. They are not directly contribute to the heat generated during
generally used under this condition as the ductility welding, thus surface overheating and thermal gradient
decreases after post-weld aging. However, it should be through the thickness are eliminated.
taken into account that aging can occur if the welds are Another challenge in FSW of Ti and Ti-alloys is the
exposed to elevated temperatures in service.53 tool material. Titanium alloys retain significant strength
The propensity for porosity formation is inherent to at the hot working temperature. Thus, tool materials
all Ti-alloys. Ti is a very reactive material, particularly must not only be able to withstand the high welding
above 500uC. Therefore, the shielding of the weld zone is forces and torque levels but must also be inert to highly
needed even in the solid-state joining processes including reactive titanium at high temperature (typically 1100–
FSW if the material is heated above 500uC. The thermal 1200uC). In fact, the choice of tool material is limited to
conductivity of titanium is also very low, which is the extremely high strength refractory materials such as
major driving force for the development of special sintered WC–Co alloys and TiC, W-based alloys (W–Rh
tooling for FSW of Ti as well as its high reactivity at or W–La), Re- and Mo-based alloys and pcBNs
high temperatures. Furthermore, residual stresses in Ti (Table 7).179,180–187,192,203,204 Among these pcBN, which
fusion welds can utterly affect the fatigue performance. is an effective tool material for high temperature

materials such as steels and Ni-based alloys, is not of twinning suggested that slip subsequently ceased, and
suitable for FSW of Ti-alloys since it reacts with further deformation was accommodated by twinning.
titanium to form Ti-borides or Ti-nitrides. For instance, They proposed that the formation of twins as dominat-
Zhang et al.194 observed that Ti-borides and pcBN ing microstructure in the weld zone of pure Ti is due to
debris were present in the surface region of the NZ of the lack of slip systems in hcp structure. Further detailed
friction stir welded pure Ti using pcBN tool due to tool investigations are needed to understand the microstruc-
wear. This in turn increased the hardness in the NZ. tural changes taking place in the SZ. They also reported
Thus, the use of pcBN in FSW of Ti-alloys may lead to a that there is no visible unrecrystallised TMAZ as is
decrease in toughness of the NZ. Furthermore, the low typical in Al-alloys friction stir welds and grain
conductivity of pcBN tools necessitates thermal manage- coarsening occurs in the HAZ leading to a loss of
ment during welding. A proper cooling system is needed strength; hence the fracture occurs in the HAZ in
to prevent failures both in the tool and in the anvil of the transverse tensile test. Similarly, Zhang et al.194 also
utilised fixture due to the high temperatures generated reported that no TMAZ was visible in the weld region of
during welding, particularly when a ceramic tool is used friction stir welded pure Ti joints produced at a rotation
with a low conductivity.201 Finally, a gas shielding must rate of 200 rev min21 and a welding speed of
be used due to the reactivity of the considered alloys 50 mm min21 using pcBN. They also reported the
with air at the process temperatures for cosmetic formation of an a single-phase microstructure with
purposes. serrated grain boundaries in the weld zone indicating
Weld microstructure of Ti-alloys that the peak temperature obtained using the weld
Although most Ti-alloys can be successfully welded by parameters mentioned above was above the b transus.
several fusion welding processes, such as arc welding, A very recent work conducted by Fujii et al.195 on
laser and electron beam welding, they may require post- FSW of pure Ti has revealed that a peak temperature
weld heat treatments when fusion welded, which below b transus was obtained when 2 mm thick pure Ti
increase the production costs.11,53,205 Furthermore, the plates were friction stir welded at various welding speeds
application of fusion welding technologies to Ti-alloys (50–300 mm min21) at a constant rotation rate of
also results in formation of brittle coarse microstructure 200 rev min21. They observed no serrated grain bound-
and high residual stresses. They can, however, be readily aries, which form provided that the peak temperature is
welded by solid-state joining techniques, such as friction above the b transus during FSW. They also reported
welding and diffusion bonding. Thus, there exists an that the peak temperature decreased from 843uC down
interest to join these alloys by FSW, which is a solid- to 498uC with the increasing welding speed from 50 to
state technique. 300 mm min21 at the constant rotation rate of
Numerous studies conducted to investigate the 200 rev min21. They also observed strong crystallo-
applicability of FSW to Ti and Ti-alloys.180–204 Of graphic texture formation in the SZ of pure Ti, which is
particular interest is FSW pure Ti in its hcp a-form, significantly dependent on the welding speed.
because it tends to deform by mechanical twinning Furthermore, all the welds exhibited a grain size finer
during FSW due to the limited slipping activity in this (3?5–6?3 mm) than that of the base metal (10 mm),
crystal structure.15,180,194 Lee et al.180 achieved sound indicating that dynamic recrystallisation took place
joints in pure Ti by FSW at a rotational speed of within the SZs. It is also noteworthy that the relation-
1100 rev min21 and a travel speed of 500 mm min21 ship of the hardness and average grain size in the SZ
using a sintered TiC tool with water cooling. They does not match the Hall–Petch relation within the whole
observed a large density of dislocations and mechanical grain size range. They attributed the deviation of the
twins in the SZ of friction stir welded pure Ti, although Hall–Petch relation to two aspects. First, a significant
in some other works twinning has not been observed. amount of dislocations are generated in the deformed
The observation of dislocation walls suggested that grains due to the incomplete recovery and dynamic
recovery was incomplete or continuous in nature. The recrystallisation at low temperatures. The tangling of the
high dislocation density and presence of dislocation high density dislocations will inevitably result in the
walls indicated that the initial stage of deformation higher hardness value, compared to the completely
during FSW occurred by slip. However, the observation recovered grains, i.e. dislocation-free samples. Second,
Table 7 Summary of tool materials and geometries used for FSW Ti-alloys
Pure Ti 5.6 Sintered TiC … 180

Pure Ti 3.0 PcBN* Truncated without threads 194
Pure Ti 2.0 WC-based alloy … 195
Ti5111 (near-a) 12.7 W-based alloy Truncated conical without threads or flats 192
Ti64 2.0 W–Rh alloy (3 wt-%Rh) Tapered without threads 188, 198
Ti64 3.0 Mo-based alloy{ Tapered without threads 185, 186
Ti64 3.0, 6.0, 9.0, 12.0 Lanthanated tungsten{ Tapered without threads 189
Ti64 6.35 … Tool with static shoulder1 202
Timetal 21S 1.6 W-based alloy Simple" 191
*Note that this tool is not suitable for Ti.
{Tool with a convex shoulder.
{W–La alloy.
1No information on tool material is given.
"Details of pin shape not reported as it is proprietary.

a cross-section (note no visible HAZ); b optical micrograph of BM; c TEM image of BM; d optical micrograph of SZ;
e TEM image of SZ
29 Microstructures of friction stir welded 2 mm thick mill-annealed Ti–6Al–4V sheet (rotation rate: 400 rev min21; weld
speed: 100 mm min21)197
the crystallography texture in the SZ processed at low region is negligibly small and hardly detectable even at
welding speeds is much higher than those welded at high a higher magnification. Sanders et al.184 and Lienert
welding speeds, which means that a large fraction of the et al.187 also reported that the uncrystallised TMAZ in
grains having a similar orientation, or low misorienta- FSW Ti64 is very narrow, i.e. ,0?5 mm, compared to
tions exist in the SZs processed at a lower welding speed. those observed in FSW Al-alloys.184,187 A shear texture
Simple shear texture formation in the SZ of pure Ti was development may also occur in the retained b grains in
also reported by Mironov et al.196 the SZ of the friction stir welded Ti64 alloy joints.186
Recently, a number of studies are conducted to inves- This observation may indicate that the entire SZ may
tigate the applicability of FSW to Ti64 alloy.181–190,197–200 have formed due to continuous and incremental
Some of these studies181,184,186,187,197 have examined the adiabatic shear band as the material is sheared and
effect of FSW on microstructural evolution in the NZ carried around the pin.
of Ti64 alloy. They demonstrated that defect-free FSW Russel et al.202 also reported a very narrow HAZ in
joints can be achieved for this alloy. Ti64 friction stir the friction stir welded 6?35 mm thick Ti64 alloy joints
welds generally exhibit extremely narrow HAZ and produced at speeds of 60–80 mm min21, and rotation
uncrystallised TMAZ regions or only narrow HAZ rates of 400–500 rev min21. They reported that the
regions in contrast to those observed in Al-alloys microstructure is relatively uniform throughout the
friction stir welded joints, which is apparently due to whole cross-section of the joint with a prior b grain size
its higher strength and lower thermal conductivity of the order of 50 mm which produces a fine transformed
compared to Al (Fig. 29a).197 For instance, Edwards acicular a. They also reported that there are distinct
and Ramulu189 reported that Ti64 friction stir welds texture zones across the joint which are y2 mm thick.
displayed a very narrow HAZ region, on the order of Reynolds et al.191 and Knipling and Fonda192 also
200–400 mm. Furthermore, the uncrystallised TMAZ reported shear textures in FSW welds of Timetal 21S

allotropic phase transformation involved coupled with

deformation and consequent cooling. Thus, various
microstructures varying from equiaxed a grains with
some transformed b (a laths) and retained b phases,181
to a fully lamellar structure with refined prior b grains185
or to a typical Widmanstätten structure181 were
observed in the FZ depending on welding conditions.
For instance, a typical b-transformed structure com-
posed of the prior b grains, which are delineated by a
thin a layer and contain sandwiched a- and b-laths
(Fig. 30).186
On the other hand, a microstructure consisting of
dislocation-free equiaxed primary a grains and trans-
formed b, composed of acicular martensite and lamellar
azb, was observed in the weld zone of friction stir
30 Image of SEM showing the microstructure of the SZ
welded Ti64 alloy when the peak temperature was below
of 1?5 mm thick Ti–6Al–4V sheets, which is a typical
transformed b-structure composed of the prior b-
the b transus (Fig. 29).197 Furthermore, although the
grains, which are delineated by a thin a layer and
peak temperature in the HAZ is below the b transus and
contain sandwiched a- and b-laths186
no phase transformation takes place in the HAZ, the
coarsening of the prior b grains occurs in this region if
the heat input is sufficiently high, which results in the
b-Ti alloy and Ti5111 near-a-Ti alloy respectively. For loss of strength,186 as it is the case in fusion welding of
instance, Reynolds et al.191 conducted orientation this alloy.53 However, an extremely fine grained bimodal
imaging microscopy to determine crystallographic tex- microstructure, can be obtained within the SZ of Ti64
ture at the centreline of the SZ at the sheet midplane and alloy joints when the FSW is conducted below the b
reported that all of the SZ pole figures from the sheet transus temperature as reported recently by Edwards
midplane showed similar textures, with {110} pole and Ramulu189 and Liu et al.188,190 Liu et al.188
closely aligned with the normal direction. They also investigated the effect of weld speed on the microstruc-
reported that welds made at slower travel speeds had a tural development in the SZ of the joints produced at a
stronger texture than those made at faster travel speeds. constant rotation rate, i.e. 400 rev min21. They reported
Sanders et al.184 also successfully friction stir welded that primary a grain size was much finer than that in the
Ti64 alloy using a tool with a tapered pin. However, they BM for the joints produced with lower welding speeds
did not report any information on the tool material and (e.g. 25 and 50 mm min21), indicating that grain
welding conditions. However, they also indicated that refinement took place (Fig. 31). However, no grain
FSW mill annealed Ti64 alloy joints exhibit comparable refinement occurs when the welding speed rises to
tensile properties to those of the BM only after post- 100 mm min21. This is attributed to the fact that the
weld stress relief heat treatment. The microstructural dynamic recrystallisation is not complete at this welding
investigations on FSW Ti64 alloy joints also revealed speed.
that the peak temperature during FSW of this alloy The grain sizes of the SZ in thinner plates are finer
exceeds the b transus temperature, i.e. 995uC, and the than those achieved in thicker plates when joined with
alloy is deformed in the high temperature b-phase field. the same welding parameters since the cooling rates are
Hence, a tool made of a material that can withstand faster. The tools used in thinner section welds have a
elevated temperatures, i.e. .1000uC, such as Mo-based smaller diameter shoulder and thus a much smaller
alloys184,185 or sintered TiC,180 or W-based alloys,181 is surface area, producing less heat than the thick section
needed for joining this alloy. This b phase is then weld tools.189 This also contributes to the evolution of
transformed to various forms of a phase depending on finer grains in the SZs of thinner section welds.
the cooling rate, containing a small amount of retained b Moreover, the grains at the top of the SZ are usually
phase. It is worth noting that the microstructural larger than those at the bottom due to the fact that most
evolution in FSW of this alloy is much more compli- of the heat is generated by the shoulder of the tool
cated than those observed in Al-alloys due to the during welding.189 Thus, the thicker joints exhibit lower
a 25 mm min21; b 50 mm min21; c 100 mm min21

31 Optical micrographs of SZs of friction stir welded 2 mm thick mill-annealed Ti–6Al–4V sheet using rotation rate of
400 rev min21 showing effect of weld speed on microstructure188

32 Hardness distribution near the weld zone in the direc-

33 Hardness distribution across the friction stir welded
tion marked by the dashed line in the macroimage of
2 mm thick Ti64 alloy joints produced at different rota-
friction stir welded 5?6 mm thick pure Ti joint at a tool
tion speeds with a travel speed of 75 mm min21 using
rotation speed of 1100 rev min21 and a welding speed
a W–Rh tool.198 Note the slight hardness decrease in
of 500 mm min21 using a sintered TiC welding tool
the NZ compared to that of base plate due to the soft-
equipped with a water cooling system.180 Note the
ening resulting from recovery and recrystallisation
softening in the HAZ due to the thermal annealing
effect
displayed much higher hardness than the other regions
of the joint which is due to the pcBN debris and Ti
hardness values than the thinner ones when friction stir
borides present in the region resulting from the tool
welded under the same or similar conditions. For
wear occurring more at the surface.
instance, Edwards and Ramulu189 determined that a
Conflicting results were reported for the hardness
higher hardness value in the SZ of the thin welds while
values achieved in the weld zone of friction stir welded
the thicker section welds (i.e. 12 mm) exhibited similar
Ti64 alloy.181,185,188–190 For instance, Ramirez and
hardness values to that of the base plate. These varying
Juhas181 and Zhou et al.198 observed that a slight
hardness values are clearly associated with the different
hardness decrease occurred in the NZ (Fig. 33), while
microstructural characteristics revealed in these studies
Zhang et al.185 reported that the hardness of the SZ was
due to the varying peak temperatures and cooling rates
higher than that of the BM, but a hardness loss occurred
involved.
in the HAZ of FSW Ti64 alloy joints produced using a
Hardness and tensile properties of Ti-alloys Mo-based alloy tool with a tapered pin and a convex
The mechanical properties of FSW Ti64 alloy joints also shoulder (Fig. 34). Zhou et al.198 reported that the mean
vary depending on the microstructures evolved depend- hardness value of the weld zone (WZ) is lower than that
ing on the welding conditions. For instance, Fig. 32 of the BM for all the joints produced with different
shows the hardness distribution near the weld zone in rotation rates. It is well known that deformed material
the direction marked by the dashed line in the macro- will be softened during recovery or recrystallisation. They
image of friction stir welded 5?6 mm thick pure Ti at a proposed that when the rotation speed of 400 rev min21
tool rotation speed of 1100 rev min21 and a welding is used, the WZ experiences dynamic recrystallisation
speed of 500 mm min21 using a sintered TiC welding induced by the friction heat and plastic deformation
tool equipped with a water cooling system.180 The imposed by the pin tool, and this gives the explanation for
hardness in the weld nugget has scattered values, with hardness decrease in the WZ. However, the WZ produced
hardness values comparable to that of the BM. at rotation speed of 500 or 600 rev min21 is characterised
However, the HAZ was softened due to the thermal by a full lamellar microstructure with dislocation-free or
annealing effect. The higher hardness spot in the weld low dislocation density a colonies. In this case, hardness
nugget is matched to a denser twinned region, while the decrease in the WZ is attributed to the dislocation density
lower hardness spot in the weld nugget is a region of reduction and microstructure coarsening. The micro-
lower twin density and grain boundary serration. The structure coarsening in the WZ is more obvious due to the
higher hardness region in the weld nugget is related to relatively high heat input when higher rotation speed is
the deformation structures, such as twins and disloca- used, therefore hardness in the WZ decreases with
tion density. This result provides a clear evidence for the increasing rotation speed.
hardening of the material by deformation twinning, due On the other hand, Zhang et al.185 reported that the
to both a reduction in the effective slip length (Hall– SZ displayed a higher hardness value than the BM, and
Petch effect) and an increase in the hardness of the twin the lowest hardness was observed in the HAZ. The HAZ
region (Basinski mechanism). Similar hardness variation corresponded to the lowest hardness region in each weld
across the friction stir welded pure Ti joint was also and the lowest hardness value of the welds decreased
reported by Fujii et al.195 On the other hand, Zhang with increasing rotational speed. The HAZ region
et al.194 reported higher hardness values in the NZ than displayed a bimodal microstructure, but had different
the BM in friction stir welded pure Ti using a pcBN tool prior b grain sizes, i.e. the prior b grain size increased
which results from a finer grain structure with serrate with the rotational speed. For such a kind of micro-
grain boundaries than the BM. Surface of the joint structure, the prior b grain size is a dominant factor

exhibited comparable tensile properties to those of the

base metals as seen in Table 8.185,195 Similarly, Lienert
et al.187 reported that FSW Ti64 alloy joints exhibited
higher traverse tensile strength values than those of the
BM without any loss in ductility. They did not report
any information on the tool material. On the other
hand, Zhang et al.185 observed in a more recent work
that the transverse tensile strength of FSW Ti64 joints
was slightly lower than that of the BM. Similarly, Liu
et al.188 reported that the friction stir welded Ti64 alloy
joints with a bimodal microstructure (consisting of
primary a and transformed b phases) produced below
the b transus exhibited comparable tensile strength and
elongation values to those of the base plate. Recently,
Ramulu et al.199 reported that friction stir welded Ti64
joints exhibited even higher tensile strength values than
34 Hardness profiles across the friction stir welded 3 mm those of the base plate. However, elongations were
thick Ti64 alloy joints produced at different rotational decreased. It seems that the tensile strength increases
speeds with a travel speed of 60 mm min21 using a with the decreasing grain size within the SZs of the
Mo-based tool.185 Note that the hardness of the SZ joints. However, there is still a need for further work to
was higher than that of the BM, but the hardness understand the effect of weld parameters on the
minimum lies in the HAZ microstructural changes and, hence on the performance
of FSW Ti64 alloy joints.
Experiments have also been conducted on a fully b Ti-
governing mechanical properties, and smaller b grain alloy in thin sheet form,191 but it concentrated on the
size leads to greater strength and ductility. This would microstructural aspects. They reported that sound joints
be a reason why the hardness in the HAZ decreases with were achieved over a wide range of welding speeds (50–
increasing rotational speed. 300 mm min21) at a rotation rate of 200 rev min21 using
However, an extremely fine grained bimodal micro- a W-alloy tool under argon atmosphere. No mechanical
structure, and thus hardness values slightly higher than data have been reported. A shear texture formation is
or comparable to that of the base plate can be achieved reported to take place in the SZ due to the high
in the SZ by keeping the peak temperature below the b temperatures and extensive shear deformation experi-
transus.188–190 One should, however, bear in mind that enced during FSW. Fonda et al.183,192 also conducted
the tool may wear more when the peak temperature is FSW of Ti5–1–1–1 alloy, which is a near-a Ti-alloy,
lower during friction stir joining of Ti-alloys, which is studied only the microstructural changes occurring in the
also the case in steels, since the tool wear is an important NZ. A microstructure of fine a laths within equiaxed prior
issue for such materials. Thus, the peak temperature b-grains is obtained within the SZ of near-a Ti-alloys.192
plays a dominating influence on the microstructural A shear texture formation is also observed indicating that
evolution and the grain size in the NZ, which greatly the peak temperature during joining exceeds the b transus
determines the hardness and strength values achieved as temperature. This shear texture formation differs from
well as the initial state of the alloy before FSW. This those reported in FSW of Ti64 alloy and is similar to
should be taken into consideration when interpreting the those produced during FSW of a b-Ti alloy. It is not yet
mechanical properties of the joints in these alloys. understood why the texture produced in Ti64 alloy is
Table 8 summarises the limited transverse tensile different then those formed in b-Ti and near-a Ti-alloys.
properties of FSW Ti-alloys available in the literature. There is also very limited data on residual stress
Comparable or higher transverse tensile properties are development during FSW of Ti-alloys in the literature.
generally obtained from the friction stir welded pure Ti For instance, John et al.182 conducted residual stress
and Ti-alloys plates. For instance, Lee et al.180 and Fujii measurements on the friction stir welded 6?35 mm thick
et al.195 reported that friction stir welded pure Ti plates mill-annealed Ti–6Al–4V plates. The residual stresses
Table 8 Summary of friction stir welded joint efficiency values for Ti64 alloys*
Welding condition
(rotation rate/
Thickness, traverse speed), Rm of BM, Rm of FSW, Joint efficiency,
Material mm rev min21/mm min21 MPa MPa % Reference
Pure Ti 5.6 1100/500 440 430 98 180

Pure Ti 2.0 200/200 420 420–460 100–110 195
Ti64 … …/102 958 1014 106 187
Ti64 3.0 300/60 940 920 98 185
Ti64 2.0 400/25–100 1036 930–985 90–95 188, 197
Ti64 2.0 400, 500, 600/75 1036 972, 960, 920 94, 93, 89 198
Ti64 2.0 150/100 1150 1182 103 199
Ti64 6.35 400–500/60–80 … … y100 202
*Results of transverse tensile tests (the tensile direction perpendicular to the welding direction). Rm, tensile strength.

heat distribution in the weld is not uniform during FSW

due to the poor thermal conductivity of alloys such as
Ti64. And the rotating shoulder generates the majority
of heat at the upper surface when conventional tools are
used in FSW of these alloys. Thus, a significant
temperature gradient through the thickness is generated.
Since the hot working temperature range of Ti is not
wide, an even temperature distribution is essential for
the best results in FSW. Russel et al.202 suggested the
static shoulder approach to counteract this problem
resulting from low thermal conductivity of these alloys,
in which the shoulder does not directly contribute to the
heat generated during welding, thus surface overheating
and thermal gradient through the thickness are elimi-
nated. Another difficulty encountered in FSW of these
alloys is the need for shielding the joint area during
35 Residual stresses perpendicular to friction stir weld, joining as the plates reach temperatures much higher
along y-direction, in mill-annealed 6?35 mm thick Ti– than 500uC at which Ti is very reactive.
6Al–4V at different locations through thickness182 The microstructural changes take place in the SZ of Ti-
alloys, particularly of Ti64 alloy, thus the mechanical
perpendicular to the friction stir weld, along the y- properties of the joints predominantly depend on the
direction, in Ti64, at different locations through the peak temperature during the welding. If the peak
thickness are shown in Fig. 35. At the centre of the weld, temperature is above the b transus, then a fully lamellar
high compressive residual stresses (2100 to 2475 MPa) structure evolves in the SZ whereas a bimodal (azb)
were measured at the surfaces and low tensile stresses microstructure is formed when the peak temperature is
(maximum 100 MPa) within the thickness of the material. kept below the transus temperature. The alloy may
experience recrystallisation as well as phase transforma-
General remarks on FSW of Ti-alloys tion when processed in the two-phase region. In this
While early results indicate that FSW is a potential condition, the SZ experiences high temperature and
welding method for obtaining defect-free joints in severe plastic deformation, thus dynamic recrystallisation
Ti-alloys, there is an obvious need for further work to can be induced in the SZ. The existence of a large amount
understand the effect of welding conditions on the of dislocation-free equiaxed a confirms the dynamic
microstructural changes taking place in the alloys recrystallisation process in the SZ. In addition to dynamic
undergoing an allotropic phase transformations, i.e. recrystallisation, aRb transformation can also occur due
Ti64 alloy, in sufficient depth. The control of process to the high temperature at the heating stage of the FSW.
temperatures and cooling rates is of particular interest However, the aRb transformation is not fully developed
for FSW of azb Ti-alloys to optimise the microstruc- because the temperature is below the b transus tempera-
ture, and hence the joint properties. Although there is ture and the high-temperature dwell time is relatively
almost no data on FSW of a, near-aand b Ti-alloys, no short. During the cooling stage of the FSW, bRazb
difficulty is expected due to the fact that no phase transformation occurs, resulting in the formation of
transformation takes place in these alloys, provided that alternate lamellar azb. As a result, a bimodal micro-
an adequate tool is available. structure is formed in the SZ due to dynamic recrystalli-
One of the difficulties in FSW of Ti-alloys is the high sation and phase transformation. The grain size of the
reactivity of Ti with many potential tool materials at phases in bimodal microstructure also influences the
typical FSW temperatures. This severely limits the mechanical properties. However, there are currently very
choice of tool materials. Furthermore, the tool wear is limited mechanical data reported in the literature. Despite
still a hindrance for the commercial application of this the successes to date, more work is needed for a complete
technique to Ti-alloys as it is the case for steels. understanding of FSW of Ti-alloys. Development of new
Titanium and its alloys except b alloys exhibit low hot- tool materials/designs is needed to increase tool life to a
workability in contrast to Mg-alloys, which also have point where FSW of titanium alloys is cost-competitive
hexagonal crystal structure. It is, therefore, difficult to with other joining processes. Moreover, an satisfactory
plasticise Ti-alloys during FSW. Thus, the biggest explanation for tool–workpiece material interactions is
problem in FSW of Ti-alloys is the appalling thermal required. Only a handful of Ti-alloys have currently been
conductivity coupled with the difficulty to plasticise and friction stir welded. Considerable scope for investigation
high reactivity, which makes welding with conventional of other Ti-alloys exists.
tool designs (tools with threads) extremely difficult. Thus, further work is needed to determine the
Alternative simple tool designs increasing the friction, properties of the FSW Ti-alloy joints. For instance,
thus the heat input, should be used in FSW of these the structural integrity related properties of the FSW Ti-
alloys, i.e. tools with truncated conical probes and alloy joints, i.e. fracture toughness and fatigue strength,
convex shoulders with smaller diameters, which make need to be assessed in acceptable depth for critical
the process much simpler. The traditional large shoulder structural application. Corrosion databases are also
small cylindrical pin design is not sufficient because the required for designers. Moreover, tool wear is still a
heat generated at the shoulder is not able to flow to the hindrance for industrial implementation of this process
root of the joint and allow stirring in Ti. Thus, a smaller to Ti-alloys. Provided that these advancements are
shoulder and large tapered pin is used. Moreover, the made, FSW may become an alternative method to

fusion welding processes, which displays some difficul- (ii) degradation in strength of MMCs owing to
ties in welding these alloys associated with phase destruction or change in configuration of the
transformation, for producing reliable joints with higher strengthening particles caused by plastic defor-
structural integrity. It should also be mentioned that an mation of the matrix during applied force used in
argon shielding is usually employed in FSW of Ti or Ti- solid-state techniques and due to the clustering
alloys to avoid surface oxidation as it is the case in Mg- of particles in fusion joining215
alloys and steels. This is, however, the only problem for (iii) poor joint efficiency values due to the change in
aesthetic purposes and can be machined off anyway. configuration of the particles (i.e. clustering of
particles) in fusion joining.
Friction stir welding of MMCs In addition to those problems, the use of conventional
Metal matrix composite materials have attracted great fusion welding methods to join MMCs may also result
interest in last 20 years owing to their superior mass in:11,206–210
equivalent properties as well as their high resistance to (i) porosity formation in the FZ
elevated temperatures and better wear resistance than (ii) decomposition or dissolution of particles at
many materials.206,207 However, the poor formability elevated temperatures experienced during joining
and weldability of MMCs arising from their anisotropic (iii) occurrence of weld cracks and voids owing to
properties and stiff reinforcement, particularly in those poor wettability between the particle and the
with higher volume percentage of reinforcement, con- molten metal.211–214
siderably hinder their commercial exploitation in wide To date, extensive work has been carried out on the
quantities. An MMC consists of two distinct materials joining of particulate reinforced MMCs, particularly on
possessing totally different mechanical properties, which the Al-matrix composites, whereas work on the joining
are:
of other MMCs has been relatively limited. Excellent
(i) the matrix, typically an alloy of Al, Ti, Mg, Cu or
reviews on joining of MMCs, including oxide dispersion
Fe which has a relatively high ductility
strengthened alloys exist in the literature.206,207,209,210
(ii) the reinforcement, ceramic particles, such as an
Although conventional fusion welding can produce
oxide, carbide, or nitride.
sound joints free from defects such as voids or cracks in
The term MMC is very often used to encompass MMCs
particle reinforced MMCs by using a low heat input
reinforced by particles, whiskers, or either continuous or
during welding, the joint properties are far below that of
discontinuous fibres, as well as metal-matrix oxide
the BM due to the loss of particle reinforcement, i.e.
dispersion strengthened materials, known as oxide
SiC.206,207 This is not valid for some particulates, i.e.
dispersion strengthened alloys.206,207
Al2O3 which is stable at weld pool temperatures. The
Since these groups of materials have different
excessive overheating during fusion welding may result
strengthening mechanisms, the joining phenomena and
in the formation of brittle phases in the FZ, such as loss
problems encountered in joining them also differ. Most
of SiC reinforcement and consequent formation Al4C3
FSW studies conducted to date were on particulate
in SiC particulate reinforced Al-matrix composites,
reinforced MMCs. Therefore, the physical metallurgy of
rendering the FZ brittle.213,214 Taking into consideration
only particulate reinforced MMCs will be considered in
the nature of particle reinforced MMCs, it is vitally
this study.
important to prevent melting (e.g. using solid-state
Physical metallurgy of particulate reinforced MMCs techniques with controlled pressure) or at least to
Particulate reinforced MMCs are of great interest in minimise the extend of the FZ (e.g. using low heat
meeting the demand of high performance structures input techniques) in order to join these materials
owing to their superior mass equivalent strength, satisfactorily.
particularly discontinuous particulate reinforced Mg- Thus, the welding of SiC reinforced Al-matrix MMCs
and Al-matrix composites. The lower manufacturing should be conducted under conditions of minimal
costs and ability to shape discontinuously reinforced overheating to prevent the formation brittle phases in
composites using conventional forming processes, such the FZ.206,207 However, laser and electron beam welding
as forging, rolling and extrusion, make this class of processes run a high risk of resulting in the formation of
MMCs particularly attractive for aerospace, ship build- brittle phases in the FZ of these materials.209 Some
ing, automobile and electronic industries.206,207 At success was reported in producing joints of SiC
present, suitable powder metallurgy and casting techni- reinforced Al-matrix composites by the laser beam
ques are available for production of these materials; method, in the FZ of which the dissolution of SiC and
however, the difficulty of joining them has to be subsequent formation of brittle Al4C3 phase has been
overcome. Among all particulate reinforced MMCs, precluded.206,207 However, a low heat input and short
Al-matrix particulate reinforced MMCs are the most thermal cycles must be used to avoid these deleterious
commercialised, thus this study will mainly focus on phase changes in the FZ. Moreover, the strength of laser
these MMCs. or electron beam welded particulate reinforced MMC
The elevated temperature or pressure used during joints rarely matches those of the base composite. Low
fusion welding or solid-state joining respectively, may heat input tungsten inert gas arc welding with unrein-
lead to the degradation of the BM microstructure, thus forced filler can be used to join these materials.11
the weld properties. Typical degradations that might However, this technique is a manual process and relies
take place during joining of particulate reinforced highly on operator skill, and the matrix-reinforcement
MMCs are:11,206–210 reaction cannot be completely avoided in this method.
(i) deterioration of strength at the particle/matrix Resistance welding, which is considered a solid-state
interface due to formation of undesirable brittle technique, can successfully be used to produce particu-
phases at elevated temperatures211–214 late reinforced Al-matrix composites joints with strength

