The National Institute of Engineering

(An Autonomous Institute under Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belagavi)

REPORT ON
INDUSTRIAL TRAINING
Submitted in partial fulfilment for the award of credits for
Industrial training (MPT3C02)
By
SANJAYKUMAR K C
4NI19MPT08
IIIrd SEM

Guide: Mohammed Ismail

Associate Professor, Dept. of I&P Engineering
NIE, Mysore

DEPARTMENT OF
INDUSTRIAL AND PRODUCTION ENGINEERING
NIE, MYSURU- 08
Dec 2020
Technical report

INTRODUCTION
1.1 introduction to FSW
Lightweight structures are increasingly important in variety of applications. They are used as
body parts in modern automobile structures or as reinforced plastics wing or fuselage
sections in modern aviation structures. In addition, composite materials such as carbon-
fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP) or glass-fibre-reinforced polymer (GFRP) are also integrated
to lightweight metals such as aluminium or magnesium for a very strong and lightweight
hybrid structure. However, joining between dissimilar materials especially metal-polymer
joining is still a main issue in the development of new advanced hybrid structures.

Currently, one of the major joining methods for metal-polymer hybrid structures is
mechanical joining. This method can be used to join variety of dissimilar materials together
including metal to metal, polymer to polymer and metal to polymer. The strong advantage
of mechanical joining is that the joints can be disassembled in case of repair or modification.
However, stress concentration near holes of riveted joints can lead to crack formation or
crack propagation inside the materials. In addition, the weight of mechanical fasteners such
as bolts or rivets will increase the overall weight of the structures.

Adhesive bonding is another method widely used for metal-polymer hybrid joining at
present. This method gives many advantages in material joining including uniform stress
distribution, small distortion effect, ability to join almost any combination of materials,
ability to join complex joint geometry and ability to control physical properties of joints. The
strength of adhesive bonding joints strongly depends on surface free energy and 2
wettability of materials. The higher the surface free energy, the better the adhesive bonding
they can reach. Adhesive bonding joints of metal-polymer hybrid structures are more likely
to have the problems due to large surface free energy difference and very low surface free
energy of polymers. The following table shows the surface free energy of commonly used
materials.

Friction Stir Welding (FSW) is a successful method that is typically used to join aluminium
and some lightweight alloys such as magnesium and titanium. It is a solid-state welding
method that uses rotating tool to generate heat and forge the plasticized materials into
joint line for consolidation. The stirred materials are softened by frictional heat mainly from

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work-piece and shoulder surfaces. Without melting, FSW can visibly solve the conventional
problems in fusion welding such as porosity, distortion or 3 solidification cracking with very
good mechanical properties especially fatigue strength due to unchanged material
microstructure.

1.2 History

Friction Stir Welding (FSW), invented by Wayne Thomas at TWI Ltd in 1991, overcomes
many of the problems associated with traditional joining techniques. FSW is a solid-state
process which produces welds of high quality in difficult-to-weld materials such as
aluminium, and is fast becoming the process of choice for manufacturing lightweight
transport structures such as boats, trains and aeroplanes.

Fabricators are under increasing pressure to produce stronger and lighter products whilst
using less energy, less environmentally harmful materials, at lower cost and more quickly
than ever before. FSW, being a solid-state, low-energy-input, repeatable mechanical process
capable of producing very high-strength welds in a wide range of materials, offers a
potentially lower-cost, environmentally benign solution to these challenges.

FSW was invented and pioneered by TWI Ltd. Accordingly, we have a wealth of experience
of applying the process industrially, in addition to in-depth knowledge of the fundamental
science that underlies it.

1.3 working principle

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Fig 1.1 FSW working process

Friction stir welding works on same principle of friction welding. In this process, friction is
used to generate heat at interface surface. This heat starts diffusion process at the mating
surface. A high-pressure force applied at these mating surfaces which accelerates metal
diffusion process and form a metal to metal joint. This is basic principle of friction welding.
In friction stir welding, a rotating tool is used to applied friction and pressure force at the
plates. This tool rotates at its own axis and move longitudinally at the plates interface which
generates heat by friction between rotating tool and work piece. This heat deformed the
interface surface and diffuses the two piece of work piece into one another by applying a
high-pressure force. This joint is created due to thermo mechanical treatment at the
interface surface. One big advantage which makes it versatile welding process is that, it can
be easily automated and gives higher metal joining rate. It is mostly used to join aluminium
alloy.

The working process of friction stir welding can be summarized as follow.

 First both the work plates are clamped together same as in butt joint. These both
plate’s weldable surfaces are in contact with one another.
 Now a rotating tool pin is inserted into work pieces at the interface surfaces until
tool shoulder touched the work piece. This will deform the material plastically due to
heating by friction force. This is state of the joining process in which, inter molecular
diffusion will deform the material plastically due to heating by friction force.
 Now the rotating tool is move forward along the joint line. This will form a joint
behind the tool.
 The tool continuously moves unlit the whole weld is form. After the joining process,
tool is separated from the work piece. The hole created by tool pin remains in the
welding plates.

1.4 Important Welding parameters

1.4.1 Tool Design:

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Tool design is a very important factor in improving the quality of the workpiece. To achieve
a good finish in job the tool material should be sufficiently strong, tough and hard-wearing
at the welding temperature. The tool should conduct less heat to decrease heat losses and
minimizes the damage to the machine’s parts caused by the heat produced. The tool should
be highly resistive to oxidation so that there are no traces of rust.

1.4.2 Tool Speeds:

As we know the friction stir welding process is a slower welding process, this is because the
cylindrical tool turns on the joint to generate heat, and then moving along the length of the
joint transmitting that heat. The probe tool with the cylindrical part rotates within the range
of 200 to 2000 rotations per minute (rpm). The traverse rate of the tool along the joint line
is between 10 to 500 millimetre per minute (mm/min).

1.4.3 Tool Tilt:

Tool tilt is also an important aspect to get a good quality of weld. It welds the joint in a
slightly lean position or tilt position which is about 2 to 4 degrees. The forces applied
downwards can affect the joint, so to prevent this condition a tilt is given.

1.4.4 Plunge Depth:

The plunge depth is the total depth till which the shoulder of the tool gets inserted into the
metal sheet while the pin penetrates further than the shoulder.  It is very important factor
to determine the quality of job as the plunge depth needs to be correctly set because it
ensures the necessary downward pressure is achieved and also ensure that the tool fully
penetrates the weld because if the tool is not inserted to correct depth machine may deflect
from its position. And on giving excessive plunge depth the job may have pin rubbing marks
on it.

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1.5 Welding zones of FSW

Fig 1.5.1

The mechanical properties of friction stir welded aluminium alloys have been proven better
than those found with other welding processes, such as arc welding.

With regard to the mechanical properties of FSW, this process typically has three main
microstructural regions; D a weld nugget, C+D .a thermo-mechanically affected zone (TMAZ)
and B. a heat affected zone (HAZ).

While both the weld nugget and the TMAZ are ‘thermo mechanically affected zones,’ they
are considered separately when it comes to the microstructural features. This is because the
weld nugget experiences dynamic recrystallization while the TMAZ does not. However, the
exact composition and extent of the microstructural composition in these zones depends
upon the material and processing conditions. These can, for example, alter depending on
factors such as welding parameters and the design of the FSW tool used.

Friction stir welded material can be divided into four regions as shown in Fig.1.5.1. In the
heat affected zone (HAZ), there is no plastic deformation; however, metallurgical
microstructure and mechanical properties of parent material are modified by the heat

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generated from the weld-centre. In the thermomechanical affected zone (TMAZ) and the
stirred zone, the combination of plastic deformation, dynamic recrystallization and recovery
occur simultaneously during the process. Whilst the deformed grains are still retained in
TMAZ, fully recrystallization significantly occurs in the stirred zone only. Fig. 3 The schematic
shows different regions of the cross section of friction stir welded material.

