Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Calculation of welding tool pin width for friction stir welding of thin overlapping sheets

  • ORIGINAL ARTICLE
  • Published:
The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The fabrication friction stir welded lap joints with Al 7075-T6 sheets is examined with a wide range of tool pin geometries and dimensions while comparing microstructures, bonded area geometry, hardness, and fracture load during overlap shear testing. The tool pin geometry and features significantly affected the hook geometry and thus weld strength and failure mode. A hook feature is prone to forming when a larger diameter or helical threaded tool pins are used and is shown to deteriorate overlap shear fracture load by reducing the bonded ligament in the upper sheet. This hook feature can be controlled by removing the helical threads on the tool pin and replacing these with concentric grooves. The overlap shear fracture load is controlled by a combination of the sheet thickness, the width of the bonded area, and extent of the hook feature. These factors are captured in a model which was shown to provide good predictions of the fracture load and can be used to select tool pin sizes for varying overlapping sheet thicknesses.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Shanavas S, Dhas JER, Murugan N (2018) Weldability of marine grade AA 5052 aluminum alloy by underwater friction stir welding. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 95(1–12):4535–4546

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Mironov S, Onuma T, Sato Y, Yoneyama S, Kokawa H (2017) Tensile behavior of friction-stir welded AZ31 magnesium alloy. Mater Sci Eng A 679:272–281

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Heidarzadeh A, Jabbari M, Esmaily M (2015) Prediction of grain size and mechanical properties in friction stir welded pure copper joints using a thermal model. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 77(9–12):1819–1829

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Brassington W, Colegrove PA (2017) Alternative friction stir welding technology for titanium–6Al–4V propellant tanks within the space industry. Sci Technol Weld Join 22(4):300–318

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Manvatkar V, De A, Svensson L-E, DebRoy T (2015) Cooling rates and peak temperatures during friction stir welding of a high-carbon steel. Scr Mater 94:36–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. R. Kumar, R. Singh, I. Ahuja, R. Penna, L. Feo (2017) Weldability of thermoplastic materials for friction stir welding—a state of art review and future applications, Compos Part B

  7. Shen Z, Chen Y, Haghshenas M, Gerlich A (2015) Role of welding parameters on interfacial bonding in dissimilar steel/aluminum friction stir welds. Engineering Science and Technology, an International Journal 18(2):270–277

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Shen Z, Chen Y, Haghshenas M, Nguyen T, Galloway J, Gerlich A (2015) Interfacial microstructure and properties of copper clad steel produced using friction stir welding versus gas metal arc welding. Mater Charact 104:1–9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. R.S. Mishra, P.S. De, N. Kumar, Friction stir welding and processing: science and engineering, Springer2014

  10. Babu S, Ram GJ, Venkitakrishnan P, Reddy GM, Rao KP (2012) Microstructure and mechanical properties of friction stir lap welded aluminum alloy AA2014. J Mater Sci Technol 28(5):414–426

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Salari E, Jahazi M, Khodabandeh A, Ghasemi-Nanesa H (2014) Influence of tool geometry and rotational speed on mechanical properties and defect formation in friction stir lap welded 5456 aluminum alloy sheets. Mater Des 58:381–389

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Yue Y, Li Z, Ji S, Huang Y, Zhou Z (2016) Effect of reverse-threaded pin on mechanical properties of friction stir lap welded alclad 2024 aluminum alloy. J Mater Sci Technol 32(7):671–675

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Liu H, Zhao Y, Hu Y, Chen S, Lin Z (2015) Microstructural characteristics and mechanical properties of friction stir lap welding joint of alclad 7B04-T74 aluminum alloy. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 78(9–12):1415–1425

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Yang Q, Li X, Chen K, Shi Y (2011) Effect of tool geometry and process condition on static strength of a magnesium friction stir lap linear weld. Mater Sci Eng A 528(6):2463–2478

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Bisadi H, Tour M, Tavakoli A (2011) The influence of process parameters on microstructure and mechanical properties of friction stir welded Al 5083 alloy lap joint. American journal of Materials science 1(2):93–97

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Song Y, Yang X, Cui L, Hou X, Shen Z, Xu Y (2014) Defect features and mechanical properties of friction stir lap welded dissimilar AA2024–AA7075 aluminum alloy sheets. Mater Des 55:9–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Chen H, Fu L, Liang P, Liu F (2017) Defect features, texture and mechanical properties of friction stir welded lap joints of 2A97 Al-Li alloy thin sheets. Mater Charact 125:160–173

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Imam M, Racherla V, Biswas K (2015) Effect of backing plate material in friction stir butt and lap welding of 6063-T4 aluminium alloy. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 77(9–12):2181–2195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Wang M, Zhang H, Zhang J, Zhang X, Yang L (2014) Effect of pin length on hook size and joint properties in friction stir lap welding of 7B04 aluminum alloy. J Mater Eng Perform 23(5):1881–1886