comparable to that of the BM.216 Similarly, capacitor circular pins without threads or truncated conical pins
discharge welding can be used to join these materials without threads or flats) perform better.218,220,228,236,238
since it involves an extremely short period of heating, i.e. Moreover, although tools made of hardened tool
0?1 ms.213 With this technique, sound joints free from steels236 and WC–Co hard alloy238 wear significantly
defects, such as voids or cracks, can be obtained and the in FSW of MMCs, tools made of TiAlN-coated HSS,
reaction between the particle and the matrix can be Ferro-Titanit or high wear resistant steel strengthened
avoided. Moreover, conventional friction welding (i.e. with 30%TiC perform better.232,233,235 The wear rates of
inertia friction welding) can also be used to produce tools with square and triangle pins are found to be
sound particulate reinforced Al-matrix composites joints higher than that of the circular pin in FSP.243 Tools
with good mechanical properties.11,206,207 However, all with conical unthreaded pins or tools with unthreaded
these solid-state joining techniques have geometrical truncated conical (tapered) pins can be used for further
limitations. improvement of the tool life.236,242 Mahmoud et al.243
Thus, particulate reinforced MMCs, which are also reported that the SiC particles were distributed
popular high performance materials with potentially more homogeneously in the NZ by using the square pin
wide application, still suffer from the difficulty in tool than the tools with threaded and unthreaded
joining. Joining of these attractive structural materials cylindrical pins and triangle pins. However, the tool
is, therefore, of paramount importance. It was also wear is still an issue in FSW of MMCs. Table 9
pointed out by Çam and Koçak203,204 that there is an summarises the tool materials and geometries used for
urgent need for establishing new joining techniques to FSW Al-matrix particulate reinforced MMCs.
produce reliable joints for the use of full potential of Some early results indicated that the number of
particulate reinforced MMCs. In this respect, FSW is particles was essentially identical to that in base
considered to be a potential to succeed this short- composites indicating that no particle breakage takes
coming.11 place during FSW.219–225 However, recent studies226–234
Weld microstructure and hardness of particulate reinforced clearly demonstrate that the breakdown of reinforcing
MMCs particles takes place in the SZ (Fig. 36). For instance,
Owing to the great interest in satisfactorily joining Al- Baxter and Reynolds226 observed that the number of
matrix particulate reinforced MMCs as discussed above, SiC particles in the SZ of FSW Al-alloy 7079 matrix
there have recently been numerous studies on the join- composite was twice that in the base composite although
ability of these materials of interest with FSW.11,217–244 the volume percentage was the same, indicating the
These studies demonstrated that there was no indication particle breakage. They suggested that the particle
of the particle–matrix reaction during FSW of SiC breakage took place by knocking of corners and sharp
reinforced Al-matrix composites, which is the main edges off large particles rather than shattering. A
drawback in fusion welding degrading the joint proper- reduction in the particles size in the SZ of various
ties. This can be attributed to the fact the heating cycles, particle reinforced MMCs was also observed by many
hence the time available for detrimental reactions investigators, i.e. Al2009–15 vol.-%SiC,228–231 Al6061–
between the matrix and the particles, is much shorter in 20 vol.-%Al2O3,242 and Al7075–10 vol.-%Al2O3,233 due
this solid-state joining technique than those in fusion to the comminution effect induced by the stirring tool
welding. Moreover, it was well demonstrated that FSW leading to the breakage of ceramic particles. For
produces sound joints without visible weld defects in Al- example, Feng et al.228–231 joined 8 mm thick Al2009–
matrix particulate reinforced MMCs with up to 30 vol.-% 15 vol.-%SiC composite plates by FSW using a steel tool
ceramic particles. However, sound joints in these and reported that particle breaking took place in the SZ;
materials can only be obtained when lower tool however, the particles were uniformly distributed.
rotational speeds and travel speeds are used.217 The Similarly, Ceschini et al.232,233 also observed particle
range of optimum FSW conditions also becomes breaking and hence significant reduction in the grain size
narrower with increasing volume percentage of reinfor- of particles both in the SZs of friction stir welded
cing particles in MMCs.217 Furthermore, the tool wear Al6061–20 vol.-%Al2O3 and Al7075–10 vol.-%Al2O3
is a major problem in FSW of these materials if composites plates of a 7 mm thickness using a Ferro-
standard tools with threads are used due to the presence Titanit tool. Furthermore, a grain refinement of the
of ceramic particles218,220,228,236,238 if the tool material matrix phase also takes place during FSW due to the
is not sufficiently wear resistant. These studies have dynamic recrystallisation as a result of the frictional
shown that tools with simple shaped pins (or simple heating as observed by many investigators.228–234
Table 9 Summary of tool materials and geometries used for FSW Al-matrix particulate reinforced MMCs
Al 359z20 vol.-%SiC 4.0 Hardened tool steel Standard{ 218

2009/15 vol.-%SiC 8.0 Hardened tool steel Standard{ 228
6061/20 vol.-%Al2O3 5.0 Hardened tool steel Standard{ 220, 236
Al–Si alloy/30 vol.-%SiC 5.0 WC–Co hard alloy Standard{ 238
2124/25 vol.-%SiC 6.0 TiAlN-coated HSS Standard (slightly conical) 235
6061/20 vol.-%Al2O3 7.0 Fe-based composite* Truncated with threads 232
6063/13.5 vol.-%B4C 4.5 AISI 4340 steel Conical pin without threads 242
7075/10 vol.-%Al2O3 7.0 Ferro-Titanit Standard 233
*Wear resistant steel strengthened with 30 vol.-%TiC.
{Cylindrical with threads (excessive wear takes place in this case).

a cross-section of joint; b microstructure of BM; c microstructure of TMAZ; d microstructure of SZ

36 Typical microstructure of friction stir weld in MMC (AA2124/SiCp/25): note reduction in grain size of particles in
TMAZ and SZ; micrographs courtesy of Y. Bozkurt234
In addition, overaging of the matrix phase also occurs HAZ, like in the case of the monolithic 6061 alloy. It can
if the composite is friction stir welded in the aged be probably related to the prevailing overaging effect in
condition, leading to a decrease in hardness and strength the Al-alloy matrix, induced by the frictional heating.
of the joint in the SZ.232 For instance, the hardness On the contrary, higher hardness values in the NZ than
profile of friction stir welded AA 6061 alloy reinforced that in the base composite are obtained if the matrix
with 20% of Al2O3 particles in T6 condition is shown in alloy is cast,218 as it is the case in the cast Mg-alloys.
Fig. 37.225 Microhardness measurements shows a scatter
in the results which is expected in particulate reinforced Tensile properties of particulate reinforced MMCs
composites. But, unlike in the case of fusion welding, Most of the early studies aimed at the determination of
where the reinforcement particles migrate from the the process parameters required for producing defect-
centre of the weld to the HAZ, there is no hardening of free friction stir welded joints in MMCs and concen-
the HAZ. On the contrary, there is a loss of hardness in trated on the microstructural aspects of friction stir
the weld zone, which is slightly different than expected welded MMCs and the parameters. Thus, there are
from those observed in monolithic alloys. Precipitation currently limited data on the mechanical performance of
hardening alloys such as the 6xxx series show a loss of the joints (Table 10). However, the early results on the
hardness in the HAZ, with some recovery in the nugget. cross-weld testing of these joints are very promising. For
In the MMC this typical profile was not so evident. It is example, Nelson et al.222 reported that the transverse
possible that the recrystallisation dynamics is changed tensile properties of FSW joints were superior to those
by the presence of the reinforcement. All the joints of arc welded joints for Al6061 matrix composite
exhibited, nevertheless, minimum hardness values in the reinforced with 15–30 vol.-%B4C particles. Although
37 Hardness profile of friction stir welded 7 mm thick AA 6061 alloy reinforced with 20% of Al2O3 particles in T6
condition:225 note hardness decrease in weld region due to overaging of matrix phase, hardness minimum lying in HAZ