A) Parent material B) Heat affected zone (HAZ) C) Thermomechanical affected zone (TMAZ)
D) Stirred zone. One of the main factors that controls mass and heat transport inside the
friction stir welded material is a rotating tool. It involves three functions in friction stir
welding process, heating weld material, transporting plasticized material and constraining
soften material. Heat is generated during the friction stir welding process by severe plastic
deformation of the work-piece and frictional heat between the rotating tool-weld material
surfaces. The process can be considered as a keyhole welding process where the plasticized
material being welded is transported from the leading edge to the backside of the tool
where it is consolidated by the forging pressure from the shoulder to the work-piece. These
phenomena’s can be regarded as extrusion and forging processes of metal by the rotating
FSW tool. There are many advantages of friction stir welding over the conventional welding
in terms of properties, eco-friendly and economy. FSW can be used for most joint
configurations in contrast to conventional friction welding. It can also weld variety of alloys
with low distortion, absence of solidification cracking, uniform alloying element and
excellent mechanical properties especially fatigue strength. Friction stir welding operation
requires no shielding gas, no consumable materials such as wire, rugs or any filler materials.
It also uses low energy without any toxic fumes and slag wastes. 6 In this project, the lap
joint configuration was used for friction stir welding of metal thermoplastic hybrid
structures. To focus on this specific application, friction stir lap welding will be illustrated in
detail in the next section.

1.6 Tools parameters

1.6.1 Basic principles
In order to discuss how an FSW tool is designed, we first must understand its various
roles...

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To generate a solid-state weld between pieces of metal, the FSW tool probe and
shoulder combination are rotated and plunged into the interface between two
plates/sheets under an applied axial force, which keeps the FSW tool in the correct
location during the weld cycle, as shown in Figure 1. It is very important that the
plates/sheets are supported in a clamping fixture, on the underside by (usually) a steel
backing bar. This bar has the purpose of reacting to the axial force. In addition, side
clamping is required to prevent the plates/sheets from separating as the FSW tool is
traversed along the weld interface. Rotation of the tool generates frictional heating and
softens the weld interface region and when the aluminium alloy is sufficiently softened
the tool is traversed along the weld interface.

Fig 1.6.1

As it rotates and is traversed the thread form on the probe body disrupts the softened weld
zone material and also crushes and disperses any oxide film at the joint interfaces. Complex
forging and extrusion occur and softened material is transferred through 180° from the
leading edge to the trailing edge of the probe, generating a solid-state weld as a result of
time, temperature and pressure. As the rotating shoulder (shown in Figure 1) is traversed
along the weld interface it applies a compressive force onto the surface of the
plates/sheets, both heating and containing the softened material beneath. The
plates/sheets can be joined using lap welding or butt-welding approaches.

1.6.2 Early development

The starting point FSW tool probe design consisted of a simple parallel-sided (cylindrical)
threaded probe body, which rapidly became the first industrially successful probe in 1995.
Since then, TWI has progressively developed a family of FSW tool probes, as shown in

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Figures 2a-e, with the original parallel, threaded pin shown in Figure 2a. The thread form
was cut onto the probe body in the left-hand direction.

Fig 1.6.2 FSW probe designs: a) Threaded pin; b) MX-Triflate™; c) Parallel flute; d) MX-Triflate™;
e) Thru-flow tip feature applied to a parallel flute tool.
1.6.3 Tool design evolution
As the development of FSW has progressed, commercial users of the process
demanded faster welding speeds in much higher strength aluminium alloys and that is
the point at which the MX-Triflate™ probe was developed.
A version of an MX-Triflate™ probe is shown in Figure 1.6.2 b which, although not
obvious, has a slightly tapered body. The tapered probe body and the three equally
spaced helical flutes, identified in Figure1.6.2b, displaced very much less material during
the weld cycle than the original cylindrical body probe and thus much faster welding
speeds could be achieved, whilst maintaining high quality. The three flutes and the MX
thread form also created a more active disruption of weld zone materials and more
rapid generation of frictional heating, which improved the FSW process efficiency. MX-
Triflate™ FSW tool probes tend to be used for welding thinner <15mm workpieces and
the MX-Triflate™ FSW probe >15mm.
FSW tool shoulders are generally less complex in their design than probes. The tool
shoulder does not necessarily run parallel to the workpiece surface, in simple linear
welds the tool is often tilted such that the trailing edge of the shoulder penetrates the

