International Journal of Electronics, Electrical and Computational System

IJEECS
ISSN 2348-117X
Volume 6, Issue 10
October 2017

A literature Review on Friction Stir Welding of Similar and

Dissimilar Materials

Parth R. Panchal
M.E. Student,SVMIT, Bharuch
Satish J. Makwana
Assistant Professor, SVMIT, Bharuch
Khushbu C. Panchal
Assistant Professor, SVMIT, Bharuch

ABSTRACT
A solid state joining process, Friction Stir Welding is used to join various materials. Friction Stir Welding is used in
many industrial applications like automobile, aerospace, fabrication and robotics. In FSW Process a non-consumable
tool is used to join two facing workpieces without melting the material. Heat is generated by friction between rotating
tool andworkpiece material, which soften the material in region near the tool. Tool is moves along the joint line, and
consolidated solid-phase joint is formed. This process is not only limited to aluminium and its alloys, but different
materials like copper, brass, magnesium, steel can also welded. The aim of this study is to exhibit and highlight the work
carried out by various researchers and also to develop a basic understanding to FSW of various similar and dissimilar
materials. Main research focus in this study is concentrated on the production of good quality welds, mechanicaland
metallurgical characterization of the weld.
Keywords
friction stir welding, solid state welding, literature review

INTRODUCTION
Friction Stir Welding is a non-conventional welding technique invented by Wayne Thomas at The Welding
Institute (TWI) in 1991. This welding process 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 ships, aeroplane and automobile. This technique uses a non-consumable welding tool
to generate frictional heating at the point of welding. It induces plastic deformation of work piece material
while the material is in a solid phase, resulting in complex mixing across the joint. Being a solid-state process,
this welding techniques eliminates many of the defects associated with fusion welding techniques such as
porosity, shrinkage, and solidification cracking.Friction Stir Welding used to weld nonferrous metals
especially Aluminium Alloys. Later on the process could extend its viability for other non-ferrous metals like
copper, magnesium and brass and for welding of dissimilar material combinations. Now a days Metal Matrix
Composites (MMC) materials are also welded with this process. In addition, friction stir welds can be
accomplished in any position, as there is no weld pool. Apparently, friction stir welding is a valuable new
technique for butt and lap joint welding of similar and dissimilar materials. Friction stir welding has lower
environmental impact and cost benefits compared to fusion welding.

WORKING PRINCIPLE
In Friction Stir Welding, a cylindrical shouldered tool, with a profiled threaded or unthreaded probe (nib or
pin) is rotated at a constant speed and fed at a constant traverse rate into the joint line between two pieces of
sheet or plate material, which are to be joined together. The parts to be welded should be clamped rigidly in a

30 Parth R. Panchal, Satish J. Makwana, Khushbu C. Panchal

 International Journal of Electronics, Electrical and Computational System
IJEECS
ISSN 2348-117X
Volume 6, Issue 10
October 2017

manner that prevents the abutting joint faces from being forced apart. The length of the nib is slightly less than
the weld depth required and the tool shoulder should be in intimate contact with the work surface. The nib is
then moved against the work, or vice versa.
A schematic diagram of the FSW process are shown in below figure. [1]

Fig 1: Working Principle of FSW

Frictional heat is generated between the welding tool shoulder and nib (pin), and the material of the work
pieces. This heat, along with the heat generated by the mechanical mixing process and the adiabatic heat
within the material, cause the stirred materials to soften without reaching the melting point (hence cited a
solid-state process), allowing the traversing of the tool along the weld line in a plasticized tubular shaft of
metal. As the pin is moved in the direction of welding, the leading face of the pin, assisted by a special pin
profile, forces plasticized material to the back of the pin while applying a substantial forging force to
consolidate the weld metal. The welding of the material is facilitated by severe plastic deformation in the solid
state, involving dynamic recrystallization of the base material.

