Journal of Manufacturing Processes 18 (2015) 46–54

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Journal of Manufacturing Processes

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/manpro

Technical Paper

Prediction of unit process life cycle inventory (UPLCI) energy

consumption in a friction stir weld
Amber Shrivastava a , Michael Overcash b , Frank E. Pfefferkorn a,∗
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
b
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Wichita State University, Wichita, KS, USA

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The objective of this study is to determine a method of quantifying the energy consumption in friction
Received 1 August 2014 stir welding (FSW). Qualitatively, it has long been known that FSW uses less energy than fusion welding
Received in revised form 17 October 2014 processes because the average FSW weld temperature does not exceed the solidus temperature. However,
Accepted 23 October 2014
tools and data to quantitatively determine the energy consumption in FSW have been missing. The power
consumption as a function of time was measured during FSW of 5.2-mm-deep welds in 6061-T6 and
Keywords:
7075-T6 aluminum alloys on a 3-axis CNC mill. The energy consumption is divided into four parts: idle
Friction stir welding
energy and standby energy related to the machine being used as well as plunge energy and FSW energy
Aluminum
Energy
related to creating the joint. Equations for calculating each of the energy components and the total energy
Specific weld energy consumption are presented. The concept of specific weld energy is presented as an intrinsic material
Unit process life cycle inventory property that can be used to estimate the FSW power if the weld cross-section and weld speed are
UPLCI known. A method of estimating the weld cross-section based on the FSW tool geometry is presented. It is
found that for these two aluminum alloys the specific weld energy decreases significantly with increased
weld speed, however, it can be treated as independent of spindle rotation rate. The FSW process/machine
is identified as low tare and it is acknowledged that the strategies to reduce total energy consumption
may be different than those used for metal cutting.
© 2014 The Society of Manufacturing Engineers. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
1.1. Friction stir welding
Friction stir welding (FSW) is a metal joining process in
which two or more components are plastically deformed and
mechanically intermixed under mechanical pressure at elevated
temperatures [1,2]. However, these joints are created below the
solidus temperature of the workpiece, which makes FSW a solid-
state welding process. Fig. 1 shows a schematic of the FSW process
for a butt weld. The process involves a non-consumable rotating
tool, with specifically designed probe (pin) and shoulder, which is
plunged with a downward force into the workpiece. Once the probe
is completely inserted in the workpiece and the shoulder makes
contact with the surface, the tool is traversed along the weld seam
(butt welding) or defined path (lap welding, bead-on-plate, fric-
tion stir processing). At the end of the weld the tool is retracted.
Initially, the tool generates heat due to friction, which facilitates
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 608 263 2668.
E-mail address: pfefferk@engr.wisc.edu (F.E. Pfefferkorn).
plastic deformation of the parent material (i.e., stirring). Once the
material is being plastically deformed in the stir zone, heat is gen-
erated by friction and heat dissipation due to plastic deformation.
The plasticized material is mixed and extruded past the tool after
which it is forged together in the wake of the tool.
There are aspects of FSW, that in addition to lower weld-
ing temperatures, result in lower resource utilization and energy
consumption, as compared with other common fusion welding
processes (e.g., GMAW, GTAW, SMAW, etc.). Friction stir welding
of aluminum alloys does not require shielding gasses or flux, and
does not use filler material. There are fewer pre-process operations
required for FSW. Chamfering of workpieces is not required in FSW,
even for 50-mm-thick welds. Cleaning of edges is not required to
create the joint. Friction stir welding has fewer post-processing
requirements because of the lower temperatures experienced and
flat weld surface that is produced. The lower weld zone temper-
atures result in little or no thermal distortion of the structure,
therefore, little or no straightening is required. The flat weld surface
does not require grinding or machining. The fine microstructure
produced in a friction stir weld and the lower amount of anneal-
ing/aging that occurs during the process results in mechanical
properties that are often better than comparable fusion welds. This

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmapro.2014.10.006
1526-6125/© 2014 The Society of Manufacturing Engineers. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 A. Shrivastava et al. / Journal of Manufacturing Processes 18 (2015) 46–54 47

Nomenclature

A cross-sectional area of weld nugget (mm2 )

APR advance per revolution (mm/rev)
DAQ data acquisition
dp probe minor diameter (mm)
dpm probe major diameter (mm)
ds shoulder diameter (mm)
E energy (J)
Etotal total energy (J)
f feed rate (mm/min)
FSW friction stir welding
GMAW gas metal arc welding
GTAW gas tungsten arc welding
h probe length (mm)
L weld length (mm)
MRR material removal rate
N spindle rotation rate (rev/min)
P power (W)
SLZ shear layer zone
SMAW shielded metal arc welding
t duration of a phase/operation (s)
uFSW specific FSW energy (J/mm3 )
UPLCI unit process life cycle inventory
 avg average spindle torque (N m)

Subscripts
approach moving the FSW tool toward the workpiece
FSW friction stir welding a seam
idle machine axes are moving without tool–workpiece
Fig. 2. Qualitative energy flowchart of aluminum friction stir welding (FSW) and
interaction
gas metal arc welding (GMAW) processes.
load loading the workpiece
plunge plunging the FSW tool into the workpiece
retract moving the FSW tool away from the workpiece Extensive research has gone into determining the feasibility
stby standby and dependability of FSW. Friction stir welding as a metal joining
unload unloading the workpiece process is gaining acceptance in industrial application as the joint
qualities and the cost benefits are better understood. The goal of this
work is to provide a method for quantifying the FSW energy con-
sumption. In this, their first, publication on the subject the authors
Vertical force
will focus on the friction stir welding process, i.e., the energy that is
FSW Tool Translation delivered through the FSW machine via a tool and converted into
thermal energy and stored in the weld microstructure as indicated
by the thick box in Fig. 2.
Rotation
Advancing Side
1.2. Energy consumption in a unit process
Shoulder Y

X In a typical manufacturing plant, a series of machines, forming

Z a process, are used to convert or transform materials, chemicals,
Leading Edge
Trailing Edge
Retreating Side
Probe
Fig. 1. Schematic of friction stir [butt] welding.
can reduce the need for post-welding heat treatment. The energy
consumption associated with the common pre-processing, weld-
ing process, and post-processing steps is qualitatively shown in
Fig. 2. Most friction stir welds are currently made in aluminum
and magnesium alloys, however, the application of FSW to dissim-
ilar materials and higher melting temperature alloys (e.g., ferrous
alloys) is increasing.
subassemblies, or other inputs into a new product. The energy
and mass loss analysis of the process and the surrounding plant
are referred to as a life cycle inventory. A modular approach is
used to create the environmental life cycle inventory of a manufac-
tured product in which each module is a machine or process step.
Modularity can facilitate the addition of processes to form more
complex manufacturing paths, the efficiency of technical review,
and the cost-effectiveness of field verification at industrial plants.
Each module is referred to as a unit process and hence these stud-
ies are unit process life cycle inventories (UPLCI) [3,4]. In order to
calculate the total energy consumed to friction stir weld a part that
goes through the processes shown in Fig. 2 would require three
UPLCIs: machining, FSW, and straightening. The following sections
of this paper will focus on the UPLCI for FSW, e.g., calculating the
energy consumption while creating the joint.
Friction stir welding is often carried out on milling machines
or machines of similar design and kinematics. The data for this
48 A. Shrivastava et al. / Journal of Manufacturing Processes 18 (2015) 46–54

Power

Friction Stir Welding

Idle
spindle motor, axis drives, ...
Tare
Standby
computer panel, lighting, way lube, ...

Load

Fig. 3. Schematic of power groupings as a function of friction stir welding load (after
[6]).

Fig. 5. Image of the friction stir welding fixture used in this study.

absolute power being consumed at any stage of the process.

That is, when the seam is being friction stir welded the total
power is Ptotal = Pstby + Pidle + PFSW . Time period for which energy is
consumed at these power levels is discussed in the later sections.

2. Measuring power consumption

Friction stir welding can be carried out on flat, cylindrical, and

curvilinear surfaces using a milling machine (or dedicated FSW
system of similar kinematics), lathe or robot. This paper focuses
on producing welds on flat surfaces using a CNC milling machine.
Butt welds were created on a commercial 3-axis CNC mill (HAAS
TM-1) using position control. Bead-on-plate welds were created in
76 mm × 203 mm × 6.35 mm workpieces in a welding fixture with
eight clamps (Fig. 5). Straight, 180-mm-long, bead-on-plate welds
were created with a position controlled plunge depth of 5.4 mm.
The interchangeable titanium backing plate is Ti6Al4V because the
Fig. 4. Schematic of transient power consumption during typical linear friction stir low thermal diffusivity helps reduce heat losses through the fixtur-
weld cycle on a 3-axis CNC mill. ing, which results in lower weld power requirements. In addition,
the aluminum workpiece does not easily adhere to the titanium
during full-penetration welds. The FSW tool used in the experi-
research were collected while friction stir welding on a 3-axis
ments is made of H13 tool steel with a concave shoulder and a
CNC milling machine. Therefore, concepts from research on energy
threaded, conical probe with three flats [7]. The tool shoulder diam-
consumption and efficiency of metal cutting operations [5,6] will
eter is 15 mm, the probe (pin) diameter tapers from 7.0 mm to
be applied. Fig. 3 (modeled after [6]) shows three categories into
5.2 mm and the probe length is 5.2 mm (Fig. 6). Welds were carried
which the power consumption can be grouped: standby power,
out and data were collected for aluminum 7075-T6 and 6061-T6
idle power, and process (i.e., FSW) power.
at weld (traverse) speeds of 75, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 350 and
When the machine tool is switched on there are a number of
auxiliary systems that are activated (e.g., lights, displays, computer
panel, way lube, pumps, etc.) and remain on even if none of the
axes or spindles are moving. Power consumption for these systems
is constant for a specific machine, independent of movements made
by the machine and can be grouped into standby power, Pstby .
Idle power, Pidle , is used to move the axes and spindles on the
machine tool while FSW is not occurring. Idle power is not only spe-
cific to a particular machine design (layout and components) but
also to the particular tool path (e.g., NC code). A block of NC code
that commands a movement in one axis will require less power
than moving two axes and a spindle simultaneously. A rapid trav-
erse movement of an axis will require more power than a slower
movement, i.e., the feed rate specified has an effect on idle power.
The power to friction stir weld is required as soon as the tool
engages the workpiece. The FSW Power, PFSW , is dependent on
the workpiece alloy, size of the weld, rotation rate, and trav-
erse rate: i.e., load. Friction stir welding can be categorized as a
semi-continuous process. This study is based on a representa-
tive operational sequence that is illustrated in Fig. 4. Note that
each power level represents an incremental power and not the Fig. 6. Image of friction stir welding tool used in this study.
 A. Shrivastava et al. / Journal of Manufacturing Processes 18 (2015) 46–54 49

Table 1 workpiece into the FSW machine. During loading the machine is on
Friction stir weld (FSW) parameters.
but no axes are in motion and only the standby power, Pstby , is being
Machine consumed. Pstby is consumed for the duration of this sequence,
Make and model HAAS TM-1 tload , because the machine remains powered on the entire time.
Year 2004
This standby power is a function of the machine design but is not
Rated spindle power 5.6 kW (7.5 hp)
Maximum spindle torque 45 N m @ 1200 rpm
related to the particular friction stir welding parameters or part
Maximum spindle speed 4000 rpm program used. The time it takes to load a part, tload , will depend on
Spindle power measurement [8] the complexity and size of the part, the fixture design, and the level
Current probe AEMC SL206 of automation that is used.
Sensitivity 1 mV/A
After loading is complete the operator presses the cycle start
Spindle speed uncertainty ±5 rpm
Spindle moment uncertainty ±0.8 N m button at which time the spindle starts to rotate and the FSW
Spindle power uncertainty ±91 W tool is translated toward (approaches) the workpiece. During the
Tool approach phase, which lasts tapproach , the idle power, Pidle , is con-
Material H13 tool steel
sumed in addition to Pstby . Pidle represents the power needed to
Shoulder diameter 15 mm
Shoulder type Smooth, concave
rotate the spindle and move the axes. During the approach, the
Probe (pin) length 5.2 mm spindle and axes are in motion but the tool has not yet engaged the
Probe dia. (at shoulder) 7.0 mm workpiece. The magnitude of Pidle will also depend on the design of
Probe dia. (at tip) 5.2 mm the machine and the part program that is being executed. For exam-
Number of flats on probe 3
ple, there are numerous ways, in which the tool can be moved in
Workpiece
Aluminum alloys 6061-T6 x, y, and z coordinates from the home position to the point where
7075-T6 it would begin to plunge into the workpiece. It is most likely that,
Dimensions 76 mm × 203 mm × 6.35 mm in order to save time, the part program is written to translate all
Process
three linear axes at the same time. However, it could also be writ-
Type of weld Bead-on-plate
Weld length 180 mm
ten such that only one axis is moved at a time, reducing the power
Travel angle 3◦ being consumed at any instant in time but increasing the time it
Work angle 0◦ takes to approach the workpiece. It is common practice to have
Spindle speed 800–1500 rev/min the FSW tool only move in the z-direction during the final stage of
Feed rate 75–400 mm/min
the approach phase. For the purpose of this study Pidle is assumed
Plunge speed 20 mm/min
Plunge depth 5.4 mm (position control) to be constant throughout the approach, plunge, FSW, and retract
Backing material Ti6Al4V phases as shown in Fig. 4, because the focus of this research is to
describe a method of predicting the energy attributed to the actual
FSW process.
400 mm/min and spindle speeds of 800, 900, 1000, 1100, 1200, As soon as the probe on the FSW tool touches the workpiece the
1300 and 1500 rpm. Table 1 lists the friction stir welding parame- plunge phase of the sequence begins. Figs. 4 and 7 show how the
ters used in this study. process power increases as more of the probe and eventually the
The spindle power is determined by measuring the current in shoulder come into contact with the workpiece, i.e., the swept vol-
one of the leads connecting the controller to the motor. The cur- ume of workpiece material increases. Fig. 7 shows a representative
rent is measured for various spindle speeds and loads. The moment power measurement from a FSW cycle on the 3-axis CNC mill used
(load) applied to the spindle is measured with a piezo-electric drill in this study. A simplified linear representation of the plunge power
dynamometer (Kistler 9271A). The load is created by clamping as a function of the plunge time, tplunge , is shown in Fig. 4 where the
a sanding disk in the spindle, an aluminum block on top of the maximum value is equal to the friction stir weld power, PFSW . The
drill dynamometer (mounted on the mill table), and bringing the
rotating disk into contact with the work material [8]. An empirical
function is then created for the moment as a function of the spin-
dle speed and current going to the spindle motor [8]. Due to signal
noise and other uncertainties the measured spindle power has an
4000
accuracy of ±91 W (Table 1). However, it is a very good measure
Idle Unfiltered
of the power consumed by the welding process. If the wall-plug Filtered
3500 Power
efficiency of the process needs to be determined then the power
consumption of the entire FSW machine must be measured. The
3000
power consumption of the entire FSW machine was measured with
split-core AC current probes (MAGNELAB SCT-0400) attached to the 2500
three phases of the power supply to the mill. These current sensors
Power [W]

