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Quantitative wear analysis of H13 steel tool during friction stir welding of Cu-
0.8%Cr-0.1%Zr alloy

Article · February 2017

DOI: 10.1016/j.wear.2017.02.009

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 Wear 378-379 (2017) 82–89

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Wear
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/wear

Quantitative wear analysis of H13 steel tool during friction stir welding
of Cu-0.8%Cr-0.1%Zr alloy
Pankaj Sahlot a, Kaushal Jha b, G.K. Dey c, Amit Arora a,n
a
Advanced Materials Processing Research Group, Materials Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, Palaj, Gandhinagar
382355, India
b
Engineering Design & Development Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India
c
Material Science Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India

art ic l e i nf o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Joining of high strength materials using friction stir welding (FSW) is difficult due to severe tool wear and
Received 22 September 2016 change in the shape/size of the tool. However, quantitative understanding of tool wear during FSW of
Accepted 3 February 2017 high melting point metallic materials is very limited. Here we present quantitative wear analysis of H13
Available online 7 February 2017
steel tool during FSW of CuCrZr alloy. Higher amount of total tool wear is observed for faster tool ro-
Keywords: tational speeds, and slower traverse speeds. Progressive wear rate shows similar relationship with these
Tool wear process parameters during initial traverse stage. With further tool traverse the wear rate decreases
Friction stir welding significantly and is not much affected by the process parameters. The quantitative wear study provides
CuCrZr alloy insights about tool wear during FSW process and would be useful to better estimate and improve tool
Wear measurement
life. This would also be helpful to optimize the process parameters and tool shape to reduce tool wear
Tool wear rate
during FSW of high strength materials.
& 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction study during FSW of high melting point metallic materials such as
steel, copper and titanium alloys [16–20]. Gan et al. [20] observed
Copper Chromium Zirconium (CuCrZr) alloy is a precipitation commercial pure tungsten (CPW) tool degraded more compared to
hardened copper based alloy with good electrical and thermal tungsten rhenium (W–25%Re) tool for FSW of L80 steel. The lower
conductivity, moderate strength and excellent resistance to soft- degradation in W-Re tool was attributed to its high yield strength
ening at elevated temperature [1]. The combination of these at elevated temperatures. Miles et al. [17] observed more wear for
properties of CuCrZr alloy lead to use as heat sink material for 60 % pcBN with 40% W-Re tool (lasting for 700 welds) as compared
structural applications in fusion reactor components such as fusion to 70 % pcBN with 30% W-Re tool (lasting for
1200 welds) due to
first wall, diverter parts and heating systems [1,2]. Conventional less hardness at higher temperature for friction stir spot welding
fusion welding of copper alloys have several issues such as em- (FSSW) of DP 980 steel. Jasthi et al. [21] found W-25%Re tool re-
brittlement of joint, porosities, welding crack formation etc. due to sults in more wear as compared to pcBN tool during FSW of Invar
high thermal diffusivity and high oxidation rate [3,4]. Friction stir (Fe-36%Ni), due to low strength of W-Re at elevated temperature.
welding (FSW) can be used to join copper alloys in solid state, thus Seighalani et al. [19] observed severe tool wear during FSW of pure
titanium with simple threaded pin tool made of high speed steel
avoiding the defects associated with fusion welding [5]. However,
(HSS), and combination of HSS shoulder and tungsten carbide
tool degradation, primarily wear, is an issue for FSW of high
(WC) pin. However, tool made with WC pin and W shoulder
melting point metallic materials, such as steel, copper and tita-
without pin threading resulted in defect free welds with negligible
nium alloys [6–10]. Wear affects the shape and size of the FSW
tool wear. Sato et al. [16] investigated the effect of volume fraction
tool, leading to unexpected weld properties and shorter tool life
of hard phases in tool material on wear for Co-based alloy tool
[11–15]. Understanding of tool wear during FSW is important to
during FSW of ferritic steel and observed decrease in tool wear
obtain consistent weld properties, and longer tool life for joining with increase in fraction of hard phases. Nakazawa et al. [18] ex-
of high strength materials. amined the effect of water cooling on performance of Iridium
Researchers have mostly focused on qualitative aspect of wear containing Nickel base super alloy tool during FSW of Ti-6Al-4V,
and observed tool life improved due to water cooling. Surekha
n
Corresponding author. et al. [22] observed, powder metallurgically (P/M) produced tool
E-mail address: amitarora@iitgn.ac.in (A. Arora). steel leads to less wear as compared to H13 tool steel due to

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2017.02.009
0043-1648/& 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
 P. Sahlot et al. / Wear 378-379 (2017) 82–89 83

uniform distribution of the carbides and low thermal conductivity.

