Advanced Manufacturing Processes [RYT]

Friction Stir Welding Process:

 Introduction:

Friction-stir welding (FSW) is a solid-state joining process that creates extremely high-
quality, high-strength joints with low distortion. A non-consumable spinning tool bit is inserted
into a work piece. The rotation of the tool creates friction that heats the material to a plastic state.
As the tool traverses the weld joint, it extrudes material in a distinctive flow pattern and forges
the material in its wake. The resulting solid phase bond joins the two pieces into one.
The process uses no outside (filler) material, no shielding gases, and requires low energy
input when compared to other welding processes. The solid phase bond between the two pieces
is made solely of parent material. The grain structure in the weld zone is finer than that of the
parent material and has similar strength, bending, and fatigue characteristics.

 Principle of Operation:

Friction stir welding (FSW) was invented at The Welding Institute (TWI) of UK in 1991
as a solid-state joining technique, and it was initially applied to aluminum alloys. The basic
concept of FSW is remarkably simple. A non-consumable rotating tool with a specially designed
pin and shoulder is inserted into the abutting edges of sheets or plates to be joined and traversed
along the line of joint (Fig. 2). The tool serves two primary functions: (a) heating of workpiece,
and (b) movement of material to produce the joint. The heating is accomplished by friction
between the tool and the workpiece and plastic deformation of workpiece. The localized heating

Unit No: 02
 Advanced Manufacturing Processes [RYT]

softens the material around the pin and combination of tool rotation and translation leads to
movement of material from the front of the pin to the back of the pin. As a result of this process a
joint is produced in ‘solid state’. Because of various geometrical features of the tool, the material
movement around the pin can be quite complex. During FSW process, the material undergoes
intense plastic deformation at elevated temperature, resulting in generation of fine and equiaxed
recrystallized grains. The fine microstructure in friction stir welds produces good mechanical
properties.
FSW is considered to be the most significant development in metal joining in a decade
and is a ‘‘green’’ technology due to its energy efficiency, environment friendliness, and
versatility. As compared to the conventional welding methods, FSW consumes considerably less
energy. No cover (Shielding) gas or flux is used, thereby making the process environmentally
friendly. The joining does not involve any use of filler metal and therefore any aluminum alloy
can be joined without concern for the compatibility of composition, which is an issue in fusion
welding. When desirable, dissimilar aluminum alloys and composites can be joined with equal
ease. In contrast to the traditional friction welding, which is usually performed on small
axisymmetric parts that can be rotated and pushed against each other to form a joint, friction stir
welding can be applied to various types of joints like butt joints, lap joints, T butt joints, and
fillet joints.

Figure 2: Fiction Stir Welding.

Unit No: 02
 Advanced Manufacturing Processes [RYT]

 FSW Process Benefits

Friction Stir Welding (FSW) from MTI is making a dramatic impact across a number of
industries, including aerospace, defense, transportation, marine and electronics. In the
automotive industry alone, for example, FSW is used to create everything from drive shafts and
fuel tanks to hood panels and suspension links.

We have experience with these Weldable Materials. The compatibility range extends
beyond these materials.

 Aluminum (all alloys)

 Copper
 Brass
 Magnesium
 Titanium
 Steel Alloys
 Stainless Steel
 Tool Steel
 Nickel
 Lead

 Advantages & Benefits of Friction Stir Welding:

 Provides opportunities for new solutions to old joining problems:

Friction Stir Welding (FSW) is a leading-edge technology, meaning that MTI is
continually identifying new applications for the process and, therefore, new solutions for
its customers.

 Virtually defect-free welding:

Easily controlled process parameters - such as pin tool geometry, pin tool force, rotational
speed and traversing speed - are easy to monitor, allowing for easy avoidance of errors.

 Versatile applications by welding all joint geometries including complex contours:

Friction Stir Welding (FSW) can weld almost any shape of contoured parts, including

Unit No: 02
 Advanced Manufacturing Processes [RYT]

seam welding of cylinders. Some of the other joint geometries usual to the FSW process
include butt, T-butt, lap, butt laminate, butt both sides, T-butt dual pass, lap laminate, L-
outside, flange, multi-thickness, T-single weld, and L-inside (which requires special joint
preparation).