LITERATURE REVIEW
The literature review is presented below in the table.
Table 1. Literature Review on FSW
Sr. Journal and
Researchers Materials Problem Discussed & Outcome
No. year
1 S. Verma, Materials AA6082 • Studied temperature distribution during FSW of AA6082.
Meenu, Today: • Thermocouples were placed at equally distance to measure the
Proceedings resulting temperature.
J. P. Mishra (2017)
• The results shows that temperature on advancing side is higher
compared to retreating side.[2]
2 YahyaBozkurt, Journals of AA2124 • In this study the effect of material properties of tool on friction
ZakariaBoumerzo Material MMC stir welding of AA2124-T4 alloy matrix MMC.
ug Research and • Uncoated tool, coated tool with a CrN, and coated tool with
Technology AlTiN were used to weld aluminum MMC plates.
(2017)
• Results showed that the good welded joints could be obtained
when a tool is coated with AlTiN. [3]
3 Gurmeet Singh, Materials AA6082 • The experimental comparison of friction stir welding process
Amardeep S. Today: and TIG welding process for 6082 – T6 aluminium alloy

31 Parth R. Panchal, Satish J. Makwana, Khushbu C. Panchal

 International Journal of Electronics, Electrical and Computational System
IJEECS
ISSN 2348-117X
Volume 6, Issue 10
October 2017

Kang, Proceedings 4 joints.

Kulwant Singh, (2017) • Results shows that friction stir welded joints have superior
Jagtar Singh mechanical properties as compared to TIG welded joints. [4]
4 Yinfei Yan, Journal HDPE • In this paper double-pin tool is adopted in the FSW of high
YifuShen, of density polyethylene sheets.
Manufacturing • Effects of welding parameters on weld morphology and tensile
Bing Lan, Processes strength are investigated.
JichengGao (2017)
• Results shows that tensile strength of the weld joint increases
withthe increase of rotational
speedandthedecreaseofweldingspeed. [5]
5 D.K. Materials and AA1100 & • In this study the effect of preheating by plasma source is
Yaduwanshi, Design (2016) Copper analyzed by microstructural phenomena.
S. Bag, • Result shows that preheat is beneficial to increase the
S. Pal temperature of the harder workpiece in front of the tool pin
during dissimilar material joint, making the material easy to be
welded. [6]
6 Prasad Rao, Defence P91 Steel • FSW were made on P91 alloy with low and high rotational
JavedAkram, Technology speeds to study their effects on weld micro-structural changes.
(2016) • The results suggest that the microstructural degradation in P91
Mano Misra,
welds can be controlled by low temperature friction stir
DamodaramRama welding technique.[7]
chandr,
Janaki Ram

7 S. SreeSabari, Defence AA2519 • In this investigation, an attempt has been made to evaluate the
S. Malarvizhi, Technology mechanical properties and microstructural characteristics of
(2016) AA2519-T87 joints made by FSW and UWFSW processes.
V.
Balasubramanian, • Results shows that UWFSW joint exhibited higher tensile
strength of 271 MPa and higher joint efficiency of 60% than
G. Madusudhan conventional FSW. [8]
Reddy