the tensile strength of FSW joints was relatively lower studies considering each of these factors affecting the
than that of the base composite, the yield strengths of joint performance.
the joints was higher indicating that FSW produces A joint efficiency value of y60% was obtained for
sound joints with good mechanical performance in these Al6063 matrix composite with 6 and 10?5 vol.-%B4C
material, which are very difficult to weld with fusion particles friction stir welded at a rotational rate of
welding. 1500 rev min21 and a traverse speed of 600 mm min21
However, the effect of FSW on the joint perfor- using a tool made of AISI 4340 steel.242 The joint
mance of particulate reinforced MMCs apparently efficiency values were increased up to over 80% by a
depends on the characteristics of the matrix alloy and post-weld artificial aging (5 h at 185uC). The joint
reinforcing particles, such as shape, type and volume efficiency can be further increased by optimising the
fraction, etc., as well as on the welding conditions. For weld parameters. Higher joint efficiency values, i.e.
example, Marzoli et al.225 reported joint efficiency y82%, were reported by Feng et al.230 for FSW Al2009
values of 71 and 85% in terms of yield strength and matrix composite reinforced with 15 vol.-%SiC particles
tensile strength respectively, for FSW Al6061 matrix without aging the material before joining. They also
composite with 20 vol.-%Al2O3 particles, using a demonstrated that a post-weld T4 heat-treatment
Ferro-Titanit tool. They, however, reported no infor- increased the joint efficiency up to 95%, which is
mation about the welding parameters they employed in comparable to that of the base composite with a T4
FSW trials. Similarly, Ceschini et al.232 reported a joint heat treatment. Bozkurt234 also investigated the join-
efficiency of about 57 and 72% in terms of yield ability of 3 mm thick Al2124-T4 matrix composite with
strength and tensile strength respectively, for the same 25 vol.-%SiC particles by FSW under different welding
MMC. The relatively low joint efficiency values, conditions. They achieved the highest joint efficiency
particularly in yield strength, can be attributed to the value, i.e. y81%, from the FSW joints produced with a
overaging of the matrix which was given a T6 heat travel speed of 40 mm min21 at the rotational speeds of
treatment before welding. On the other hand, they also 560 and 1120 rev min21, and the increasing travel speed
reported a higher joint efficiency value of y81% in terms at a given rotational speed decreased the joint perfor-
of both yield and tensile strengths for FSW Al7005 matrix mance. Fuchs et al.241 obtained a similar joint efficiency
composite reinforced with 10 vol.-%Al2O3 particles.233 A value, i.e. 82%, for the same T4 heat treated MMC with
similar joint efficiency value, i.e. 84%, was also reported a thickness of 4?4 mm at a rotational rate of
for the same MMC by Cavaliere et al.223 Similarly, they 800 rev min21 and a welding speed of 150 mm min21.
also reported a joint efficiency value of .-87% for friction They also reported that longitudinal residual stresses in
stir welded 7 mm thick Al6061-T6 matrix composite the joint region of this particulate reinforced MMCs
with 20 vol.-%Al2O3 particles at a rotational speed of were much lower than those in the unreinforced AA2154
800 rev min21 and a travel speed of 56 mm min21. Al-alloy.
The reasons for different joint efficiency values for the Recently, there are also some reports on the feasibility
same MMC are apparently numerous. One of the of joining Mg-alloy matrix composites via FSW.239 For
reasons is the different peak temperatures the material instance, Lee et al.239 demonstrated that defect-free
experiences during FSW as a result of various welding joints can be produced in AZ91 Mg-alloy matrix
parameters used in these studies. The initial state of the composites reinforced with 10 vol.-%SiC particles at a
matrix material (i.e. aged or solution treated) is also an rotation rate of 1250 rev min21 and a travel speed of
important factor determining the mechanical behaviour 32 mm min21 with a tilting angle of 3u. They also
of the joint. Another reason may be the varying amount reported the hardness in the SZ is higher than that of the
of tool wear in each study which also affects the joint BM. However, a slight hardness drop in the HAZ takes
behaviour. However, there is still a lack of systematic place and no mechanical data were reported.
Table 10 Summary of friction stir welded joint efficiency values for particulate reinforced Al-matrix composites*
Welding condition
(rotation rate/traverse
Thickness, speed), rev min21/ Rm of BM, Rm of FSW, Joint efficiency,
Material mm mm min21 MPa MPa % Reference
2009z15 vol.-%SiC 8 600/50 390 320 (370{) 82 (95{) 230

2124z25 vol.-%SiC 3 560, 1120/40 453 362, 366 80, 81 234
2124z25 vol.-%SiC 4.4 800/150 470 384 82 241
2618z15 vol.-%Al2O3 … … 310 277 89 244
6061z15 vol.-%B4C … …/114, 138 248 203, 209 82, 84 222
6061z10 vol.-%Al2O3 … … 186 183 98 244
6061z20 vol.-% Al2O3 7 … 355 251 71 225
6061z20 vol.-%Al2O3 7 … 364 262 72 232
6061z20 vol.-%Al2O3 7 800/56 379 329 87 223
6063z6 vol.-%B4C 4.5 1500/600 276 172 (223{) 62 (81{) 242
6063z10.5 vol.-%B4C 4.5 1500/600 286 176 (238{) 62 (84{) 242
7005z10 vol.-%Al2O3 7 600/300 370 299 81 233
7005z10 vol.-%Al2O3 7 800/56 310 260 84 223
7075z10 vol.-%Al2O3 … … 336 296 88 244
*Rm, tensile strength.
{After post-weld heat treatment.