They also observed increase in wear resistance for both the tools
upon cryotreatment. The increase in wear resistance was attrib-
uted to retained austenite transformed to martensite and forma-
tion of the fine eta carbide particles.
Apart from these qualitative wear studies, researchers have also
studied some quantitative aspects of tool wear during FSW, with
primary focus on tool wear during FSW of metal matrix compo-
sites (MMC) Al6061-Al2O3 and Al359-SiC [11,13,23–25]. The addi-
tion of ceramic particles (Al2O3) in the Al6061 matrix results in
tool wear, while no wear was observed for welding of Al6061 alloy
for same welding parameters [11]. Fernandez et al. tried to opti- Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of FSW process with common terminology used in FSW
mize the process parameters for lowest amount of wear during technique [29].
FSW of Al 359þ 20 vol% SiC [24]. The reduction in wear was at-
tributed to reduced interaction of tool material with abrasive
particles in MMCs. Prado et al. [26] proposed self-optimization of
the tool shape during FSW where the tool pin achieved a specific
shape upon certain tool traverse and the tool wear reduced as self-
optimized shape was achieved during FSW of Al 6061þ 20 vol%
Al2O3. Prater et al. [25] developed a statistical relationship be-
tween FSW process parameters and tool wear for FSW of MMC Al
359þ20 vol% SiC.
The quantitative wear studies during FSW are very limited and
have considered effect of long traverse distances by performing
multiple smaller length welds using the same tool and considering
cumulative wear. However, in these studies plunge and dwell are
repeated every time the tool is reinserted for welding [11,24,25].
Additional wear due to reinitiation of the process in every pass
leads to inflated values of wear. The quantitative wear studies are
also limited to the effect of abrasive particles in FSW of MMCs.
Quantitative tool wear during FSW of high melting point metallic
materials, where abrasive particles are not present, is not very well
understood. While tool wear and wear rates in FSW have been
topics of interest, studies on the involved process parameters such
as rotation speed, traverse speed and traverse distance on tool
wear and progressive wear rate for FSW of high melting point
metallic material such as CuCrZr alloy have been genuinely lack-
ing. There is thus clearly a need to understand the wear during
FSW of such alloys.
Here we present the tool wear study for FSW of CuCrZr alloy
using H13 steel tool. The wear is measured by comparing projected
area of the worn out tool to that of the original tool. Effect of
process parameters, such as tool rotational speed, tool traverse
speed, and tool traverse distance, on tool wear and progressive
wear rate are measured and analyzed. To avoid the effect of
multiple plunge and dwells, a new tool is used for every weld and
long welds are performed continuously. The quantitative wear
study also provides insights about the tool wear during FSW
process and these results will help to design a FSW tool and help
in selection of process parameters during FSW of high strength
materials to have less wear and longer tool life. Fig. 2. (a) Image of the H13 steel tool, (b) schematic diagram of H13 steel tool,
(c) welded workpiece with 1000 mm traverse and (d) schematic diagram of con-
tinuous welding path for 1000 mm traverse distance with a pilot hole.