8 Sanghoon Noh, A Journal of F82H Steel • In this study, friction stir welding was employed to join F82H
Masami Ando, Nuclear steels.
Materials • The microstructures and mechanical properties on the joint
Hiroyasu (2016)
Tanigawa, region were investigated to evaluate the applicability of
friction stir welding.
Hidetoshi Fujii,
• Based on the results, friction stir welding is considered to be a
Akihiko Kimura
potential welding method to maintain a comparable property
between weld zone and base metal of F82H steels without
PWHT. [9]
9 Nikul Patel, Procedia Magnesium • Researchers studied 6 mm thick plates of the Magnesium alloy
K.D. Bhatt, Technology Alloy AZ91 joined at welding speed of 28 mm/min to 56 mm/min with tool
(2016) rotation speed ranging from 710 rpm to 1400 rpm.
Vishal Mehta
• Result shows shoulder diameter of 18 mm using threaded
straight cylindrical pin profile used at the rotational speed of
710 rpm and welding speed of 28 mm/min is suitable for good
welding using selected welding parameters. [10]
10 Chinmay Shah, Materials AlSiCp • In this research work, stir casting method is used for uniform
BhupeshGoyal, Today: PRMMC distribution of the reinforcement material (SiC) in Aluminium
Proceedings as a matrix material. Friction stir welding (FSW) is performed
Vijay Patel (2015) to join this metal.
• ANOVA is performed for the optimization of the process
parameters.
• Results shows that UTS of Friction Stir Weld is highly
influenced by Wt% of SiC. As the Wt% of SiC increases, UTS
increases. [11]

32 Parth R. Panchal, Satish J. Makwana, Khushbu C. Panchal

 International Journal of Electronics, Electrical and Computational System
IJEECS
ISSN 2348-117X
Volume 6, Issue 10
October 2017

11 S. M. Bayazid, Procedia AA 6063 & • In this work, effect of some welding parameters of Friction Stir
H. Farhangi, Materials AA7075 Welded joint of 6063 and 7075 alloys was predicted via
Science (2015) Taguchi method.
A. Ghahramani
• Results of S/N analysis indicated that the optimal condition for
dissimilar 6063-7075 joint is achieved when values of
rotational speed and travel speed were 1600 rpm and 120
mm/min respectively. In such condition, tensile strength of
joint was 143.59 MPa. [12]
12 Z. Shen, Engineering AA5754 & • Lap welds between AA5754 to DP600 steel were
Y. Chen, Science and DP600 Steel manufactured by friction stir welding.
Technology • The results show that intermetallic compound of Fe4Al13 was
M. Haghshenas, (2015) detected at the Al/Fe interface. The weld strength increases
A.P. Gerlich significantly by increasing the penetration depth into the lower
steel substrate at all travel speeds. [13]
13 R.I. Rodriguez, Materials & AA6061 & • In this work, the microstructure and mechanical properties of
J.B. Jordon, P.G. Design (2015) AA7050 AA 6061 to 7050 were evaluated for FSW Process.
Allison, T. • Microstructure analysis of the stir zone revealed the presence
Rushing, L. of bands of mixed and unmixed material.
Garcia • Under tensile loading, an increase in the joint strength was
observed with the increase in the tool rotational speed. [14]
14 Jaiganesh. V, Procedia Polypropylene • In this study polypropylene plates were successfully welded by
Maruthu. B, Engineering using Friction stir welding by selecting the suitable optimal
(2014) conditions.
Gopinath. E
• The yield strength of welded material was found to be 45% of
the parent materials strength and characteristic.
• With the optimum spindle speed of 950 to 1000 RPM and feed
rate of 9 to 12 mm/min and tilt angle of 10, a superior weld
was obtained. [15]
15 Sadeesh P, Procedia AA2024 & • The joining of dissimilar AA2024 and AA6061 aluminium
VenkateshKannan Engineering AA6061 plates of 5mm thickness was carried out by friction stir
M, (2014) welding (FSW) technique.
Rajkumar V, • From the result the cylindrical threaded and squared pin tool
profile are found to be the best among other tool profiles that
Avinash P, were considered. [16]
Arivazhagan N,
DevendranathRa
mkumar K,
Narayanan S.

CONCLUSIONS
Based on the literature survey performed, leading fact is that research has been conducted to obtain the
optimum value of machining parameters that gives best value for welding of materials.We can conclude that
process parameters of friction stir welding i.e. pin profile, rotating speed and translatory feed rate of tool are
higher influencing factors affecting on weld quality.From the literature review, it can be observed that friction
stir welding process has been successfully applied for joining similar as well as dissimilar materials. Different
optimisation techniques can be used to optimise welding process parameters.We can conclude that preheating
of material can improve the quality of weld.