have an uncertainty of ±1%. Current measurements from the cur- 2000

rent probes were used to calculate the rms-current for each phase.
FSW Power
A multimeter (Fluke 179) was used to measure the rms-voltage for 1500
each phase. The power factor for each phase was then determined.
Plunge Power
Power consumption of each phase was calculated by multiplying 1000
the respective rms-current, rms-voltage and power factor values.
Total power consumed by the entire machine was calculated by 500
adding the power consumption of the three phases.
Standby Power
0
0 20 40 60 80 100
3. Specific weld energy
Time [s]

This study is based on a representative operational sequence Fig. 7. Measured (wall plug) power during 5.4-mm-deep friction stir weld in 7075-
that is illustrated in Fig. 4. The process begins with loading each T6 aluminum on a 3-axis CNC mill.
50 A. Shrivastava et al. / Journal of Manufacturing Processes 18 (2015) 46–54

energy consumed by plunging the FSW tool into the workpiece can 40
be calculated by
1 30
Eplunge = t PFSW (1)
2 plunge
The plunge energy, Eplunge , that is consumed is not adding value 20
unless one is creating a friction stir spot weld (FSSW).

M [Nm]
Once the required plunge depth is achieved, the FSW tool begins
10
traversing to create the weld seam. This is referred to as the friction