2. Experimental procedure
and 2.2 mm at pin root and tip, respectively, were used for
2.1. Tool and workpiece material selection welding. The original H13 steel tool is shown in Fig. 2(a) and
schematic diagram for closer view of H13 tool is shown in Fig. 2(b).
Based on the trial experiments, H13 tool steel (Fe-5.27wt%Cr- Multiple tools of same dimensions and hardness (48HRC) were
1.25wt%Mb) and CuCrZr alloy (Cu-0.8wt%Cr-0.1wt%Zr) were se- used for the welding, where each weld was performed with a new
lected as tool and workpiece materials, respectively. CuCrZr alloy tool. This was done to avoid repeated wear during tool plunge and
plates of 6 mm thickness were used in peak aged condition by dwell for long traverse distances. A pilot hole of the same di-
aging of solutionized plates at 450 °C for 3 h and followed by mensions as the pin was drilled in each workpiece to avoid the
water quenching [27,28]. Fig. 1 shows the schematic diagram of degradation during plunging stage when forces are highest. Fig. 2
FSW process. Welds were performed using bead-on-plate method (c) shows welded workpiece with 1000 mm traverse and Fig. 2
with hardened H13 tool steel tools. Tools with shoulder radius of (d) shows schematic diagram of continuous welding path applied
9.8 mm and tapered pin length of 4.6 mm with a radius of 5.2 mm for large traverse distance with a pilot hole. This path was selected
84 P. Sahlot et al. / Wear 378-379 (2017) 82–89

in order to have continuous welding for long traverse distances. been studied and its dependence on the process parameters, tool
Continuous welding avoids effects of multiple plunges and dwells, rotational speed, tool traverse speed, and traverse distance is
and allows the progressive wear rate calculation during FSW analysed in the following discussion. The projected area of worn
process. out tool is measured after removal of adhering workpiece material
A fully dedicated FSW machine (by M/s ETA Technology, Ban- and is compared with the original unused tool to determine the
galore, India) at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Trombay, tool wear during FSW. Fig. 4 shows the superimposed tool image
Mumbai was used to perform all welding experiments. Tool wear projections for 300 mm, 500 mm and 1000 mm traverse distances
is a continuous phenomenon, and the final amount of tool wear at 1000 rpm tool rotation speed and 50 mm/min traverse speed.
during FSW depends on the traverse distance. Apart from usual The original tool projection image is used to prepare a line sketch
process variables, tool rotational speed and tool traverse speed, as shown in Fig. 4(a), which is later used for superimposition and
tool traverse distance is also considered as a process parameter for measurement. The tool images are labelled with the following
study of the tool wear during FSW. Three levels were selected for combination (tool rotation speed (rpm)–tool traverse speed (mm/
each variable, rotation speeds (800, 1000 and 1200 rpm), traverse min)-traverse distance (mm)). The superimposition of the original
speeds (30, 50, and 70 mm/min) and traverse distances (300, 500 tool line sketch over the worn out tool as shown in Fig. 4(b),
and 1000 mm), for quantitative tool wear study during FSW (c) and (d), clearly indicates the reduction in the projected area of
process. the tool upon welding of various traverse distances. This reduction
is measured using image analysis software to quantify tool wear
2.2. Tool wear measurement during FSW of CuCrZr alloy for all performed experiments.
In FSW process, rotating tool experiences severe stresses at
Accurate measurement of tool wear at various stages of the high temperature leading to wear of the tool material [8,31]. The
process is difficult due to workpiece material adhering on the tool resistance offered by the workpiece material induces stresses on
surface. Removal of the adhering workpiece material is important the tool and increases the chances of wear. The magnitude of re-
to correctly measure the tool wear during FSW of CuCrZr. Nitric sistance offered by the workpiece depends on the strength of the
acid (68wt% HNO3) was used to remove adhered workpiece ma- workpiece material ahead of the tool during the welding process.
terial from the surface of H13 steel tool before wear measurement. The tool wear also increases significantly if tool material has low
Fig. 3(a) shows original H13 steel tool used to perform FSW of hardness at high working temperatures.
CuCrZr alloy. The used tool with adhered copper alloy (orange Wear is a gradual material removal process during surface in-
colour) on tool surface is shown in Fig. 3(b) and the tool after teraction of two materials and several researchers have proposed
removal of adhered workpiece material is shown in Fig. 3(c). Tool different hypothesis to understand wear [32–36]. They have in-
wear of H13 tool during FSW of CuCrZr alloy was measured by vestigated that wear during the surface interaction of two mate-
comparing the projected area of the tool before and after the weld. rials depends on many factors. Normal stress at interface, relative
This process of shape measurement was used to determine any sliding velocity, hardness of materials, real area of contact, coef-
reduction in the tool projected area during welding. Rapid Is vi- ficient of fiction, surface defects are some of the important factors.
sion measuring system was used to capture tool projection images, According to the Archard theory for various modes of surface wear
and the images were processed using Plot Digitizer to measure [33,37–39], the amount of wear during surface interaction of two
reduction in projected area of the tool [30]. To aid the process of materials depends mainly on normal stress (sn), relative sliding
comparison, two reference grooves were machined on the tool velocity at interface (Vr) and hardness of the worn materials (H)
shaft before welding. The grooves were machined at 5 mm and [33,36,40]. The wear depth (change in dimension), h, can be ex-
10 mm away from the tool shoulder edge as these points in pressed as
shoulder shaft were unaffected by the wear/deformation during
σn .Vr
welding. The reference grooves did not change its position during h=k t
H (1)
the FSW process and aides the quantitative comparison of original
and used tool. where, t is the total interaction time and k is the wear coefficient.
The amount of wear also depends on the relative hardness of
the tool and the workpiece material at various working tempera-
3. Results and discussion tures. Fig. 5 shows the variation of hardness of H13 steel tool and
CuCrZr workpiece material as a function of temperature [41,42].
Tool wear during FSW of CuCrZr alloy using H13 steel tool has The hardness of both the tool and workpiece material does not

Fig. 3. Tool images (a) original (unused) tool, (b) used tool with adhered workpiece material and (c) used tool after removal of adhering copper alloy. (For interpretation of
the references to color in this figure, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
 P. Sahlot et al. / Wear 378-379 (2017) 82–89 85

Fig. 4. Superimposed projected image of tools (a) original tool image, (b), (c) and (d) tool images after traversed distance of 300 mm, 500 mm and 1000 mm respectively at
1000 rpm tool rotational speed and 50 mm/min traverse speed.

700 14
H13 steel tool 300 mm
CuCrZr alloy 13
600 500 mm
Reduction in projected area [%]

12
1000 mm
500 11
Hardness [HV]

10
400
9

300 8

7
200
6

5
100
4
0
300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 3
600 800 1000 1200 1400
Temperature [K]
Rotation speed [rpm]
Fig. 5. Hardness of the tool (H13 steel) and workpiece (CuCrZr alloy) material as
function of temperature. Fig. 6. Reduction in projected area of the tool as function of the tool rotation speed
for traverse distances of 300 mm, 500 mm and 1000 mm with a constant traverse
speed of 30 mm/min.
change significantly up to 750 K. However, the hardness at tem-
perature above 750 K decreases with greater drop for H13 steel as
compared to CuCrZr alloy. The difference in hardness of tool and various rotation speeds. A point 12 mm away from the weld centre
workpiece is more at room temperature than at high temperature. line and 1 mm below the top surface is selected for temperature
The drop in hardness of the tool material results in more tool wear observation. This selection of location helps in avoiding thermo-
at high temperature. couple damage and successful measurement of temperature dur-
Fig. 6 shows the percentage reduction in the projected area of ing FSW process. The thermocouple location is shown in Fig. 7
H13 steel tool for FSW of CuCrZr alloy using H13 steel tool for (a) on the top view of the workpiece plate. Fig. 7(b) shows the
various tool rotational speeds. The tool wear is measured at dif- variation in peak temperature with rotation speeds at a location of
ferent traverse distances during the process. A new tool is used for 12 mm away from the weld interface line. The increase in peak
every combination of tool rotational speed and traverse distance. temperature from 800 rpm to 1000 rpm and 1000 rpm to
Fig. 6 shows that the reduction in the tool projected area increases 1200 rpm is 28 K and 13 K, respectively.
with increase in rotational speed. During FSW process, increase in Based on the temperature measurement using thermocouple, it
tool rotational speed results in greater peak temperatures. How- can be surmised that the nugget temperature will slightly increase
ever, increase in peak temperature is relatively smaller towards with increase in tool rotational speed. The higher temperatures
higher values of tool rotational speed [5,43,44]. lead to lower material resistance and lower stresses for greater
For the current set of weldings, k-type digital thermocouple is tool rotational speed. The decrease in stresses should lead to less
used to measure temperature during FSW of CuCrZr alloy for amount of wear according to Eq. (1) during the FSW process. The
86 P. Sahlot et al. / Wear 378-379 (2017) 82–89