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workpiece and applies additional forging pressure. Dawes et al (1995) developed a

concave shoulder design which worked reliably at an operating (tool tilt) angle of 2-3˚
(Figure 1.6.3a). The desire to increase welding speeds in 5xxx series aluminium alloys led
to the development of a scroll shoulder (Figure 1.6.3a-b), in which a scroll feature is
machined into the face of the shoulder which pulls in material from the outer edge of
the shoulder to the root of the probe (Dawes and Thomas, 1999). This idea was
developed to promote the vertical flow of material, but initial trials showed that such a
design modification also allowed the use of a vertical (zero-tilt) tool. This shoulder
design is now widely used for applications requiring 2 and 3-dimensional weld paths.
The tool shoulder profile significantly influences frictional heat generation during FSW.
Tool shoulder profiles that restrict material flow, such as the scroll, give the greatest
heat input, due to increased surface area. Thus, reduced scroll shoulder diameters may
be used. This has proved particularly beneficial as joint designs and weld paths are
becoming increasingly complex, since tool design can often be driven by joint geometry
constraints.

Fig 1.6.3 Tool shoulder designs (shown with a plain probe): a) Concave; b)

Scroll.

1.6.3 Weld Quality and Acceptability

Although often requested, it is often difficult to provide an FSW probe geometry and
dimensions for a particular application, because the size of the component to be welded

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and the heat sink effect of the clamping fixtures required need to be accommodated.
Therefore, a particular FSW tool probe type is initially chosen from prior experience, and the
design, geometry and dimensions for a starting point probe. A short weld parameter test
matrix study is most often carried out to establish if this probe can produce good weld
quality, or where the boundary of the weld parameter tolerance envelope is located. In
many cases, the original FSW probe design selected produces good quality welds but
occasionally a redesign of the tool is required to accommodate any drawbacks that were
identified or inconsistencies in the material being welded – e.g. variations in extrusion
thickness, edge quality or straightness.

In the absence of any truly reliable modelling information that can accurately identify the
exact FSW probe shape for a particular application, alloy type and plate/sheet thickness,
TWI find that an empirical and iterative approach still tends to be the best way of
developing the FSW technology for our TWI Member companies (see Fig 1.6.4). Our
approach has so far proved to be successful and has provided confidence for the industrial
end user. One aspect which is often over-looked when exploring elaborate ‘optimised’ tool
designs with computer modelling is the final ‘manufacturability’ of the tool.

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Fig 1.6.4 Example of various design iterations explored during a large FSW tool
development programme for the welding of thick section Cu-alloy. Machinability is an
important factor to consider when designing new FSW tools.

1.7 Advantages

 It is a solid-state welding so does not use flux, filler metal etc.

 FSW can be used to weld both similar and dissimilar metals.
 Fine grain size and quality weld can be obtaining by this process.
 Lower power consumption due to absence of external heating.
 Highly automated.
 Little maintenance required.
 Large welding joint design available and it can weld in all direction.
 Easy to operate and does not involve any environmental pollution.

1.8 Disadvantages
 Complicated or special fixture arrangement required.

 It creates a visible hole in welding plates.

 High initial or setup cost.
 It is less flexible compare to arc welding process.

 FSW cannot make filler joints.

 Non-Forgeable material cannot be weld.

1.9 Industrial application

Friction stir welding finds application in a wide variety of industries that use aluminium.

Shipbuilding: FSW was first used to weld hollow aluminium panels for fishing boats. Today,
this welding technique is common in welding aluminium freezer panels used in the body and
hull of ships.

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Since FSW creates minimal distortion, aluminium panels will hold their shape even with
lengthy welds.