stir weld (FSW) phase and consumes an approximately constant
amount of power, PFSW . This is also the only phase of this process
description that adds value. The energy consumed to create the
friction stir weld during this phase is
EFSW = tFSW PFSW
At the end of the weld seam the tool is retracted from the work-
piece and moved to a home position. During the retraction phase,
which lasts tretract , the idle power, Pidle , is consumed in addition to
Pstby . During the retraction the spindle and axes are in motion but
the tool is no longer engaged with the workpiece.
Finally, the axes come to rest and the workpiece is unloaded
from the machine. During unloading only the standby power, Pstby ,
is being consumed. The unloading time, tunload , may be identical to
or different from the loading time, tload .
To compute (predict) the total energy consumption during FSW
the standby, Estby , idle, Eidle , and welding energies, Eplunge and EFSW ,
must be calculated. Based on the assumption of time invariant
standby and idle power and the process cycle depicted in Fig. 4
the standby energy is
Estby = Pstby (tload + tapproach + tplunge + tFSW + tretract + tunload )
and idle energy is
Eidle = Pidle (tapproach + tplunge + tFSW + tretract )
where the processing times can be determined from computer
aided manufacturing simulations and Fridriksson [9]. The total
energy can be calculated by
Etotal = Estby + Eidle + Eplunge + EFSW
The time spent in each phase of this FSW cycle is determined
a priori by the weld specifications and process design, including
the weld parameters. Pstby and Pidle are assumed constant through
the cycle and are purely functions of the machine design and part
program being executed. Assuming that these power levels have
already been determined and the process designed then Eqs. (3)
and (4) enable the calculation of the standby energy and idle energy.
This leaves the need to determine the FSW power, PFSW , so that the
plunge energy (Eq. (1)) and FSW energy (Eq. (2)) can be determined.
Variables that can influence PFSW are shown in Table 2.
In this initial study of energy consumption in FSW only the
italicized variables in Table 2, that is, the workpiece alloy, weld
parameters, and tool geometry are taken into account. This does not
mean that the other parameters cannot have a significant influence
on the quality of the weld. As more research is conducted on energy
consumption in FSW it will be possible to rank these variables in
the order of significance.
The goal of this study is to determine a method that can be
used to predict the FSW power, PFSW , hence the total energy
consumption of the process. The PFSW was measured during linear
FSW of two aluminum alloys (6061-T6 and 7075-T6). One method
is to measure the total power consumption of the machine (Fig. 7)
during an FSW cycle and subtract Pstby and Pidle from it during
the welding phase. Another method is to directly measure the
spindle torque (Fig. 8). This torque measurement can be directly
related to the power consumption of the FSW process. The torque
z
0
−10
Unfiltered
(2) Filtered
−20
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Time [s]
Fig. 8. Measured transient (spindle) torque during FSW of 5.4-mm-deep weld in
7075-T6 aluminum on a 3-axis CNC mill.
measurements between 40 and 80 s in Fig. 8 are averaged and used
in Eq. (6) to calculate FSW power
2
PFSW = avg · N · (6)
60
where,  avg is average torque [N m] and N is spindle speed
[rev/min]. Whichever, method is used to determine PFSW [W], the
next step is to calculate a specific weld energy, uFSW [J/mm3 ], that
is analogous to specific cutting energy [11], as described by
(3)
60 · PFSW
uFSW = (7)
A·f
(4) where, A [mm2 ] is the weld cross-sectional area and f [mm/min]
is the feed rate (weld speed). Polished and etched cross sections
of the welds made for this study were imaged and analyzed using
ImageJ software in order to determine A.
Eq. (7) becomes a useful predictive tool if the specific weld
(5) energy can be assumed to be an intrinsic property of the workpiece
alloy, i.e., uFSW is a constant. In this scenario PFSW can be calcu-
lated from a constant, uFSW , a process variable defined by the FSW
tool geometry, A, and a variable defined by the FSW process, f. The
FSW power calculated from this approach can be used in Eq. (1) to
predict the plunge energy. It can also be used directly in Eq. (2) to
predict the FSW energy. Recognizing that the feed rate, f, is equal
to the weld length, L, divided by the FSW time, tFSW , Eq. (2) can be
written as
EFSW = uFSW · A · L (8)
4. Results and discussion
Fig. 9 shows measured spindle torque and specific FSW energy,
uFSW , for varying spindle speeds and feed rates for 6061-T6 and
7075-T6 aluminum alloys. It can be seen that torque increases with
feed rate (Fig. 9b) while it decreases with increasing spindle speed
(Fig. 9a). Assuming the cross-sectional area of the weld remains
constant among these data the observed trends correspond with
the need for a larger energy input per unit time/length at higher
feed rates (Eq. (7)) and less torque required for the same power
input at higher spindle speeds (Eq. (6)) in order to maintain similar
average weld temperatures.
Fig. 9(c) shows that the specific FSW energy for these aluminum
alloys does not vary significantly with spindle speed. The specific
FSW energy of 7075-T6 aluminum does show a modest increase
with increasing spindle speed, however, this is a tertiary effect
 A. Shrivastava et al. / Journal of Manufacturing Processes 18 (2015) 46–54 51

Table 2
Variables that can influence PFSW .