Fig. 7. (a) Schematic diagram of top view of workpiece plate with a location of
thermocouple and (b) effect of rotation speed on measured peak temperature
during FSW of CuCrZr alloy.

increase in tool rotational speed also decreases hardness of the

tool due to higher tool temperature. The relative velocity at the
tool-workpiece interface significantly rises with faster rotational
speed [29,44]. According to Eq. (1), this effect of increase in rota-
tional speed on relative velocity and hardness should result in
greater tool wear. In Fig. 6 it is observed that the tool wear in-
creases with increase in tool rotational speed. Thus the extent of Fig. 8. (a) The percentage reduction in projected area with traverse distance for
increase in tool wear due to higher relative velocity and lower tool various rotational speeds 800, 1000 and 1200 rpm. (b) Variation of wear rate with
different rotation speeds for 30 mm/min traverse speed.
hardness must be greater than the extent of decrease due to lower
stress. For the same variation of tool rotational speed (800 rpm to
1200 rpm), the reduction in projected area grows from 7.309% to progressive wear rate for distance intervals. The progressive wear
11.670% for 1000 mm traverse distance and 5.376%–7.703% for rate for a certain distance interval can be calculated in this fashion
300 mm traverse distance. The change in the projected area is since every weld is performed using a new tool and the process is
more for 1000 mm traverse distance than for 300 mm traverse continuous in nature. Wear rate is calculated for three traverse
distance. A standard deviation of 0.397% is considered for mea- distance intervals, 0 mm to 300 mm, 300 mm to 500 mm, and
surement of projected area based on 30 repeated measurements. 500 mm to 1000 mm, for various rotation speeds. Table 1 shows
The percentage reduction in the projected area as function of progressive wear rate (% area reduction/mm) as a function of
the tool traverse distance is shown in Fig. 8 for various tool rota-
tional speeds. For longer traverse distances greater percentage
Table 1
reduction in projected area is observed for all considered tool ro-
Effect of rotation speed on the progressive wear rate (% area reduction/mm) for
tational speeds. For the traverse distances of 300 mm and various traverse distance intervals (TDI).
1000 mm, the percentage area reduction changes from 5.376% to
7.309% for 800 rpm tool rotational speed, and from 7.703% to Process parameters Progressive wear rate (% area reduction/mm)
11.670% for 1200 rpm tool rotational speed. Thus the total wear
Rotation Traverse TDI 1 (0– TDI 2 (300– TDI 3 (500–
increases as the tool traverses longer distances for all considered speed (rpm) Speed (mm/ 300 mm) 500 mm) 1000 mm)
rotational speeds. As tool wear is a continuous phenomenon, wear min)
is expected to increase with increased tool-workpiece interaction.
In this study, continuous welding was performed for traverse 800 30 0.018 0.004 0.002
1000 30 0.022 0.010 0.004
distances of 300 mm, 500 mm, and 1000 mm. The tool wear is 1200 30 0.026 0.012 0.003
measured for these distances and can be used to calculate the
 P. Sahlot et al. / Wear 378-379 (2017) 82–89 87

13

12 300 mm
500 mm
Reduction in projected area [%]

11
1000 mm

10

3
20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Traverse speed [mm/min]
Fig. 9. Reduction in projected area with traverse speed for various traverse dis-
tance 300, 500 and 1000 mm with a constant rotation speed of 1000 rpm.

rotation speed for various traverse distance intervals (TDI).