Aerospace: Aluminium fuel tanks used in spacecraft to store cryogenic oxygen utilizes FSW.
The joining technique welds the domes to the cylindrical structure that makes up these fuel
tanks.

Boeing used FSW in Interstate Module of a Delta II rocket which had a successful lift off on
August 1999.

FSW is also utilized to join lightweight aluminium frames seen in the aircraft fuselage. This is
because the technique offers a much lighter alternative to bolting or riveting.

Railroad: Friction stir welding finds its use on hollow profiles and T-stiffener extrusions for
manufacturing high-speed trains.

Automotive industry: The automotive industry has turned to aluminium as the optimal

material for preparing car chassis. Hence, it is one of the major adopters in FSW technology.

Conventional welding methods cannot reproduce high tolerance parts like that of FSW. The
quick weld times of FSW also makes it more appealing than other forms of welding for
aluminium.

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CHAPTER -2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

Friction stir welding (FSW) is a solid-state joining technique invented and patented by The
Welding Institute (TWI) in December 1991 [1]. FSW has grown rapidly over the last decade
into an important manufacturing process. The success of the FSW process has been proved
in Aluminium alloys (including 2xxx, 6xxx, and 7xxx series), Fe alloys, Copper alloys and other
dissimilar metals [4, 9]. Its wide use and integration into production and manufacturing
provided motivation to extend the process to high-temperature non-ferrous materials [5].
FSW is already being used by automotive suppliers for wheel rims and suspension arms [10].
This technique has been used successfully for joining of fuel tanks for spacecraft [10].
Commercial jet components (fuel tanks) have been welded by FSW and have successfully
completed flying trials. Aluminium panels for high speed ferries, and rail vehicles, are
currently produced using FSW [1, 10]. Figure 2.1.1 shows examples of typical joint
configurations that can be achieved with FSW. Weld joints are achieved by either single-
sided or double-sided stir welds [15, 20].

Fig 2.1.1 Typical FSW joint configurations [1]

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FSW offers good quality welded joints with increased fatigue performance [3, 4]. This
technique has several advantages as compared to other conventional welding methods:
good weld mechanical properties; no special pre-weld preparation; no filler wire/rod
required; and no weld fumes occurrence [1]. As a result, FSW can be considered more
environmentally friendly. Shielding is required when welding high-temperature materials,
such as Titanium, Stainless Steel or Nickel, to avoid oxidation of the welded plates and the
tool [1]. FSW is also suitable for thin sheets, and one of the successful welds has been
reported on 2 mm Ti-6Al-4V sheet by S. Mironov [13].

2.2 FSW-process overview

There are various factors that influence the defect population within FSW. A process flow
diagram of FSW showing the inputs to the weld process as well as the expected outputs
(measurable effects during and after the weld) is illustrated in Figure 2.2.1 It’s a modification
of a process flow chart in H. Lombard PhD thesis [5].

Fig 2.2.1 FSW related parameters [5]

2.3 Friction stir lap welding (FSLW)

In friction stir lap welding of thin sheets, the size of shoulder plays an important role in joint
properties rather than pin or probe. Zhang et al. [12] reported the interfacial bonding is
achieved by oxide layer disruption and vertical intermixing of material by rotating shoulder.
Two large featureless shoulder tools (15, 20 mm) without pin were used to investigate the
role of shoulder on bonding area and its mechanism. The results showed that the larger
shoulder diameter can improve both joint surface appearance and joint properties while the

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absence of pin has no significant effects on heat generation and weld cross section
microstructure. The role of wide shoulder on interfacial bonding is called boundary effect by
the authors. This boundary effect causes vertical intermixing and interfacial bonding with
dense structure especially near the weld boundary as shown in Fig.2.3.1 b. a) b) c) d) 8 The
bonding area of wide shoulder tool is similar or superior comparing with probe tool.
However, the bonding of material can be well achieved only near the weld boundary while it
was poor at the central region. The reason is from a lack of torsion action which is the result
of tangential material flow driven by shoulder and the forging effect. The level of tangential
flow depends on two factors: linear velocity and tool axial load. When the tool axial load is
increased up to a certain value, the material in subsurface layer will be dragged by rotating
shoulder in the tangential direction. This shoulder-driven flow causes velocity gradient at
the bonding interface resulting in an oxide disruption. However, at the central region, the
linear velocity is too low; therefore, the level of tangential flow is also weak to induce metal
flow within upper plate. Consequently, the interfacial bonding at the central region across
the thickness cannot be well achieved.

