Friction Stir Welding - Flow of Material

Flow of Material

Early work on the mode of material flow around the tool used inserts of a different alloy, which had a different contrast to the normal material when viewed through a microscope, in an effort to determine where material was moved as the tool passed. The data was interpreted as representing a form of in-situ extrusion where the tool, backing plate and cold base material form the "extrusion chamber" through which the hot, plasticised material is forced. In this model the rotation of the tool draws little or no material around the front of the pin instead the material parts in front of the pin and passes down either side. After the material has passed the pin the side pressure exerted by the "die" forces the material back together and consolidation of the join occurs as the rear of the tool shoulder passes overhead and the large down force forges the material.

More recently, an alternative theory has been advanced that advocates considerable material movement in certain locations. This theory holds that some material does rotate around the pin, for at least one rotation, and it is this material movement that produces the "onion-ring" structure in the stir zone. The researchers used a combination of thin copper strip inserts and a "frozen pin" technique, where the tool is rapidly stopped in place. They suggested that material motion occurs by two processes:

1. Material on the advancing front side of a weld enters into a zone that rotates and advances with the pin. This material was very highly deformed and sloughs off behind the pin to form arc-shaped features when viewed from above (i.e. down the tool axis). It was noted that the copper entered the rotational zone around the pin, where it was broken up into fragments. These fragments were only found in the arc shaped features of material behind the tool.
2. The lighter material came from the retreating front side of the pin and was dragged around to the rear of the tool and filled in the gaps between the arcs of advancing side material. This material did not rotate around the pin and the lower level of deformation resulted in a larger grain size.

The primary advantage of this explanation is that it provides a plausible explanation for the production of the onion-ring structure.

The marker technique for friction stir welding provides data on the initial and final positions of the marker in the welded material. The flow of material is then reconstructed from these positions. Detailed material flow field during friction stir welding can also be calculated from theoretical considerations based on fundamental scientific principles. Material flow calculations are routinely used in numerous engineering applications. Calculation of material flow fields in friction stir welding can be undertaken both using comprehensive numerical simulations or simple but insightful analytical equations. The comprehensive models for the calculation of material flow fields also provide important information such as geometry of the stir zone and the torque on the tool. The numerical simulations have shown the ability to correctly predict the results from marker experiments and the stir zone geometry observed in friction stir welding experiments.