The variation of progressive wear rate with TDIs is shown in
Fig. 8(b) for different tool rotational speeds. During the total tra-
verse of 1000 mm, the progressive wear rate is highest for
0-300 mm TDI, and decreases continuously for 300–500 mm and
500–1000 mm TDIs. During the initial tool traverse stage (0-
300 mm) the original shape of the tool is same for all cases, while
higher relative velocity leads to faster wear of the tool at higher
tool rotational speeds. The tool shape changes upon further tool
traverse and reaches closer to a self-optimized shape. This self-
optimized shape phenomenon is in agreement with the previous
studies where similar phenomenon were observed [23,26]. The
wear rate reduces significantly for the optimized tool shape and
the difference between wear rates for two rotational speeds also
decreases. As the tool traverse distance increases further, the wear
rate decreases and the tool wears at about the same rate for all tool
rotational speeds.
The effect of traverse speed on reduction in projected area of Fig. 10. (a) The percentage area reduction with traverse distance for various tra-
H13 tool is shown in Fig. 9 for various traverse distances. Higher verse speed 30, 50 and 70 mm/min. (b) Wear rate as a function of traverse speed.

tool traverse speeds lead to lesser reduction in tool projected area.

Increase in traverse speed have little impact on the peak tem- Fig. 10(a) shows reduction in projected area measured for var-
perature during the FSW process [29,31,44,45]. Thus the tool ious tool traverse distances for welding done at different traverse
hardness and the stresses on the tool do not change much with speeds. As expected, the area reduction increases with increase in
change in the tool traverse speed. The increase in the tool traverse traverse distance due to continuous wear of the tool. For traverse
speed does not significantly affect the relative velocity at the tool- distance of 300 mm and 1000 mm, the change in projected area
workpiece interface as well [29,44,45]. However, the amount of reduction is from 6.5612% to 10.289% for traverse speed of 30 mm/
time available for tool-workpiece interaction changes significantly min, and 4.473% to 6.733% for traverse speed of 70 mm/min. The
with change in tool traverse speed. As the tool traverse speed in- change is more in case of lower traverse speed compared to the
creases, the tool interacts with the workpiece material for less change at higher traverse speed. This might be due to the soft-
time at given thermo-mechanical conditions. For same tool tra- ening of the material for being at high temperature (
1150 K) for
verse distance, amount of wear is less for higher traverse speed longer duration of time [46]. The severity of stresses on the re-
due to reduced interaction time. This can also be seen in Fig. 9, duced size of the tool is also an important factor in such sharp
where for all traverse distances, the total reduction in projected increase. The stresses increase with continuous reduction in tool
area is decreasing with increase in the tool traverse speed. The dimension. This sharp increase in wear is not seen in case of
least amount of projected area reduction is 4.473 for 70 mm/min 70 mm/min traverse speed, as the tool is spending lesser amount
traverse speed at 300 mm traverse distance. For the same variation of time in the harsh thermal environment.
of tool traverse speed (30 mm/min to 70 mm/min), the reduction Progressive wear rate (% area reduction/mm) calculated from
in projected area changes from 6.561 % to 4.473 for 300 mm tra- Fig. 10(a) is listed in Table 2 as function of traverse speed for three
verse distance and 10.289 % to 6.733 % for 1000 mm traverse traverse distance intervals (TDI) 0–300 mm, 300–500 mm and
distance. Tool wear decreases with increase in the traverse speed 500–1000 mm.
as interaction time reduces for same traverse distance. The variation in progressive wear rate (% reduction in area/mm)
88 P. Sahlot et al. / Wear 378-379 (2017) 82–89

Table 2
Effect of traverse speed on the progressive wear rate (% area reduction/mm) for
various traverse distance intervals.

Process parameters Progressive wear rate (% area reduction/mm)

Traverse Speed Rotation TDI 1 (0– TDI 2 (300– TDI 3 (500–

(mm/min) speed (rpm) 300 mm) 500 mm) 1000 mm)