Workpiece alloy Weld parameters Tool Work fixture Ambient conditions

Thermo-mechanical Feed rate (weld speed) Geometry Influence on heat E.g., FSW in air or under
properties Spindle speed Material dissipation water
Flow stress Coating
Thickness Wear

Italicized variables are taken into account in this study.

in this study. Fig. 9(d) shows that specific weld energy for these
aluminum alloys decreases significantly with increase in feed rate.
The magnitude of specific weld energy for 7075-T6 aluminum
is greater than 6061-T6 aluminum in Fig. 9(c) and (d) even though
the magnitude of spindle torque for 7075-T6 aluminum is less
than 6061-T6 aluminum in Fig. 9(a and b), because the weld cross-
sectional area for 7075-T6 aluminum is smaller than for 6061-T6
(Fig. 10 and Eq. (7)).
The ratio of feed rate (mm/min) to spindle speed (rev/min) is
known as advance per revolution, APR (mm/rev). During FSW as
the tool moves along the weld path, parent material from the lead-
ing edge comes in contact with the spinning tool and rotates along
with it. At any instance, the material rotating around the spinning
tool constitutes the shear layer zone (SLZ). APR approximately dic-
tates the thickness of SLZ around the FSW tool. Assuming no-slip
condition at the tool surface, material in contact with tool rotates
at the spindle rotation frequency. As one moves away from the tool
in the radial direction, rotation frequency of the material moving
around the tool reduces and reaches zero at the SLZ and parent
material interface. This velocity gradient develops shear stress and
results in desired plastic deformation of the SLZ material.
Assuming a constant spindle speed an increase in feed rate
results in higher APR. This creates a wider SLZ around the FSW
tool resulting in smaller velocity gradient and reduced shear stress.
This leads to reduction in FSW energy requirement per unit vol-
ume of the material. Therefore, specific FSW energy decreases with
increase in feed rate. During plastic deformation of metals most of
the energy gets dissipated as heat energy. Therefore a reduction in
specific FSW energy with increase in feed rate at constant spindle
speed is accompanied by a reduction in tool and SLZ interface tem-
perature. This is experimentally observed by Fehrenbacher et al.
[10]. Therefore it is desirable to carry out FSW at higher feed rates.

(a) 25 (b) 25
6061 (f = 200 mm/min)
7075 (f = 75 mm/min)
20 20
Torque (Nm)

Torque (Nm)

15 15

10 10

5 5
6061 (N = 1000 rpm)
7075 (N = 1200 rpm)
0 0
800 1000 1200 1400 1600 0 100 200 300 400 500
Spindle Speed (rpm) Feed Rate (mm/min)

(c) 60 (d) 60
6061 (N = 1000 rpm)
7075 (N = 1200 rpm)
50 50
Specific Energy (J/mm3)
Specific Energy (J/mm3)

40 40

30 30

20 20

10 10
6061 (f = 200 mm/min)
7075 (f = 75 mm/min)
0 0
800 1000 1200 1400 1600 0 100 200 300 400 500
Spindle Speed (rpm) Feed Rate (mm/min)

Fig. 9. Variation in torque and specific FSW energy as a function of feed rate and spindle speed for aluminum alloys 6061-T6 and 7075-T6.
52 A. Shrivastava et al. / Journal of Manufacturing Processes 18 (2015) 46–54

50 ds
Alloy 6061−T6
dpm
48
Wled nugget area (mm2)

46 h
Tool working
area for 6061 Shoulder
44 aluminum alloy
dp
Probe Tool working
42 area for 7075
aluminum alloy

40 Fig. 11. Friction stir welding tool working area (TWA).

38 welds were made with the same tool and similar processing param-
800 1000 1200 1400 1600 eters the shape and size of the weld cross-sections are distinct for
Spindle Speed (rpm)
each alloy. 7075-T6 nuggets have almost vertical sides and are nar-
34 rower than the 6061-T6 weld cross-sections. This results in the
Alloy 7075−T6 7075-T6 aluminum nuggets having a significantly smaller cross-
sectional area than seen in 6061-T6 (Fig. 10). For each alloy the
morphology of the weld nugget perimeter does not change with
spindle speed. Fig. 10 shows that there is a significant amount of
Weld nugget area (mm )

33.5
2

scatter in the area measurements at any given operating condition.

33
32.5
32
800 1000 1200 1400
Spindle Speed (rpm)
Fig. 10. Cross-sectional area of weld nugget as a function of spindle speed for (a)
6061-T6 at f = 200 mm/min and (b) 7075-T6 at f = 75 mm/min.
Although for a given aluminum alloy, it is not possible to create
sound friction stir welds for feed rate higher than a certain value
[10]. This is due to insufficient plastic deformation of the material
at extremely high feed rates resulting in defects like sub-surface
voids, etc.
It appears from Fig. 9(c) that the specific FSW energy of 7075-T6
aluminum is significantly higher than that of 6061-T6 aluminum. It
should be noted that welds in Fig. 9(c) were carried out at different
feed rates for 6061-T6 aluminum (200 mm/min) and 7075-T6 alu-
minum (75 mm/min). Data from Fig. 9(d) are used to determine a
relationship between specific FSW energy and feed rate for the two
aluminum alloys. Eq. (9) shows the specific FSW energy for 6061-T6
aluminum alloy as a function of feed rate [mm/min] at a represen-
tative spindle speed of 1000 rpm. The R2 value for this curve fit is
0.9814.
For 6061-T6 aluminum the area measurements vary from approx-
imately 39 mm2 to 48 mm2 (±9%). For 7075-T6 aluminum the area
measurements vary from approximately 32 mm2 to 34 mm2 (±3%).
The smaller scatter in the weld area measurements for 7075-T6 is
primarily attributed to the stir zone boundary being better defined
on both the advancing (left) and retreating (right) sides of the weld
in Table 3. For 6061-T6 aluminum the stir zone boundary is not
clearly distinguishable at the right hand side (retreating side) of
the weld. Therefore, half the weld area on the advancing side of the
weld was measured and doubled to provide the total weld area. This
process introduces uncertainties, however, these were deemed to
be less than the uncertainty in defining the stir zone boundary on
1600 the right-hand side of the cross-sections. The weld area versus spin-
dle speed data do not appear to be co-dependent, hence the weld
area is assumed to only depend on workpiece material and tool
geometry for the purpose of this study.
The specific FSW energy reported in Fig. 9(c) and (d) is calcu-
lated with Eq. (7) using cross-sectional area measurements from
the actual weld tests (Table 3, Fig. 10). For the specific FSW energy
to be a useful predictive tool to help determine FSW power, PFSW ,
and FSW energy, EFSW , there needs to be a means of predicting
the weld area. In FSW the weld depth, width and shape is defined
by the tool geometry (Fig. 11). The probe length, h, approximately
defines the weld depth and the shoulder diameter, ds , defines the
width of the weld area at the surface of the 6061 aluminum alloy
workpiece, the probe major diameter, dpm , defines the width of the
weld area at the surface of the 7075 aluminum alloy workpiece.
The probe diameter at the tip, dp , approximately defines the width
of the weld at its root. Given the influence that the aforementioned
FSW tool dimensions have on the weld cross-section it is reason-
able as a first approximation to predict the weld zone as a trapezoid
(Fig. 11). For 6061-T6 aluminum this area can be calculated by

uFSW = 1.95 × 10−4 f 2 − 0.154f + 41.714 (9) 1

TWA = (ds + dp )h (11)
2
Eq. (10) shows the specific FSW energy for 7075-T6 aluminum
alloy as a function of feed rate [mm/min] at a representative spindle and for 7075-T6 aluminum this area can be calculated by
speed of 1200 rpm. The R2 value for this curve fit is 0.9877.
TWA = dpm h (12)
uFSW-7075 = −0.186f + 66.825 (10)
where, the tool working area (TWA) is defined as the weld area
Table 3 shows the cross sections of welds for the aluminum approximated by Eqs. (11) and (12) for 6061-T6 and 7075-T6 alu-
alloys at different spindle speeds. Even though these friction stir minum alloys, respectively.
 A. Shrivastava et al. / Journal of Manufacturing Processes 18 (2015) 46–54 53

Table 3
Cross-sections of 6061-T6 and 7075-T6 welds at various spindle speeds. The workpiece is 6.35 mm thick in all images. The FSW tool is traveling into the page in these
cross-sections: advancing side is on the left and retreating side is on the right of each weld.

Spindle speed (rpm) Aluminum alloy

6061-T6 (f = 200 mm/min) 7075-T6 (f = 75 mm/min)

900

1200

1500

Table 4 calculate the plunge energy, Eplunge , and FSW energy, EFSW . How-
Process time and power data for FSW of 7075-T6 at 150 mm/min and 900 rpm on a
ever, if PFSW is cannot be measured for a specific process then one
3-axis CNC mill with tool described in Table 1.
must first determine the specific FSW energy, uFSW , from Eq. (10)
Variable Units Magnitude and the weld cross-sectional area, A, from Eq. (12). Eq. (12) calcu-
Pstby W 260 lates the tool working area (TWA), which is an approximation of the
Pidle W 120 actual weld cross-sectional area, A. PFSW can then be determined
PFSW a W 2600 from Eq. (7). The total energy consumed by the process, Etotal , can
tload s 60
be calculated from Eq. (5).
tapproach s 7
tplunge s 11 Table 5 shows that for this one welding condition the total
tFSW s 60 energy consumption was Etotal = 285.6 kJ. 80.5% of the total energy,
tretract s 7 or 229.9 kJ (Eplunge + EFSW ), was used during the value-added pro-
tunload s 30
cess of creating the joint. The plunge energy was Eplunge = 19.3 kJ,
a
Measured. or 9% of EFSW , on this relatively short weld (180 mm long). As the
weld length increases the fraction of total weld energy represented
Table 5 by Eplunge will decrease. If the same operating conditions used
Energy consumption calculations for FSW of 7075-T6 at 150 mm/min and 900 rpm in this example were applied to a 12,192-mm-long weld (40 ft),
on a 3-axis CNC mill with tool described in Table 1.
Eplunge = 19.3 kJ and EFSW = 17.1 MJ. For this longer weld the plunge
Variable Equation Magnitude Units energy is 0.1% of the FSW energy and could probably be ignored in
Estby (3) 45,500 J engineering estimations of the total energy consumption.
Eidle (4) 10,200 J
uFSW (10) 39 J/mm3
A (12) 36 mm2 5. Conclusions
PFSW a (7) 3510 W
Eplunge (1) 19,305 J Specific FSW energy is a strong function of feed rate and the
EFSW (2) 210,600 J
workpiece material. It is a weak function of spindle speed and for
Etotal (5) 285,605 J
practical purposes can be considered as independent of spindle
a
Predicted. speed. Specific weld energy for 6061-T6 and 7075-T6 aluminum
alloys is reported in this work as a function of feed rate (Eqs. (9) and
To calculate the energy consumption during FSW of 7075-T6 (10)). Weld area is strongly dependent on the workpiece material
aluminum (at 150 mm/min feedrate, 900 rpm, on the machine tool and FSW tool geometry. It is less affected by welding parameters.
and FSW tool described in Table 1) the process time and power data As a first approximation, a method is proposed for the estimation
shown in Table 4 must be collected. The data in Table 4 correspond of weld cross-sectional area based on tool geometry.
to the power consumption shown in Figs. 4 and 7. Table 5 lists all of The product of weld area and feed rate in FSW represents the
the variables that are calculated with corresponding equation and volume of material welded per unit time and is analogous to mate-
magnitude. The standby energy, Estby , is determined from Eq. (3) rial removal rate (MRR) in metal cutting. Knowledge of specific FSW
and the idle energy, Eidle from Eq. (4). If the FSW power, PFSW , is energy, weld area and feed rate facilitates the estimation of PFSW
measured (Table 4) then one can go directly to Eqs. (1) and (2) to from Eq. (7). Thereby, total energy required for a FSW process can be
54 A. Shrivastava et al. / Journal of Manufacturing Processes 18 (2015) 46–54
estimated similar to the total energy estimation for a cutting pro-
cess. Finally, a method for the total energy estimation for an FSW
process, including non-value added components, is presented.
In metal cutting it is common that the power demand of the
machine when it is not cutting is significantly larger than the addi-
tional power used for material removal [5]. This is referred to as a
high-tare process/machine. In this scenario, total energy consump-
tion is primarily dependent on the processing time of the part [5].
Even though friction stir welding is often carried out on the same
milling machines the forces and torques exerted on the FSW tool are
significantly larger than what is normally found in metal cutting. In
this study 5.4-mm-deep friction stir welds were made in 6061-T6
and 7075-T6 aluminum. The standby power and idle power of the
machine tool were Pstby ≈ 260 W and Pidle ≈ 120 W, respectively. For
the chosen operating conditions in this study (Table 4) the weld-
ing power was PFSW ≈ 2600 W: approximately seven times greater
than the tare power. Therefore, the FSW process/machine can be
described as low-tare and the strategies to reduce total energy
consumption may differ significantly from those used for metal
cutting.
The low-tare nature of the FSW process/machine means that
the first place to look for energy savings is in the welding parame-
ters (e.g., spindle speed, weld speed, etc.). Only bead-on-plate welds
were performed in this study. It will be important to carry out
butt welds and lap welds while measuring energy consumption in
order to determine how broadly applicable the specific weld energy
results are.
Acknowledgements
Support of this work by Wichita State University, the Depart-
ment of Mechanical Engineering and the College of Engineering
at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Wisconsin Alumni
Research Foundation (WARF) Technology Development RA, the
Wisconsin Innovation & Economic Development Research (IEDR)
Program and the National Science Foundation through grant CMMI-
1332738 is gratefully acknowledged.
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