 Limitless panel length and width:

The process flexibility of Friction Stir Welding (FSW) accommodates the welding of
large parts. Our standard models may be modified to expand axes as needed for your
application. Our in-house FSW equipment can produce welds up to 55-feet long - one of
the longest, continuous Friction Stir Welds in the world.

 Superior mechanical characteristics:

This joining technology offers a weld with high weld strength and toughness. The weld
has a fine grain structure that resists fatigue stress. Due to the low heat and small heat-
affected zone, there is minimal distortion of the joined parts, reducing the costs associated
with preparing the part for subsequent use.

 Join dissimilar alloys:

Friction Stir Welding (FSW) may be used to weld dissimilar alloys, even combinations
that are not compatible with other welding processes. See the Weldable Materials list
above.

 "Green" process:
Low energy input and lack of fumes, gases, etc., resulting from the process, makes FSW
friendly to our environment.

A number of potential advantages of FSW over conventional fusion-welding processes have

been identified.

 Good mechanical properties in the as-welded condition

 Improved safety due to the absence of toxic fumes or the spatter of molten material.

Unit No: 02
 Advanced Manufacturing Processes [RYT]

 No consumables — a threaded pin made of conventional tool steel, e.g., hardened H13, can
weld over 1 km (0.62 mi) of aluminium, and no filler or gas shield is required for aluminium.
 Easily automated on simple milling machines — lower setup costs and less training.
 Can operate in all positions (horizontal, vertical, etc.), as there is no weld pool.
 Generally good weld appearance and minimal thickness under/over-matching, thus reducing
the need for expensive machining after welding.
 Low environmental impact.

 Disadvantages:

 Exit hole left when tool is withdrawn.

 Large down forces required with heavy-duty clamping necessary to hold the plates together.
 Less flexible than manual and arc processes (difficulties with thickness variations and non-
linear welds).
 Often slower traverse rate than some fusion welding techniques, although this may be offset
if fewer welding passes are required.

Unit No: 02
 Advanced Manufacturing Processes [RYT]

 Tool Geometry:

Tool geometry is the most influential aspect of process development. The tool geometry
plays a critical role in material flow and in turn governs the traverse rate at which FSW can be
conducted. An FSW tool consists of a shoulder and a pin as shown schematically in Fig. 3.

Figure 3: Schematic Drawing of Fiction Stir Welding (FSW) Tool.

As mentioned earlier, the tool has two primary functions: (a) localized heating, and (b)
material flow. In the initial stage of tool plunge, the heating results primarily from the friction
between pin and workpiece. Some additional heating results from deformation of material. The
tool is plunged till the shoulder touches the workpiece. The friction between the shoulder and
workpiece results in the biggest component of heating. From the heating aspect, the relative size
of pin and shoulder is important, and the other design features are not critical. The shoulder also
provides confinement for the heated volume of material. The second function of the tool is to
‘stir’ and ‘move’ the material. The uniformity of microstructure and properties as well as process
loads is governed by the tool design. Generally a concave shoulder and threaded cylindrical pins
are used. With increasing experience and some improvement in understanding of material flow,
the tool geometry has evolved significantly. Complex features have been added to alter material
TM TM
flow, mixing and reduce process loads. For example, Whorl and MX Triflute tools
developed by TWI are shown in Fig. 4.

Unit No: 02
 Advanced Manufacturing Processes [RYT]

Figure 4: Whorl TM and the MX Triflute TM developed by The Welding Institute (TWI).

The pins for both tools are shaped as a frustum that displaces less material than a
cylindrical tool of the same root diameter. Typically, the Whorl TM reduces the displaced volume
by about 60%, while the MX Triflute TM reduces the displaced volume by about 70%. The design
TM TM
features of the Whorl and the MX Triflute are believed to (a) reduce welding force,(b)
enable easier flow of plasticized material, (c) facilitate the downward augering effect, and (d)
increase the interface between the pin and the plasticized material, thereby increasing heat
generation. It has been demonstrated that aluminum plates with a thickness of up to 50 mm can
be successfully friction stir welded in one pass using these two tools. A 75 mm thick 6082Al-T6
FSW weld was made using Whorl TM tool in two passes, each giving about 38 mm penetration.