30 1000 0.022 0.010 0.004

50 1000 0.019 0.007 0.004
70 1000 0.015 0.005 0.003

with TDIs for total 1000 mm tool traverse is shown in Fig. 10(b) for
various traverse speeds. For all traverse speeds, the progressive
wear rate decreases as the tool progresses further along the weld
line. During initial stage of the tool traverse (0–300 mm), sharp
edges of the tool are under severe stresses from interaction with
the workpiece material. This leads to higher wear rate for TDI 1 (0–
300 mm). As the tool traverses further, the pin sharp edges are
removed and surface becomes smoother. The wear rate decreases
significantly during TDI 2 (300–500 mm) and TDI 3 (500–
1000 mm) as the tool achieves self-optimized shape [23,26]. The
variation of wear rate is more at lower traverse speed as compared
to the higher traverse speed.
For TDI 1 (0–300 mm), higher wear rate is observed for slower
traverse speeds. The difference in the tool-workpiece interaction
time leads to this difference in wear rate at the start of welding
process. However, as the tool traverses beyond 300 mm, the
overall wear rate reduces significantly. Thus the difference in the
wear rates due to difference in the interaction time is also not very
significant for TDI 2 (300–500 mm) and TDI 3 (500–1000 mm).
The primary goal of this work has been quantitative analysis of
the tool wear during FSW process. In addition, a preliminary study Fig. 11. Microstructural study of tool workpiece interface (a) SEM image of the tool
workpiece interface with EDS line scan (b) elemental distribution of Fe, Cu and Cr
has been performed to understand wear mechanism during FSW along the EDS line scan.
of CuCrZr alloy. As can be seen in Fig. 3, copper alloy sticks to the
tool surface during welding. To investigate the sticking mechanism
and material interaction at the interface, a used tool was cut ver- speed and decrease in traverse speed. However, the impact of
tically and the tool interface was analyzed using SEM-EDS. Fig. 11 parameters reduces as tool traverses 1000 mm welding distance
(a) shows SEM image of tool and adhered workpiece interface with and adopts a self-optimized shape. This quantitative under-
an EDS scan line. The elemental distribution along the scan line standing of tool wear might be useful for FSW of other high
(perpendicular to interface) is shown in Fig. 11(b). The analysis melting point metallic materials such as steel and titanium to
shows that diffusion of Fe and Cu takes place across the interface. optimize the process parameters for less tool wear. The change in
The diffusion length is approximately 3 mm, which depends on the the tool shape also provides the possibility to improve the tool
diffusivity at process conditions of Fe in Cu and vice versa. Diffused design and to reduce the tool wear for FSW of high strength
iron and copper form a solid solution layer over the tool surface materials.
without any intermetallic formation as per the Fe-Cu phase dia-
gram [47]. High stresses acting on the tool at high temperature
during process may have led to dislodging of this solid solution 4. Conclusions
layer on the tool surface. However, more detailed investigations
are needed to comment on the tool wear mechanism with any In summary, the wear of H13 steel tool during FSW of CuCrZr
confidence. alloy is quantitatively studied and effect of tool rotational speed,
In this study, H13 steel tool is used for FSW of CuCrZr alloy tool traverse speed, and traverse distance on tool wear is in-
(high melting point metallic material) and effect of rotation speed, vestigated. The key findings in the context of these studies can be
traverse speed and traverse distance on tool wear is investigated. summarized as follows:
Tool wear increases with increase in rotational speed as relative
velocity between tool and workpiece increases. With increase in 1. During FSW of CuCrZr alloy, higher tool rotational speed leads to
traverse speed lesser amount of wear is observed due to less tool- greater tool wear due to enhanced relative surface velocities.
workpiece interaction time for same traverse distance. As wear is a However, studies have revealed that the amount of tool wear
continuous phenomenon, tool wear increases with increase in decreases with increase in tool traverse speed. While the sur-
traverse distance for all combinations of the parameters. The face velocities remain same at higher traverse speeds, the re-
progressive wear rate is more in the initial stage of welding due to duced interaction time gives rise to the observed behavior.
severe wear during start of the process. After some traverse dis- 2. The studies on the progressive tool wear rate during FSW of
tance, the tool adopts a self-optimized shape and as a result the such alloys, which have not been reported elsewhere, reveal
amount of wear reduces. In the beginning (upto 300 mm), the that the wear rate is highest during the initial stages of tool
progressive wear rate shows significant effect of process para- traverse (300 mm for this study) and reduces significantly for
meters, where wear rate increases with increase in rotational further traverse. These observations arise due to self-
 P. Sahlot et al. / Wear 378-379 (2017) 82–89 89

optimization of the tool shape during which the features with Eng. A 488 (2008) 25–30.
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