General remarks on FSW of particulate reinforced MMCs used industrially for joining Al-alloys in manufacturing
Many of the commercially available Al-alloys are used of ships, aeroplanes and space shuttles, trains and other
as the matrix material for the production of particle vehicles. With friction stir butt-welding, the progress
reinforced Al-matrix composites and each group exhi- made in welding of Al- and Mg-alloys will make the
bits different characteristics, hence the FSW results mass production of light transportation systems possible
should be considered accordingly. The FSW character- and hence a significant reduction in fuel consumption
istics of the monolithic Al-alloys, which are used as the will be achieved. The application of this novel welding
matrix material in MMCs, are now relatively well method will increase in the coming days, particularly in
established. However, the FSW characteristics of ship building, aeroplane and space industry, automotive
MMCs not only depend on the matrix alone as pointed sector and other manufacturing sectors.
out earlier, but also on the reinforcing particles related While it is now clear that FSW of Al-alloys reached
aspects, such as the type and volume percentage of a level of maturity that enables commercial imple-
particles and the interparticle distance. The early results mentation in several industries, it is quite early for the
also suggest that the increasing volume percentage for a application of this technique to other materials rather
given matrix seems not to affect the joint efficiency than Al-alloys. This welding process is basically a
achieved by FSW in contrast to more conventional thermal process just like fusion welding processes.
welding processes. The weld parameters are very Temperatures involved during FSW are sufficient to
influential on the joint performance. The initial state cause microstructural changes in work-hardened or
of the matrix phase (i.e. aged or solution treated) may precipitation-hardened alloys or alloys undergoing
also determine the joint performance. However, there is phase transformation. Furthermore, this process
need for detailed investigations to fully understand the involves very high strains and strain rates in contrast
effect of FSW on the properties of particulate reinforced to fusion welding processes. Thus, a set of complex
MMCs as the situation is more complex for these processes and their interactions determine the micro-
materials than for the monolithic counterparts. structures evolving during FSW. The mechanisms of
While early results indicate that FSW is a potential microstructural evolution also vary from alloy to
welding method for obtaining defect-free joints in alloy. Therefore, further work is needed to gain a full
particulate reinforced Al-matrix composites, there is an understanding of these aspects for structural materials
obvious need for further work to understand the effect of beyond Al-alloys.
FSW on these materials in sufficient depth. For example, Among the structural materials beyond Al-alloys only
no systematic studies have been conducted up to date on Mg-alloys both in cast and wrought condition can be
the effect of volume percentage of reinforcing particles on friction stir welded using standard tools (i.e. cylindrical
the joint performance for a given matrix. Moreover, the with threads) made of tool steels (e.g. H13) similar to
tool wear is still a hindrance for the commercial those employed in Al-alloys. This is due to the fact that
application of this technique to particulate reinforced Mg-alloys display high workability at the temperatures
MMCs as it is the case for steels and Ti-alloys, due to the reached during FSW although they possess very limited
reduced ductility of these materials compared to the cold workability stemming from their non-symmetrical
monolithic counterparts. The increasing volume percen- hexagonal crystal structure.
tage of the strengthening particles may also increase tool These standard tools cannot be employed in FSW of
wear in FSW of these materials. Surface coating of structural materials with intermediate melting point, i.e.
standard tools made of tool steels may reduce the wear. Cu and high temperature materials (steels and Ti-alloys),
The use of tools made of more wear resistant materials or as well as particulate reinforced Al-matrix MMCs. Cu-
tools with simple geometries as discussed in FSW of steels alloys require tools with higher temperature resistance,
may reduce tool wear. However, this problem should be particularly the plates thicker than 3 mm. The reason
fully overcome for industrial implementation of this for this is the filling of finely machined threads with Cu
welding technique to MMCs. and the softening of the tool steel above 540uC.
Furthermore, there are limited data on the structural Therefore, a tool made of high temperature resistant
performance of friction stir welded MMCs joints alloys, such as hot-work tool steel, is required for FSW
reported in the literature. Further work is needed to of thin Cu-alloys. For thicker pure Cu or Cu-alloys,
determine the structural integrity related properties of special tools made of even higher temperature resistant
friction stir welded MMCs joints, i.e. fracture toughness. alloys, such as sintered W-based alloy or tools with
Provided that these advancements are made, FSW may convex scroll shoulders made of Ni-based superalloys
become an reliable method for producing joints with (i.e. Nimonic 105), are needed.
higher structural integrity in difficult to fusion weld Although tools made of high temperature resistant
particulate reinforced MMCs, which may contribute to materials such as pcBN, W-based alloys, cermets (WC–
fully exploiting the potential of these light-weight Co), etc., with simple columnar probes without threads
materials. or truncated probes without threads are now available
for lowering the tool wear, unreliable tool wear is still
the main issue for higher melting temperature materials,
General remarks such as steels and Ti-alloys, as well as for Al-matrix
This review has clearly demonstrated that FSW pro- MMCs containing hard strengthening particles.
duces defect-free joints in several materials of interest Significant tool wear may occur in FSW of particulate
beyond Al-alloys. However, the effect of welding reinforced MMCs due to the reduced ductility of these
conditions on the joint performance is well established materials compared to the monolithic counterparts. The
for only Al-, Mg- and Cu-alloys up to date. At present, increasing volume percentage of the strengthening
FSW (butt- and lap-welding applications) is already particles may also increase tool wear in FSW of these

materials. Surface coating of standard tools made of rapidly cooled castings and the latter more like
tool steels may reduce the wear. However, the use of extrusions, i.e. basically extrusion of hot metal between
tools made of more wear resistant materials or tools a rotating tool and cold undeformed metal. The type
with simple geometries are shown to give better results. (i.e. cast or wrought, the cast grades often contain high
The heat generated during FSW is greater when a amount of porosity), the hardening mechanism (whether
material with more resistance to plastic deformation is the alloy is precipitation hardened or not) and the
friction stir welded. Thus, higher temperature materials formability influence the weld microstructures obtained
(i.e. steels and Ti-alloys) require tools which are able to after FSW. Moreover, the weld parameters (i.e. the peak
remain intact at temperatures higher than 1000uC. A temperature reached during welding which affects the
limited number of materials can fulfil this requirement, grain size, dislocation density and texture) as well as the
namely refractory metals (e.g. W–Rh), polycrystalline composition and thermomechanical history of the alloy
boron nitride (PcBN) and cermets (e.g. WC–Co). Tools before joining play an important role in the micro-
made of all of these materials can be employed in FSW structure and thus on the joint performance. For
of steels with some wear. Stirring tools may also be instance, FSW effectively eliminates the porosities and
cooled during FSW of steels in order to increase the tool refines the microstructure in the cast alloys, thus higher
life,134,135,139,144 which may not be appropriate for mechanical properties than the BM are achieved.
highly reactive Ti-alloys. Generally, grain refinement takes place in the NZ of
The situation is far more complicated for Ti-alloys friction stir welds produced in structural materials
due to their high reactivity and low conductivity. The beyond Al-alloys due to dynamic recrystallisation as it
biggest problem in FSW of Ti-alloys is the appalling is the case in Al-alloys provided that the heat input is low
thermal conductivity coupled with the difficulty to and the original grain size is not very fine whereas coarse
plasticise and high reactivity, which makes welding with grains are usually formed in fusion welds. It is also worth
conventional tool designs (tools with threads) extremely pointing out that although recrystallisation refines grains
difficult. And many potential tool materials are highly during plastic deformation, rapid grain growth occurs
reactive with Ti at typical FSW temperatures. This when the deformation has ceased. Thus, the heat input
severely limits the choice of tool materials. Thus, plays an important role in the final grain size. Grain sizes
alternative simple tool designs increasing the friction, in the nugget may also exceed the parent grain size if the
thus the heat input, should be used in FSW of these heat flow is not managed correctly, particularly when the
alloys, i.e. tools with truncated conical probes and original grain size is extremely fine. Initial state of the
convex shoulders with smaller diameters, which make plate also plays an important role in microstructural
the process much simpler. Furthermore, polycrystalline evolution. For instance, recrystallisation takes place more
boron nitride (PcBN) tools cannot be used in FSW of easily if the material is highly cold-worked before FSW
these alloys due to the formation of Ti-borides and Ti- than that in the materials hot-worked or slightly cold-
nitrides which leads to a reduction in fracture toughness. worked. The initial state of the plate also influences the
Furthermore, the low conductivity of pcBN tools mechanical properties of the joints obtained. For
necessitates thermal management during welding. A instance, the hardness may decrease in the HAZ region
proper cooling system is needed, when a low conductiv- after FSW, particularly in the case of the cold-worked
ity tool is used, to prevent failures both in the tool and in material due to annealing effects.
the anvil of the utilised fixture due to the high The NZ consists of two regions, namely TMAZ and
temperatures generated during welding. Thus, tools dynamically recrystallised zone, when the recrystallisa-
made of only refractory metals (e.g. W–Rh) and cermets tion is not easily induced. However, the NZ consists of
(e.g. WC–Co) can be utilised. The traditional large only a recrystallised region since the entire TMAZ is
shoulder small cylindrical pin design is not sufficient completely recrystallised in cases when the recrystallisa-
because the heat generated at the shoulder is not able to tion is easily induced. For instance, TMAZ is observed
flow to the root of the joint and allow stirring in Ti due to be completely recrystallised in pure Cu and single-
to its low conductivity. Thus, a smaller shoulder and phase Cu-alloys, pure Ti, ferritic and austenitic steels,
large tapered pin is used. Moreover, the heat distribu- and some Mg-alloys, producing fine and uniform
tion in the weld is not uniform during FSW due to the equiaxed grains. However, incomplete recrystallisation
poor thermal conductivity of alloys such as Ti64 when occurs in dual or multiple phase alloys, such as Ti-alloys,
conventional tools are used where the rotating shoulder structural steels, dual phase Cu-alloys and some Mg-
generates the majority of heat at the upper surface. Since alloys, due to the fact that the existence of multiple-
the hot working temperature range of titanium is not phases in these materials would complicate the plastic
wide an even temperature distribution is essential for the flow and recrystallisation process during FSW, particu-
best results in FSW. Therefore, the static shoulder larly when the peak temperatures are not high enough.
approach is proposed to counteract this problem. A correlation between the grain size and the hardness in
However, the tool wear is still a hindrance for the accordance with the Hall–Petch relationship is observed
commercial application of this technique to steels, Ti- for some Mg-alloys the NZ of which is fully recrystal-
alloys and particulate reinforced MMCs. Furthermore, lised. However, there is no correlation between the grain
FSW may lead to surface oxidation in steels and size and the hardness in accordance with the Hall–Petch
particularly in Ti-alloys. Thus, a shield gas is needed relationship in most of the structural materials beyond
during FSW of the materials. Alternatively, a shield gas Al-alloys, i.e. pure Cu and Cu-alloys, pure Ti and Ti-
is not used during FSW and the surface oxide can be alloys, and austenitic stainless steels. Thus, the hardness
machined off after the welding. of the NZ of these materials is determined by other
There are clear differences between fusion weld and structural aspects, such as dislocation density and
friction stir weld microstructures due to the former being texture formation, in addition to grain size.