For lap welding, conventional cylindrical threaded pin resulted in excessive thinning of
the top sheet, leading to significantly reduced bend properties. Furthermore, for lap welds, the
width of the weld interface and the angle at which the notch meets the edge of the weld is also
important for applications where fatigue is of main concern. Recently, two new pin geometries—
TM TM
Flared-Trifute with the flute lands being flared out (Fig. 5) and A-skew with the pin axis
being slightly inclined to the axis of machine spindle (Fig. 6) were developed for improved
quality of lap welding.

Unit No: 02
 Advanced Manufacturing Processes [RYT]

Figure 5: Flared-Trifute TM developed by The Welding Institute (TWI). (a) neutral flutes, (b) left flutes, (c) right
flutes.

Figure 6: A-skew TM developed by The Welding Institute (TWI). (a) front view, (b) side view, (c) swept region
encompassed by skew action.

TM TM
The design features of the Flared-Trifute and the A-skew are believed to: (a)
increase the ratio between of the swept volume and static volume of the pin, thereby improving
the flow path around and underneath the pin, (b) widen the welding region due to flared-out flute
Unit No: 02
 Advanced Manufacturing Processes [RYT]

TM TM
lands in the Flared-Trifute pin and the skew action in the A-skew pin, (c) provide an
improved mixing action for oxide fragmentation and dispersal at the weld interface, and (d)
provide an orbital forging action at the root of the weld due to the skew action, improving weld
quality in this region. Compared to the conventional threaded pin, Flared-Trifute TM and A-skew
TM
pins resulted in: (a) over 100% improvement in welding speed, (b) about 20% reduction in
axial force, (c) significantly widened welding region (190–195% of the plate thickness for
Flared-Trifute TM and A-skew TM pins, 110% for conventional threaded pin), and (d) a reduction
in upper plate thinning by a factor of >4. Further, Flared-Trifute TM pin reduced significantly the
TM
angle of the notch upturn at the overlapping plate/weld interface, whereas A-skew pin
produced a slight downturn at the outer regions of the overlapping plate/weld interface, which
are beneficial to improving the properties of the FSW joints by entrapping plasticized material
within special re-entrant features..

Further, various shoulder profiles were designed in TWI to suit different materials and
conditions (Fig.7). These shoulder profiles improve the coupling between the tool shoulder and
the workpiece.

Figure 7: Tool shoulder geometries.

 Important Welding Parameters:

For FSW, two parameters are very important: tool rotation rate (v, rpm) in clockwise or
counterclockwise direction and tool traverse speed (n, mm/min) along the line of joint. The
rotation of tool results in stirring and mixing of material around the rotating pin and the
translation of tool moves the stirred material from the front to the back of the pin and finishes

Unit No: 02
 Advanced Manufacturing Processes [RYT]

welding process. Higher tool rotation rates generate higher temperature because of higher
friction heating and result in more intense stirring and mixing of material as will be discussed
later. However, it should be noted that frictional coupling of tool surface with workpiece is going
to govern the heating. So, a monotonic increase in heating with increasing tool rotation rate is not
expected as the coefficient of friction at interface will change with increasing tool rotation rate.

In addition to the tool rotation rate and traverse speed, another important process
parameter is the angle of spindle or tool tilt with respect to the workpiece surface. A suitable tilt
of the spindle towards trailing direction ensures that the shoulder of the tool holds the stirred
material by threaded pin and move material efficiently from the front to the back of the pin.
Further, the insertion depth of pin into the work pieces (also called target depth) is important for
producing sound welds with smooth tool shoulders. The insertion depth of pin is associated with
the pin height. When the insertion depth is too shallow, the shoulder of tool does not contact the
original workpiece surface. Thus, rotating shoulder cannot move the stirred material efficiently
from the front to the back of the pin, resulting in generation of welds with inner channel or
surface groove. When the insertion depth is too deep, the shoulder of tool plunges into the
workpiece creating excessive flash. In this case, a significantly concave weld is produced,
leading to local thinning of the welded plates. It should be noted that the recent development of
‘scrolled’ tool shoulder allows FSW with 08tool tilt. Such tools are particularly preferred for
curved joints.

Preheating or cooling can also be important for some specific FSW processes. For
materials with high melting point such as steel and titanium or high conductivity such as copper,
the heat produced by friction and stirring may be not sufficient to soften and plasticize the
material around the rotating tool.

Thus, it is difficult to produce continuous defect-free weld. In these cases, preheating or

additional external heating source can help the material flow and increase the process window.
On the other hand, materials with lower melting point such as aluminum and magnesium,
cooling can be used to reduce extensive growth of recrystallized grains and dissolution of
strengthening precipitates in and around the stirred zone.

Unit No: 02
 Advanced Manufacturing Processes [RYT]

 Welding Forces:

During welding a number of forces will act on the tool:

 A downwards force is necessary to maintain the position of the tool at or below the material
surface. Some friction-stir welding machines operate under load control but in many cases
the vertical position of the tool is preset and so the load will vary during welding.
 The traverse force acts parallel to the tool motion and is positive in the traverse direction.
Since this force arises as a result of the resistance of the material to the motion of the tool it
might be expected that this force will decrease as the temperature of the material around the
tool is increased.
 The lateral force may act perpendicular to the tool traverse direction and is defined here as
positive towards the advancing side of the weld.
 Torque is required to rotate the tool, the amount of which will depend on the down force
and friction coefficient (sliding friction) and/or the flow strength of the material in the
surrounding region (stiction).

In order to prevent tool fracture and to minimize excessive wear and tear on the tool and
associated machinery, the welding cycle is modified so that the forces acting on the tool are as
low as possible and abrupt changes are avoided. In order to find the best combination of welding
parameters, it is likely that a compromise must be reached, since the conditions that favour low
forces (e.g. high heat input, low travel speeds) may be undesirable from the point of view of
productivity and weld properties.

 Flow of Material (Melt Flow):

Early work on the mode of material flow around the tool used inserts of a different alloy,
which had a different contrast to the normal material when viewed through a microscope, in an
effort to determine where material was moved as the tool passed. The data was interpreted as
representing a form of in-situ extrusion where the tool, backing plate and cold base material form
the "extrusion chamber" through which the hot, plasticized material is forced. In this model the
rotation of the tool draws little or no material around the front of the pin instead the material
parts in front of the pin and passes down either side. After the material has passed the pin the
side pressure exerted by the "die" forces the material back together and consolidation of the join

Unit No: 02
 Advanced Manufacturing Processes [RYT]

occurs as the rear of the tool shoulder passes overhead and the large down force forges the
material.

More recently, an alternative theory has been advanced that advocates considerable
material movement in certain locations. This theory holds that some material does rotate around
the pin, for at least one rotation, and it is this material movement that produces the "onion-ring"
structure in the stir zone. The researchers used a combination of thin copper strip inserts and a
"frozen pin" technique, where the tool is rapidly stopped in place. They suggested that material
motion occurs by two processes:

1. Material on the advancing front side of a weld enters into a zone that rotates and
advances with the pin. This material was very highly deformed and sloughs off behind
the pin to form arc-shaped features when viewed from above (i.e. down the tool axis). It
was noted that the copper entered the rotational zone around the pin, where it was broken
up into fragments. These fragments were only found in the arc shaped features of
material behind the tool.
2. The lighter material came from the retreating front side of the pin and was dragged
around to the rear of the tool and filled in the gaps between the arcs of advancing side
material. This material did not rotate around the pin and the lower level of deformation
resulted in a larger grain size.

The primary advantage of this explanation is that it provides a plausible explanation for
the production of the onion-ring structure.

The marker technique for friction stir welding provides data on the initial and final
positions of the marker in the welded material. The flow of material is then reconstructed from
these positions. Detailed material flow field during friction stir welding can also be calculated
from theoretical considerations based on fundamental scientific principles. Material flow
calculations are routinely used in numerous engineering applications. Calculation of material
flow fields in friction stir welding can be undertaken either using comprehensive numerical
simulations or simple but insightful analytical equations. The comprehensive models for the
calculation of material flow fields also provide important information such as geometry of the
stir zone and the torque on the tool. The numerical simulations have shown the ability to

Unit No: 02
 Advanced Manufacturing Processes [RYT]

correctly predict the results from marker experiments and the stir zone geometry observed in
friction stir welding experiments.

 Generation and Flow of Heat:

For any welding process it is, in general, desirable to increase the travel speed and
minimize the heat input as this will increase productivity and possibly reduce the impact of
welding on the mechanical properties of the weld. At the same time it is necessary to ensure that
the temperature around the tool is sufficiently high to permit adequate material flow and prevent
flaws or tool damage.