Fig.2.3.1 Micrographs of specimen cross sections of FSLW joints welded by 15-mm-shoulder

tool: a) weld boundary b) inside weld boundary c) central region [12].

2.4 Polymer welding

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Friction stir welding technique is potentially applicable to weld polymeric materials such as
PP, HDPE and UHMW [26]. Kiss and CIGNA [28] have studied the applicability of friction stir
welding to join polymeric materials by investigating 15-mm-thick polypropylene sheets.
They reported the tensile test results of butt-joint specimens were approximately about
50% of the parent material. The crystallinity of different zones is also investigated by DSC
techniques. The thermal analysis results showed that the crystallinity in the seam and seam
border line is lower than in the matrix. The reason for the reduced crystallinity is from the
rapid cooling of molten material by the heat absorption to the tool. The lower crystallinity
causes the embrittlement of the seam resulting in low interfacial boding strength at the
matrix-seam interface. The SEM micrograph also showed the difference of fracture surface
between the matrix and welded seam. To overcome the limitations of thermoplastic
welding, Tracy Nelson et al. [26] proposed the patented friction stir welding tool with a hot
shoe as shown in Fig.4.2.1. This tool was developed to overcome the problems from
conventional FSW tools including insufficient frictional energy between shoulder-work-piece
and ejection of thermoplastic by rotating shoulder. An electric heater connecting with the
hot shoe is used to provide heat input for thermoplastic fusion instead of frictional energy
from the shoulder. In this way, the hot shoe also functions to provide forging pressure for
thermoplastic consolidation and to retain molten thermoplastic inside the weld region. The
joints welded by this tool have very good tensile properties at least 75% of the base
polymer. There are some differences in friction stir welding process between thermoplastics
and aluminium [26]. Tilted angle and forging pressure are beneficial for aluminium FSW
resulting in enhanced material consolidation and better weld strength. However, such high
pressure and large tilted angle can cause polymer expansion and high weld bead after the
tool has passed (pressure is removed) due to its viscoelastic property. 15 Fig 2.4.1 Friction
stir welding tools for thermoplastics developed by Tracy Nelson et al. [26] proposed the
patented friction stir welding tool with a hot shoe as shown in Fig.2.4.1. This tool was
developed to overcome the problems from conventional FSW tools including insufficient
frictional energy between shoulder-work-piece and ejection of thermoplastic by rotating
shoulder. An electric heater connecting with the hot shoe is used to provide heat input for
thermoplastic fusion instead of frictional energy from the shoulder. In this way, the hot shoe
also functions to provide forging pressure for thermoplastic consolidation and to retain
molten thermoplastic inside the weld region. The joints welded by this tool have very good

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tensile properties at least 75% of the base polymer. There are some differences in friction
stir welding process between thermoplastics and aluminium [26]. Tilted angle and forging
pressure are beneficial for aluminium FSW resulting in enhanced material consolidation and
better weld strength. However, such high pressure and large tilted angle can cause polymer
expansion and high weld bead after the tool has passed (pressure is removed) due to its
viscoelastic property.

Fig.2.4.1 Friction stir welding tools for thermoplastics developed by Tracy Nelson et al. [26].

