CENTRAL POLYTECHNIC COLLEGE

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
Department of Mechanical Engineering

Seminar Report
On
“FRICTION STIR WELDING”
Submitted by
AJITH. A
Reg. No: 17020005

FIFTH SEMESTER DIPLOMA IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

2017-2020
 CENTRAL POLYTECHNIC COLLEGE
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
Department of Mechanical Engineering

Certificate
Certified that this is the bonafide report of the seminar on
“ FRICTION STIR WELDING” presented by AJITH. A OF 5th
Semester Mechanical engineering with Reg. NO: 17020005 in partial
fulfillment of the award of Diploma in Mechanical Engineering during
the academic year 2017-2020 from the State board of Technical
Education, Govt. of Kerala.

Class tutor Head of Department

Examiner:1 Examiner:2
 INDEX
CHAPTER CONTENTS PAGE NO
NO
1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 4

2 ABSTRACT 5

3 INTRODUCTION 6

4 TYPES OF WELDINGS 7

5 WORKING PRINCIPLE 8-9

6 FRICTION STIR WELDING TOOL 10

7 PROPERTIES OF TOOLMATERIAL 11

8 TOOL MATERIALS 12

9 TYPES OF FSW TOOLS 13

10 IMPORTANT WELDING PARAMETERS 14-16

11 WELDING FORCES 17

12 FLOW OF MATERIAL 18-19

13 GENERATION AND FLOW OF HEAT 20-21

14 MICRO STRUCTURAL FEATURES 22-23

15 FSW MACHINE 24

16 RESULTS OF FSW 25

17 MATERIALS AND THICKNESS 26

18 ADVANTAGES AND DIS ADVANTAGES 27

19 APPLICATION 28-29

20 CONCLUSION AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENT 30

REFERENCES 31
 INDEX
SL NO FIGURE NAME PAGE NO

1 FIGURE5.1 WORKING PRINCIPLE 9

2 FIGURE 5.2 STEPS IN FSW 10

3 FIGURE 6.1 FSW TOOL 12

4 FIGURE 6.2 FSW TOOL NOMEN CLATURE 12

5 FIGURE 9.1 TYPES OF FSW TOOL BASED ON SHAPE OF PIN 16

6 FIGURE 9.2 TYPES OF FSW TOOL BASED ON SHAPE OF SHOULDER 16

7 FIGURE 10.1 FSW TOOL DESIGN 17

8 FIGURE 10.2 TOOL TILT AND PLUNGE DEPTH 19

9 FIGURE 10.3 TOOL TILT AND PLUNGE DEPTH 19

10 FIGURE 14.1 MICRO STUCTURAL FEATURES 27

11 FIGURE 14.2 MICRO STUCTURAL FEATURES 27

12 FIGURE 15.1 FSW MACHINE 28

13 FIGURE 16.1 FSW PROGRESS IN METAL 29

14 FIGURE 16.2 RESULTS OF FSW 29

15 FIGURE16.3 RESULTS OF FSW 29

16 FIGURE 19.1 SHIP BUILDING AND MARINE INDUSTRIES 32

17 FIGURE 19.2 AEROSPACE INDUSTRIES 32

18 FIGURE 19.3 RAILWAYS AND ROAD TRANSPORT 33

 CHAPTER: 1
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I take this opportunity to express my deep sense of gratitude to our Head of
mechanical MR. Joshy R.S for his guidance, help, suggestion and supporting me
to clear my all doubts during the preparation of seminar and inspiring me to
put my best of efforts. I will be falling in my duty if I don’t offer mi gratitude
toward my Guide MR. Manu. G who helped me time to time to understand my
topic and the various related cases. Last but not least Acknowledgement will
not be over without mentioning word of thanks towards all the faculty
members of Mechanical Engineering Department , Friends, and my colleagues
who helped me directly or indirectly in all the way through my seminar
preparation.
 CHAPTER: 2
ABSTRACT
Friction stir welding (FSW) is a solid-state joining process that uses a non-
consumable tool to join two facing work pieces without melting the work piece
material. Heat is generated by friction between the rotating tool and the work
piece material, which leads to a softened region near the FSW tool. While the
tool is traversed along the joint line, it mechanically intermixes the two pieces
of metal, and forges the hot and softened metal by the mechanical pressure,
which is applied by the tool, much like joining clay, or dough.[1] It is primarily
used on wrought or extruded aluminium and particularly for structures which
need very high weld strength. FSW is also found in modern shipbuilding, trains,
and aerospace applications. It was invented and experimentally proven at The
Welding Institute (TWI) in the UK in December 1991. TWI held patents on the
process, the first being the most descriptive.
 CHAPTER: 3
INTRODUCTION

Welding is the process of joining two similar or

dissimilar materials with the application of heat and with or without the
application of pressure. Welding is a permanent fastening joint. Welding
process is widely used in all industrial areas.
Friction stir welding(FSW), a new solid state joining
process combining deformation heating and mechanical work to obtain high
quality, defect-free joints. Friction stir welding is well suited for joining
aluminium alloys in a large range of plate thickness and has particular
advantage over fusion welding when joining of highly alloyed aluminium is
considered, high quality joints may even be made in discontinuously reinforced
aluminium alloys. Because of the many demonstrated advantage of FSW over
fusion welding techniques, the commercialization of friction stir welding is
proceeding at a rapid pace. Current production application includes both large
and small scale products.
 CHAPTER: 4
TYPES OF WELDINGS

• Arc welding
• Oxy fuel gas welding
• Resistance welding
• Solid state welding(friction stir welding)
 CHAPTER: 5
WORKING PRINCIPLE

Friction stir welding (FSW) is a solid-state joining process that uses a non-
consumable tool to join two facing work pieces without melting the work piece
material. Heat is generated by friction between the rotating tool and the work
piece material, which leads to a softened region near the FSW tool. While the
tool is traversed along the joint line, it mechanically intermixes the two pieces
of metal, and forges the hot and softened metal by the mechanical pressure,
which is applied by the tool, much like joining clay, or dough.[1] It is primarily
used on wrought or extruded aluminium and particularly for structures which
need very high weld strength. FSW is also found in modern shipbuilding, trains,
and aerospace applications.

Fig 5.1
Working Principle
A rotating cylindrical tool with a profiled probe is fed into a butt joint between
two clamped work pieces, until the shoulder, which has a larger diameter than
the pin, touches the surface of the work pieces. The probe is slightly shorter
than the weld depth required, with the tool shoulder riding atop the work
surface. After a short dwell time, the tool is moved forward along the joint line
at the pre-set welding speed.
Frictional heat is generated between the wear-resistant tool and the work
pieces. This heat, along with that generated by the mechanical mixing process
and the adiabatic heat within the material, cause the stirred materials to
soften without melting. As the tool is moved forward, a special profile on the
probe forces plasticized material from the leading face to the rear, where the
high forces assist in a forged consolidation of the weld.
This process of the tool traversing along the weld line in a plasticized tubular
shaft of metal results in severe solid-state deformation involving dynamic
recrystallization of the base material.
Traditionally, friction welding is carried out by moving one component relative
to the other along a common interface, while applying a compressive force
across the joint. The friction heating generated at the interface softens both
components, and when they become plasticized the interface material is
extruded out of the edges of the joint so that clean material from each
component is left along the original interface. The relative motion is then
stopped, and a higher final compressive force may be applied before the joint
is allowed to cool. The key to friction welding is that no molten material is
generated, the weld being formed in the solid state working principle of FSW
Tool is pushed into the materials to be welded and is brought into contact with
the two parts to be joined. The rotation of tool heats up and plasticizes the
materials in contact with tool. Movement of tool forces the plasticized material
to back of the tool whilst applying a substantial forging force to consolidate the
weld metal.

Fig 5.2
Steps in FSW
 CHAPTER: 6
FRICTION STIR WELDING TOOL

Fig6.1
FSW Tool

The tool in FSW is a vital component in FSW and largely contributes to

the success of the process. It primarily consists of two parts namely the
shoulder and the pin. The shoulder mainly does the function of
frictionally heating the work piece material by rubbing against the work
material. It also confines the heated volume of material within the weld
zone. The tool pin functions to plastically deform the material being
joined. The pin ‘‘stirs’’ and ‘‘moves’’ the material the quality of the
microstructure and the mechanical properties of the joint are governed
by the tool design. The important features of the tool that are to be
considered are:
. Pin length (PL)
. Pin diameter (PD)
. Tool shoulder diameter (SD)
. SD/PD ratio of the tool.
 Fig6.2 FSW Tool Nomenclature

CHAPTER: 7
PROPERTIES OF TOOL MATERIAL

• High strength at elevated and ambient temperature

• Stability of the material at elevated temperature
• High wear resistance
• Low tool reactivity
• High fracture toughness
• Good machinability
 CHAPTER: 8
TOOL MATERIALS

1) High Carbon High Chromium Steel

2) Nickel and Cobalt Base Alloys
3) Carbides
4) Refractory metals(Tantalum, Molybdenum, titanium)
5) High speed steel is used for welding aluminium
6) For welding steel and tungsten alloys tungsten and iridium based alloys
are used
 CHAPTER: 9
TYPES OF FSW TOOLS