When the traverse speed is increased, for a given heat input, there is less time for heat to
conduct ahead of the tool and the thermal gradients are larger. At some point the speed will be so
high that the material ahead of the tool will be too cold and the flow stress too high, to permit
adequate material movement, resulting in flaws or tool fracture. If the "hot zone" is too large
then there is scope to increase the traverse speed and hence productivity.

The welding cycle can be split into several stages during which the heat flow and thermal
profile will be different.

 Dwell. The material is preheated by a stationary, rotating tool to achieve a sufficient

temperature ahead of the tool to allow the traverse. This period may also include the plunge
of the tool into the workpiece.
 Transient heating. When the tool begins to move there will be a transient period where the
heat production and temperature around the tool will alter in a complex manner until an
essentially steady-state is reached.
 Pseudo steady-state. Although fluctuations in heat generation will occur the thermal field
around the tool remains effectively constant, at least on the macroscopic scale.
 Post steady-state. Near the end of the weld heat may "reflect" from the end of the plate
leading to additional heating around the tool.

Heat generation during friction-stir welding arises from two main sources: friction at
the surface of the tool and the deformation of the material around the tool. The heat generation is
often assumed to occur predominantly under the shoulder, due to its greater surface area, and to
be equal to the power required to overcome the contact forces between the tool and the
Unit No: 02
 Advanced Manufacturing Processes [RYT]

workpiece. The contact condition under the shoulder can be described by sliding friction, using a
friction coefficient μ and interfacial pressure P, or sticking friction, based on the interfacial shear
strength at an appropriate temperature and strain rate.

 Applications:

The FSW process is currently patented by TWI in most industrialized countries and
licensed for over 183 users. Friction stir welding and its variants friction stir spot welding and
friction stir processing are used for the following industrial applications: shipbuilding and
offshore, aerospace, automotive, rolling stock for railways, general fabrication, robotics, and
computers.

1. Shipbuilding and Offshore:

Friction stir welding was used to prefabricate the aluminium panels of the Super Liner
Ogasawara at Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding.

Two Scandinavian aluminium extrusion companies were the first to apply FSW
commercially to the manufacture of fish freezer panels at Sapa in 1996, as well as deck panels
and helicopter landing platforms at Marine Aluminium Aanensen. Marine Aluminium Aanensen
subsequently merged with Hydro Aluminium Maritime to become Hydro Marine Aluminium.
Some of these freezer panels are now produced by Riftec and Bayards. In 1997 two-dimensional
friction stir welds in the hydro dynamically flared bow section of the hull of the ocean viewer
vessel The Boss were produced at Research Foundation Institute with the first portable FSW
machine. The Super Liner Ogasawara at Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding is the largest
friction stir welded ship so far. The Sea Fighter of Nichols Bros and the Freedom class Littoral
Combat Ships contain prefabricated panels by the FSW fabricators Advanced Technology and
Friction Stir Link, Inc. respectively. The Houbei class missile boat has friction stir welded rocket
launch containers of China Friction Stir Centre. HMNZS Rotoitiin New Zealand has FSW panels
made by Donovans in a converted milling machine. Various companies apply FSW to armor
plating for amphibious assault ships.

Unit No: 02
 Advanced Manufacturing Processes [RYT]

2. Aerospace:
Longitudinal and circumferential friction stir welds are used for the Falcon 9 rocket
booster tank at the Space X factory.

United Launch Alliance applies FSW to the Delta II, Delta IV, and Atlas V expendable
launch vehicles, and the first of these with a friction stir welded Inter stage module was launched
in 1999. The process is also used for the Space Shuttle external tank, for Ares I and for the Orion
Crew Vehicle test article at NASA as well as Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 rockets at Space X. The toe
nails for ramp of Boeing C-17 Globe master III cargo aircraft by Advanced Joining
Technologies and the cargo barrier beams for the Boeing 747 Large Cargo Freighter were the
first commercially produced aircraft parts. FAA approved wings and fuselage panels of
the Eclipse 500 aircraft were made at Eclipse Aviation, and this company delivered 259 friction
stir welded business jets, before they were forced into Chapter 7 liquidation. Floor panels
for Airbus A400M military aircraft are now made by Pfalz Flugzeugwerke and Embraer used
FSW for the Legacy 450 and 500 Jets Friction stir welding also is employed for fuselage panels
on the Airbus A380. BRÖTJE-Automation GmbH uses friction stir welding – through the Delta
NFS® system – for gantry production machines developed for the aerospace sector as well as
other industrial applications.

3. Automotive:
The centre tunnel of the Ford GT is made from two aluminium extrusions friction stir
welded to a bent aluminium sheet and houses the fuel tank.

Aluminium engine cradles and suspension struts for stretched Lincoln Town Car were the
first automotive parts that were friction stir at Tower Automotive, who use the process also for
the engine tunnel of the Ford GT. A spin-off of this company is called Friction Stir Link, Inc.
and successfully exploits the FSW process, e.g. for the flatbed trailer "Revolution" of Fontaine
Trailers. In Japan FSW is applied to suspension struts at Showa Denko and for joining of
aluminium sheets to galvanized steel brackets for the boot (trunk) lid of the Mazda MX-5.
Friction stir spot welding is successfully used for the bonnet (hood) and rear doors of the Mazda
RX-8 and the boot lid of the Toyota Prius. Wheels are friction stir welded at Simmons Wheels,
UT Alloy Works and Fundo.[43] Rear seats for the Volvo V70 are friction stir welded at
Sapa, HVAC pistons at Halla Climate Control and exhaust gas recirculation coolers at Pierburg.

Unit No: 02
 Advanced Manufacturing Processes [RYT]

Tailor welded blanks are friction stir welded for the Audi R8 at Riftec. The B-column of the
Audi R8 Spider is friction stir welded from two extrusions at Hammerer Aluminium Industries in
Austria.

4. Railways:
The high-strength low-distortion body of Hitachi's A-train British Rail Class 395 is
friction stir welded from longitudinal aluminium extrusions

Since 1997 roof panels were made from aluminium extrusions at Hydro Marine
Aluminium with a bespoke 25m long FSW machine, e.g. for DSB class SA-SD trains of Alstom
LHB Curved side and roof panels for the Victoria line trains of London Underground, side
panels for Bombardier's Electrostar trains at Sapa Group and side panels for Alstom's British
Rail Class 390 Pendolino trains are made at Sapa Group Japanese commuter and express A-
trains, and British Rail Class 395 trains are friction stir welded by
Hitachi, while Kawasaki applies friction stir spot welding to roof panels and Sumitomo Light
Metal produces Shinkansen floor panels. Innovative FSW floor panels are made by Hammerer
Aluminium Industries in Austria for the Stadler KISS double decker rail cars, to obtain an
internal height of 2 m on both floors and for the new car bodies of the Wuppertal Suspension
Railway.

Heat sinks for cooling high-power electronics of locomotives are made at Sykatek, EBG,
Austerlitz Electronics, Euro Composite, Sapa and Rapid Technic, and are the most common
application of FSW due to the excellent heat transfer.

5. Fabrication:

Façade panels and athode sheets are friction stir welded at AMAG and Hammerer
Aluminium Industries including friction stir lap welds of copper to aluminium. Bizerba meat
slicers, Ökolüfter HVAC units and Siemens X-ray vacuum vessels are friction stir welded at
Riftec. Vacuum valves and vessels are made by FSW at Japanese and Swiss companies. FSW is
also used for the encapsulation of nuclear waste at SKB in 50-mm-thick copper
canisters. Pressure vessels from ø1m semispherical forgings of 38.1mm thick aluminium alloy
2219 at Advanced Joining Technologies and Lawrence Livermore Nat Lab. Friction stir

Unit No: 02
 Advanced Manufacturing Processes [RYT]

processing is applied to ship propellers at Friction Stir Link, Inc. and to hunting knives by
Diamond Blade. Bosch uses it in Worcester for the production of heat exchangers.

6. Robotics:

KUKA Robot Group has adapted its KR500-3MT heavy-duty robot for friction stir
welding via the Delta NFS tool. The system made its first public appearance at the EuroBLECH
show in November 2012.

7. Personal Computers:

Apple applied friction stir welding on the 2012 iMac to effectively join the bottom to the
back of the device.

Unit No: 02