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CHAPTER-3

SUMMARY
Friction stir welding was used to join aluminium alloy sheets to thermoplastics. Two
aluminium alloys were studied – one AA5000 and one AA6000 alloy. A range of
thermoplastic materials were studied including, PP, PA12 and PET. Two materials with fibre
reinforcement were also studied with PA-glass fibre and PET –PET fibre. Joints were created
by friction stir welding with the tool contacting on the aluminium side. The effect of
different process parameters was studied both by evaluation sections through the joints and
with lap shear mechanical tests. The results of the studies can be concluded as follows;

 Joints were created by generating a stir zone of aluminium chips which was filled with
melted thermoplastic entering from below.

 A number of defects could be identified in the joint zone like cavities, regions with very
large or no chips. Flash of different extent on the top side of the aluminium alloys was also
observed. The melted plastic could penetrate into the interface between aluminium alloy
and thermoplastic to different degrees.

 The most important process parameters were pin geometry and thread, translation speed
and rotation direction. They all had a significant effect on presence of defects in the joints.
Relatively low travel speed and counter clockwise rotation was favoured.

 The most successful joints were created with scroll shoulder tool, right-hand thread pin
rotating in counter clockwise rotational direction.

 Typical process parameters with good joint results were pin length 1.5 times the
aluminium sheet thickness, cylindrical threaded pin, translation speed of 5 cm/min and
counter clockwise rotation at a speed of 1800 rpm.

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 Lap shear strengths were recorded up to 846N with a joint width of 40 mm. The
elongations to failure were up to 0.9 mm.

Future Work

 The process window should be widened: that is, the intermediate changes between
parameters should be small to allow for adequate effects measurements, and this should
aid in determining defect-free welds. As a result, this will help to extend the research for
fatigue optimization and fracture performance.

 The effect of using position versus force mode control for FSW of Ti6Al-4V needs to be
investigated.

 The measurement of welding temperature during the process as a function of heat input
could help in understanding the process, which may include UTS and hardness (HV) to be
plotted against welding temperature.

 Detailed studies of the microstructure development due to friction stir welding will help
to understand fully the behaviour of Ti-6Al-4V.

 The study of the influence of process parameters on residual stress and fatigue life needs
to be investigated before the process can be applied for industry.

 Also, before being introduced to industry, the use of a non-rotating welding tool should
be investigated, as it produces smooth welding surfaces and no reduction in cross-sectional
area.

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REFERENCES

1. Thomas WM, Nicholas ED, Needham JC, Murch MG, Temple-Smith P, Dawes CJ. (TWI).
Improvements relating to friction welding. European Patent. 1992; EP 0 615 480 B1.

2. Thomas WM. Friction stir welding and related friction process characteristics. 7 th
International Conference on joints in aluminium, Abington, Cambridge, UK. 1998 April 15-
17.

3. James MN, Hattingh DG, Bradley GR. Welding tool travel speed effects on fatigue life of
friction stir welding in 5083 aluminium. International Journal of Fatigue. 2003; ISSN
(25):1389-98.

4. Khaled T. An outsider looks at friction stir welding. ANM-112N-05-06. 2005 July.

5. Lombard H. Optimized fatigue and fracture performance of friction stir welded aluminium
pate. PhD thesis. University of Plymouth: England; 2007

6. Loftus Z, Takeshita J. An overview of friction stir welding TIMETAL 21S beta titanium. 5 th
International Friction Stir Welding Symposium, Metz, France. 2004 September 14-16.

7. Zhang Yu, Sato YS, Kokawa H, Park SHC, Hirano S. Microstructural characteristics and
mechanical properties of Ti-6Al-4V friction stir welds. Material Science and Engineering A.
2008; 485(57):448-55. 8. Lee WB, Lee CY, Chang WS, Yeon YM, Jung SB. Microstructural
investigation of friction stir welded pure titanium. Material Letters. 2005; 59(29):3315-18.

9. Mishra RS, Mahoney MW. Friction stir welding and processing. ASM International. 2007
March 30.

10. Norris IM, Thomas WM, Martin J, Staines DJ. Friction stir welding – process variants and
recent industrial developments. 10th International Aachen Welding Conference, „Welding
and Joining, Key Technologies for the Future‟, Eurogress, Aachen. 2007 October 24-25 .

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