Texture formation is another structural characteristic FSW produces joints with tensile properties higher than
of friction stir welded materials and may take place or comparable to those of the BM, in pure Cu, Cu–Zn
within the SZ of some materials, i.e. Mg- and Ti-alloys. alloys (i.e. brass) and cast NAB alloys, by employing
Plastic deformation of these alloys is attributed to slip adequate welding conditions. However, there is currently
deformation on the (0001) basal plane at room very limited industrial implementation of this joining
temperature due to their hcp crystal structure, and thus technique to Cu-alloys. For instance, it was successfully
heterogeneous distribution of the (0001) basal plane in demonstrated that this process can be used for joining
the SZ may significantly affect the mechanical properties 50 mm thick copper canisters containing spent nuclear
of the friction stir welds. For example, a heterogeneous fuel, although it has not yet been implemented. There is,
basal plane texture and a shear texture development however, some industrial implementation of this joining
have been observed in Mg- and Ti-alloys respectively. method in heat exchangers. Furthermore, copper and
Texture formation may also occur in steels, such as most of its alloys are generally used in applications where
austenitic stainless steels, due to the fact that the process one or more of conductivity, corrosion resistance,
induces severe deformation as a result of their signifi- biocidal properties or aesthetic appearance is required.
cantly lower stacking fault energy and higher work Out of these aspects, the appearance is not problem in
hardenability. For instance, some of the grains having a FSW because it produces clean surfaces. However, there
,111. fibre texture component are observed to form by is a need for detailed investigation to fully understand the
dynamic recrystallisation during FSW of austenitic microstructural evolution during FSW with respect to the
stainless steel. Texture formation in the SZ influences heat input experienced and its effect on the other
the transverse tensile properties of the welds in addition properties rather than mechanical properties, such as
to grain size and dislocation density. However, the electrical conductivity and corrosion behaviour. This is
literature on texture formation during FSW of steels is the area on which further FSW studies on these alloys
limited. There is clearly a need for further work on this should focus in the future.
topic. Although the results reported to date on FSW of
Residual stresses are also a concern in FSW of steels and Ti-alloys are encouraging, the advantage of
structural materials beyond Al-alloys, particularly for this joining process for these high melting point
steels, since the frictional heating and severe plastic materials and its advantages over conventional welding
deformation involved in FSW/FSP can induce signifi- methods should be clearly demonstrated before indus-
cant residual stresses. The residual stresses in friction stir trial exploitation. As discussed above, even though
welded Al-alloys have been studied extensively and the significant progress has been made considering tool
maximum tensile residual stresses along the welding geometry, tool design and tool wear, unreliable tool
direction are generally measured as approximately 20– wear is still the main issue for higher melting tempera-
50% of the yield strength of the BM. However, there are ture materials such as steels and Ti-alloys. Even when
currently very limited data reported on residual stresses the tooling problems are overcome, FSW may not
developed during FSW of structural materials beyond become an alternative for current joining methods, i.e.
Al-alloys. Early studies indicate that compressional various versions of arc welding, which are well
stresses are present in the joint area of Ti-alloys and established and produce reliable joints in steels. Thus,
the residual stresses developed in the joint area of it is generally possible to get adequate fracture tough-
particulate reinforced Al-matrix MMCs are lower than ness and other properties in steels by consumable
those of Al-alloys. On the other hand, the longitudinal selection in fusion welding. Although strength over-
residual stress can approach 100% of the yield strength matching is easily achieved in C–Mn steels weld
of the BM in friction stir welded high temperature performance is likely to be governed by toughness and
materials, such as 304L stainless steel. Moreover, no fatigue rather than strength for such steels. However,
report exists on residual stresses developed during FSW there are very limited data in the literature on the
of Cu-alloys. There is clearly a need for further work on toughness and fatigue properties for such steels.
this topic as well. Moreover, the consequences of phase transformations
No problem is encountered in FSW of Mg-alloys as accompanying FSW, particularly in C–Mn steels, have
the material is readily plasticised at the temperatures not yet been studied in sufficient depth. Thus, the
obtained during joining. There are currently limited advantage of FSW, which also requires argon gas
mechanical data reported for friction stir welded Mg- shielding, over more conventional welding methods
alloys joints in the literature. Apparently, texture should be clearly demonstrated for steels before its
formation in the SZ also influences the transverse tensile commercial exploitation for joining steels. Thus, a wide
properties of friction stir welded Mg-alloys in addition spread industrial use of this method for steels is not
to grain size and dislocation density. Thus, further work expected as pointed out by Bhadeshia and DebRoy.
is needed to determine the properties of the friction stir However, the use of this method can be advantageous
welded Mg-alloy joints. There is, however, a very clear for joining steels in some special applications where
indication that FSW may become a reliable method of conventional fusion welding processes fail to produce
producing joints with acceptable mechanical perfor- sound cost effective joints, and the high tooling costs of
mance in these light-weight materials. It is, however, FSW can be justified (i.e. underwater joining of steel
worth pointing out that an argon shielding might be a pipes).
need in FSW of Mg-alloys to avoid oxidation as it is the Similarly, there is an obvious need for further work to
case in steels and Ti-alloys. understand the effect of welding conditions on the
Studies of FSW conducted up to date on Cu-alloys microstructural changes taking place in the alloys,
concentrated on the microstructural aspects and the particularly those undergoing an allotropic phase
tensile properties of the joints. These studies indicate that transformations, i.e. Ti64 alloy, in sufficient depth

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Friction stir welded structural materials:

Introduction are needed for welding some of these materials such as

ß 2011 Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and ASM International

1 Schematic diagram of FSW11

into a joint. Thus, the workpieces are mechanically

2 International Materials Reviews 2011 VOL 56 NO 1

4 a schematic illustration and b application of laser assisted FSW (hybrid welding)29

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Thickness, Rotation rate, Feedrate, Grain size,

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significantly influences the tensile behaviour. They also

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dislocation density throughout the weld.58 Moreover,

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Material Thickness, mm Rm of BM, MPa Rm of FSW, MPa Joint efficiency, % Reference

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comparable tensile properties to those of the BM,

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be the MX Triflute, which is considered to be break-

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15 Hardness proﬁle of the friction stir welded pure Cu

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Pure Cu (cold-worked unless otherwise stated)

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Material Thickness, mm Tool material Pin geometry Reference

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a macrograph showing cross-section of joint; b BM; c SZ/TMAZ interface

a 50 mm min21; b 100 mm min21; c 150 mm min21; d 200 mm min21

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occurs in the weld zone but the microstructure consists

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26 Microhardness proﬁle of friction stir welded 2 mm

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28 Residual strain and hardness measured at 4 mm

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Material Thickness, mm Tool material Pin geometry Reference

Pure Ti 5.6 Sintered TiC … 180

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allotropic phase transformation involved coupled with

a 25 mm min21; b 50 mm min21; c 100 mm min21

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32 Hardness distribution near the weld zone in the direc-

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