REFERENCES
[1] R.S. Mishra, Z.Y. Ma, “Friction stir welding and processing”, Materials Science and Engineering R 50 (2005).
[2] S. Verma, Meenu, J. P. Mishra,“Study on temperature distribution during Friction Stir Welding of 6082 aluminum
alloy”, Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017).
[3]YahyaBozkurt, ZakariaBoumerzoug,“Tool material effect on the friction stir butt welding of AA2124-T4 Alloy
Matrix MMC”, Journals of Material Research and Technology (2017).

33 Parth R. Panchal, Satish J. Makwana, Khushbu C. Panchal

 International Journal of Electronics, Electrical and Computational System
IJEECS
ISSN 2348-117X
Volume 6, Issue 10
October 2017

[4] Gurmeet Singh, Amardeep S. Kang, Kulwant Singh, Jagtar Singh,“Experimental comparison of friction stir welding
process and TIG welding process for 6082-T6 Aluminium alloy”,Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017).
[5] Yinfei Yan, YifuShen, Bing Lan, JichengGao,“Influences of friction stir welding parameters tensile on morphology
and strength of high density polyethylene double-pin lap joints produced by tool”, Journal of Manufacturing
Processes (2017).
[6] D.K. Yaduwanshi, S. Bag, S. Pal,“Numerical modeling and experimental investigation on plasma-assisted hybrid
friction stir welding of dissimilar materials”, Materials and Design (2016).
[7] Prasad Rao, JavedAkram, Mano Misra, Damodaram Ramachandran, Janaki Ram,“Low temperature friction stir
welding of P91 steel” Defence Technology (2016).
[8] S. SreeSabari, S. Malarvizhi, V. Balasubramanian, G. Madusudhan Reddy,“Experimental and numerical investigation
on under-water friction stir welding of armour grade AA2519-T87 aluminium alloy”, Defence Technology (2016).
[9] Sanghoon Noh, Masami Ando, Hiroyasu Tanigawa, Hidetoshi Fujii, Akihiko Kimura, “Friction stir welding of F82H
steel for fusion applications”, A Journal of Nuclear Materials (2016).
[10] NikulPatel, K.D.Bhatt, Vishal Mehta, “Influence of Tool Pin Profile and Welding Parameter on Tensile Strength of
Magnesium Alloy AZ91 during FSW”,Procedia Technology (2016).
[11] Chinmay Shah, BhupeshGoyal, Vijay Patel,“Optimization of FSW process parameters for AlSiCp PRMMC using
ANOVA”, Materials Today: Proceedings (2015).
[12] S. M. Bayazida, H. Farhangia, A. Ghahramania, “Investigation of friction stir welding parameters of 6063-7075
Aluminum alloys by Taguchi method”,Procedia Materials Science (2015).
[13] Z. Shen, Y. Chen, M. Haghshenas, A.P. Gerlich,“Role of welding parameters on interfacial bonding in dissimilar
steel/ aluminum friction stir welds”, Engineering Science and Technology (2015).
[14] R.I. Rodriguez, J.B. Jordon, P.G. Allison, T. Rushing, L. Garcia,“Microstructure and mechanical properties of
dissimilar friction stir welding of 6061-to-7050 aluminum alloys”, Materials & Design (2015).
[15] Jaiganesh. V, Maruthu. B, Gopinath. E,“Optimization of process parameters on friction stir welding of high density
polypropylene plate”,Procedia Engineering (2014).
[16] Sadeesh P, VenkateshKannan M, Rajkumar V, Avinash P, Arivazhagan N, DevendranathRamkumar K, Narayanan
S,“Studies on friction stir welding of AA 2024 and AA 6061 dissimilar metals”,Procedia Engineering (2014).

34 Parth R. Panchal, Satish J. Makwana, Khushbu C. Panchal