Fig 9.1 Based on shape of pin

Fig 9.2 Based on the shape of shoulder

 CHAPTER: 10
IMPORTANT WELDING PARAMETERS
Tool design

Fig 10.1
FSW tool Design
The design of the tool is a critical factor, as a good tool can improve both the
quality of the weld and the maximal possible welding speed.
It is desirable that the tool material be sufficiently strong, tough, and hard
wearing at the welding temperature. Further, it should have a good oxidation
resistance and a low thermal conductivity to minimize heat loss and thermal
damage to the machinery further up the drive train. Hot-worked tool
steel such as AISI H13 has proven perfectly acceptable for welding aluminium
alloys within thickness ranges of 0.5–50 mm but more advanced tool materials
are necessary for more demanding applications such as highly abrasive metal
matrix composites or higher-melting-point materials such as steel or titanium.
Improvements in tool design have been shown to cause substantial
improvements in productivity and quality. TWI has developed tools specifically
designed to increase the penetration depth and thus increasing the plate
thicknesses that can be successfully welded. An example is the "whorl" design
that uses a tapered pin with re-entrant features or a variable-pitch thread to
improve the downwards flow of material. Additional designs include the Tri
flute and Tri vex series. The tri flute design has a complex system of three
tapering, threaded re-entrant flutes that appear to increase material
movement around the tool. The Tri vex tools use a simpler, non-cylindrical, pin
and have been found to reduce the forces acting on the tool during welding.
The majority of tools have a concave shoulder profile, which acts as an escape
volume for the material displaced by the pin, prevents material from extruding
out of the sides of the shoulder and maintains downwards pressure and hence
good forging of the material behind the tool. The Tri flute tool uses an
alternative system with a series of concentric grooves machined into the
surface, which are intended to produce additional movement of material in the
upper layers of the weld.
Widespread commercial applications of friction stir welding process for steels
and other hard alloys such as titanium alloys will require the development of
cost-effective and durable tools. Material selection, design and cost are
important considerations in the search for commercially useful tools for the
welding of hard materials. Work is continuing to better understand the effects
of tool material's composition, structure, properties and geometry on their
performance, durability and cost.

Tool rotation and traverse speeds

There are two tool speeds to be considered in friction-stir welding how fast the
tool rotates and how quickly it traverses along the interface. These two
parameters have considerable importance and must be chosen with care to
ensure a successful and efficient welding cycle. The relationship between the
rotation speed, the welding speed and the heat input during welding is
complex, but in general, it can be said that increasing the rotation speed or
decreasing the traverse speed will result in a hotter weld. In order to produce a
successful weld, it is necessary that the material surrounding the tool is hot
enough to enable the extensive plastic flow required and minimize the forces
acting on the tool. If the material is too cold, then voids or other flaws may be
present in the stir zone and in extreme cases the tool may break. Excessively
high heat input, on the other hand, may be detrimental to the final properties
of the weld. Theoretically, this could even result in defects due to the liquation
of low-melting-point phases (similar to liquation cracking in fusion welds).
These competing demands lead onto the concept of a "processing window":
the range of processing parameters viz. tool rotation and traverse speed that
will produce a good quality weld. Within this window the resulting weld will
have a sufficiently high heat input to ensure adequate material plasticity but
not so high that the weld properties are excessively deteriorated.
Tool tilt and plunge depth

Fig 10.2 Tool tilt and plunge depth

The plunge depth is defined as the depth of the lowest point of the shoulder
below the surface of the welded plate and has been found to be a critical
parameter for ensuring weld quality. Plunging the shoulder below the plate
surface increases the pressure below the tool and helps ensure adequate
forging of the material at the rear of the tool. Tilting the tool by 2–4 degrees,
such that the rear of the tool is lower than the front, has been found to assist
this forging process. The plunge depth needs to be correctly set, both to
ensure the necessary downward pressure is achieved and to ensure that the
tool fully penetrates the weld. Given the high loads required, the welding
machine may deflect and so reduce the plunge depth compared to the nominal
setting, which may result in flaws in the weld. On the other hand, an excessive
plunge depth may result in the pin rubbing on the backing plate surface or a
significant under match of the weld thickness compared to the base material.
Variable-load welders have been developed to automatically compensate for
changes in the tool displacement, while TWI have demonstrated a roller
system that maintains the tool position above the weld plate.

Fig 10.3
Tool tilt and plunge depth
 CHAPTER: 11
WELDING FORCES
• 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.
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.
 CHAPTER: 12
FLOW OF MATERIAL
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 probe; instead, the material parts in front of the pin and passes down
either side. After the material has passed the probe, the side pressure exerted
by the "die" forces the material back together, and consolidation of the join
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 probe, 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:

• Material on the advancing side of a weld enters into a zone that rotates and
advances with the profiled probe. 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.
• The lighter material came from the retreating side in front 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 both 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 correctly predict the
results from marker experiments and the stir zone geometry observed in
friction stir welding experiments.
 CHAPTER: 13
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 work piece.
• 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 work piece.
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. Mathematical approximations for the total heat generated by
the tool shoulder Qtotalhave been developed using both sliding and sticking
friction.
Where ω is the angular velocity of the tool, Rshoulder is the radius of the tool
shoulder, and Rpin is that of the pin. Several other equations have been
proposed to account for factors such as the pin, but the general approach
remains the same.
A major difficulty in applying these equations is determining suitable values for
the friction coefficient or the interfacial shear stress. The conditions under the
tool are both extreme and very difficult to measure. To date, these parameters
have been used as "fitting parameters", where the model works back from
measured thermal data to obtain a reasonable simulated thermal field. While
this approach is useful for creating process models to predict, for example,
residual stresses, it is less useful for providing insights into the process itself.
 CHAPTER: 14
MICRO SRUCTURAL FEATURES

Base Metal Zone

The portion of the material away from the weld where no micro structural or
mechanical property changes takes place.

Heat Affected Zone

Material experiences no plastic deformation but influenced by heat of welding
leading to some micro structural changes.

Thermo Mechanically Affected Zone

The material deforms plastically due to action of tool and is influenced by heat.

Weld Nugget
Fully recrystallize area. It is also called the stirring zone.
 Fig 14.1
Micro structural Features

Fig 14.2
Micro structural features
 CHAPTER: 15
FSW MACHINE
The machine tool for FSW requires the rotation of the FSW tool along
with its feed movement. The plunging of the tool is done in the Z-axis.
The machine must be capable of generating variable speeds and feed
rates. The movement of each axis is powered by electric motor sand
gearboxes to generate the required torque. The friction stir welding
machine must retain high positioning accuracy while
45
workingunderhighprocessloads. It must also have a facility to rigidly
clamp the work piece. The process can be performed using conventional
vertical milling machine for thin and thin-to-moderate sections.
Machines with C-frames and gantries are quiet common. But for heavier
sections, special purpose machine tools designed for friction stir welding
must be used. Such machines have devices such as tool force
dynamometers attached for force measurements in each axis. They
assist in monitoring the plunge and the traverse loads and allows better
process control for quality assurance. Some machines may have
separate motors for the pin and shoulder rotations permitting the pin
and shoulder to rotate at different speeds. The process can be
completely automated and hence robotic friction stir welding machines
are also common.

Fig 15.1
FSW Machine
 CHAPTER: 16
RESULTS OF FSW

Fig 16.1 FSW progress in metal

Fig 16.2 Results of FSW

Fig 16.3 Results of FSW

 CHAPTER: 17
MATERIALS AND THICKNESS

Friction stir welding can be used for joining

➢ 2000, 5000, 6000, 7000 series aluminum.
➢ Aluminium based metal matrix composites
➢ Copper and its alloys (up to 50mm in one pass).
➢ Lead.
➢ Titanium and its alloys .Zinc, Plastic, Stainless steel and Nickel alloys
 CHAPTER: 18
ADVANTAGES
1) Improved safety due to absence of toxic fumes and spatter of molten
metal
2) Additional filler material is not needed
3) Shielding gas is not needed
4) Good weld appearance
5) Can weld copper and aluminium of thickness 50 mm in one pass
6) Excellent mechanical properties as proven by fatigue, tensile and bend
stress

DIS ADVANTAGES

1) Exit hole left when tool is with drawn

2) Large down force required
3) Heavy clamping force is required
4) Less flexible than manual arc welding
 CHAPTER: 19
APPLICATION

Ship building and marine industries

1) Panel for decks bilk head and floor
2) Hulls and super structures
3) Helicopter landing platforms
4) Sailing boats

Fig 19.1

Aerospace industries
1) Cryogenic fuel tank for space vehicles
2) Air craft fuel tank
3) Military and scientific vehicles

Fig 19.2
 Railway and land transport
1) High speed trains
2) Railway tankers and goods wagons
3) Wheel rims
4) Motor cycle and by cycle frames

Fig 19.3
 CHAPTER: 20
CONCLUSION AND FUTURE SCOPE
FSW is the best process to welding aluminium for long lengths with an
excellent quality. Considerable effort is being made to weld higher
temperature materials such as titanium and steels by using FSW. Take the
process beyond its current use of mainly simple butt and lap joint
configurations and make it a much more flexible fabrication process. In future
FSW can be used for piping system and can be integrate with other processes.
 REFERENCES

❖ ‘The Welding of Aluminium and Its Alloys’ by Gene Mathers.

❖ ‘Aluminium welding’ by Nisith R. Mandal.
❖ W. M. Thomas, E. D. Nicholas, J.C. Needham, and C. J. Dawees,
“Friction stir welding” G.B. Patent No.5460317.
❖ M. R. johnsen, “friction stir welding” The welding journal,
1997, 78, pp.35-39.
❖ . WWW. [Link]
❖ WWW. Wikipedia/ friction stir welding
❖ Pratik H Shah Friction Stir Welding and Processing Reports (a review
journal)