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Fadaeifard F, Gharavi F, Matori KA, Daud AR, Ariffin M, Awang M (2014) Investigation of microstructure and mechanical properties of friction stir lap welded AA6061-T6 in various welding speeds. J Appl Sci 14(3):221–228

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Zhou Z, Yue Y, Ji S, Li Z, Zhang L (2017) Effect of rotating speed on joint morphology and lap shear properties of stationary shoulder friction stir lap welded 6061-T6 aluminum alloy. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 88(5–8):2135–2141

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Ji S, Li Z, Zhou Z, Wu B (2017) Effect of thread and rotating speed on material flow behavior and mechanical properties of friction stir lap welding joints. J Mater Eng Perform 26(10):5085–5096

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Xu Z, Li Z, Lv Z, Zhang L (2017) Effect of welding speed on joint features and lap shear properties of stationary shoulder FSLWed Alclad 2024 Al alloy. J Mater Eng Perform 26(3):1358–1364

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Rajendran C, Srinivasan K, Balasubramanian V, Balaji H, Selvaraj P (2017) Identifying combination of friction stir welding parameters to maximize strength of lap joints of AA2014-T6 aluminium alloy. Aust J Mech Eng:1–12

  25. Yue Y, Zhou Z, Ji S, Zhang L, Li Z (2017) Improving joint features and tensile shear properties of friction stir lap welded joint by an optimized bottom-half-threaded pin tool. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 90(9–12):2597–2603

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Balakrishnan M, Leitão C, Arruti E, Aldanondo E, Rodrigues D (2018) Influence of pin imperfections on the tensile and fatigue behaviour of AA 7075-T6 friction stir lap welds. Int J Adv Manuf Technol:1–11

  27. Zou S, Ma S, Liu C, Chen C, Ma L, Lu J, Guo J (2016) Multi-track friction stir lap welding of 2024 aluminum alloy: processing, microstructure and mechanical properties. Metals 7(1):1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Gao S, Wu C, Padhy G (2018) Process and joint quality of ultrasonic vibration enhanced friction stir lap welding. Sci Technol Weld Join:1–11

  29. Liu H, Hu Y, Peng Y, Dou C, Wang Z (2016) The effect of interface defect on mechanical properties and its formation mechanism in friction stir lap welded joints of aluminum alloys. J Mater Process Technol 238:244–254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Buffa G, Campanile G, Fratini L, Prisco A (2009) Friction stir welding of lap joints: influence of process parameters on the metallurgical and mechanical properties. Mater Sci Eng A 519(1–2):19–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Mitlin D, Radmilovic V, Pan T, Chen J, Feng Z, Santella M (2006) Structure–properties relations in spot friction welded (also known as friction stir spot welded) 6111 aluminum. Mater Sci Eng A 441(1–2):79–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Shen Z, Yang X, Zhang Z, Cui L, Li T (2013) Microstructure and failure mechanisms of refill friction stir spot welded 7075-T6 aluminum alloy joints. Mater Des 44:476–486

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Shen Z, Chen Y, Hou J, Yang X, Gerlich A (2015) Influence of processing parameters on microstructure and mechanical performance of refill friction stir spot welded 7075-T6 aluminium alloy. Sci Technol Weld Join 20(1):48–57

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Shen Z, Ding Y, Gopkalo O, Diak B, Gerlich A (2018) Effects of tool design on the microstructure and mechanical properties of refill friction stir spot welding of dissimilar Al alloys. J Mater Process Technol 252:751–759

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. R.H. Wagoner, J.-L. Chenot, Metal forming analysis, Cambridge University Press, 2001

  36. Tabor D (1951) The hardness of metals. Clarendon, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  37. D.R.H. Jones, M.F. Ashby, Engineering materials 2: an introduction to microstructures, processing and design, Elsevier 2005

Download references

Funding

The authors acknowledge the financial support provided to Huihui Zhao by the China Scholarship Council (CSC) during the present investigation. Further financial and material support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada is greatly appreciated.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shanghai Aerospace Equipments Manufacturer Co., Ltd, Shanghai, 200240, China

    H. Zhao

  2. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, 710072, China

    Z. Shen & L. Fu

  3. Shanxi Key Laboratory of Friction Welding Technologies, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, 710072, China

    Z. Shen & L. Fu

  4. Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada

    Z. Shen, M. Booth, J. Wen & A. P. Gerlich

  5. State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, 710072, China

    L. Fu

Authors
  1. H. Zhao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Z. Shen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. M. Booth
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. J. Wen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. L. Fu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. A. P. Gerlich
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Z. Shen.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhao, H., Shen, Z., Booth, M. et al. Calculation of welding tool pin width for friction stir welding of thin overlapping sheets. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 98, 1721–1731 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-018-2350-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-018-2350-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation