Materials and Design 31 (2010) 39373942

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Materials and Design

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Short Communication

Effect of welding speed on microstructure and mechanical properties of friction stir welded copper
J.J. Shen, H.J. Liu *, F. Cui
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding Production Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, PR China

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t
The 3-mm-thick copper plates were friction stir welded at a low tool rotation rate of 600 rpm. The inuence of welding speed on microstructure and mechanical properties of the joints was investigated. As the welding speed increased, the grain size of nugget zone rst increased and then decreased, the thermomechanically affected zone became narrow and the boundary between these two zones got distinct, but the heat affected zone was almost not changed. The ultimate tensile strength and elongation of the joints increased rst and decreased nally with increasing welding speed, but the effect was little when the welding speed is in the range of 25150 mm/min. The defect-free joints were produced at lower welding speeds, and the fracture locations were outside the nugget zone on the retreating side. With increasing welding speed, the average hardness of nugget zone decreased rst and then increased, but welding speed had little effect on the hardness of the other regions within the joints. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Article history: Received 20 October 2009 Accepted 16 March 2010 Available online 19 March 2010

1. Introduction Copper has been widely applied in many areas for its high electrical and thermal conductivities, favorable combinations of strength and ductility, and excellent resistance to corrosion [1,2]. However, its difcult to join commercial pure copper by conventional fusion welding processes due to the inuence of oxygen, impurity and high thermal conductivity [35]. Friction stir welding (FSW), invented by The Welding Institute (TWI) of the UK in 1991 [6], is a relatively new solid-state joining process in which the welding defects formed in the conventional fusion welds were not observed [7,8]. The FSW process is in rapid development for aluminum alloys and has been successfully implemented into commercial applications [9], but the studies on the FSW of copper are relatively limited and preliminary [1013]. Welding heat input required for copper is much higher than for aluminum and its alloys due to the greater dissipation of heat through the work-piece [14], therefore a higher tool rotation rate should be used. For example, Okamoto et al. [15] fabricated a copper backing plate for cooling by FSW at a tool rotation rate of 1300 rpm together with a welding speed of 170 mm/min; Lee and Jung [10] welded 4-mm-thick copper plate successfully at a tool rotation rate of 1250 rpm with a welding speed of 61 mm/ min, and Sakthivel and Mukhopadhyay [16] obtained FSW welds of 2-mm-thick copper sheet at a tool rotation rate of 1000 rpm

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 451 8641 3951; fax: +86 451 8641 6186. E-mail address: liuhj@hit.edu.cn (H.J. Liu). 0261-3069/$ - see front matter 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.matdes.2010.03.027

with a welding speed of 30 mm/min. However, due to the generation of coarse grains within the joints resulted from high tool rotation rate, the strength efciency of all the joints mentioned above was no more than 87%, which was slightly higher than that of the electron beam welded joint [17]. Although, Xie et al. [12] welded copper under a relatively low tool rotation rate, his research was only focused on the nugget zone (NZ), instead of on the heat affected zone (HAZ) or thermo-mechanically affected zone (TMAZ). It is well known that the HAZ (or TMAZ) is a key part in the FSW joint, where is often the minimum-hardness region and fracture always occurs [9,18,19], so some technological processes were adopted to improve the microstructure and properties of HAZ, including the control of welding heat input and the use of postweld heat treatment [2024]. Furthermore, as far as now within the studies on the FSW of copper, such as [10,12,1517], it seems that the welding parameter range is quite narrow, and none has studied the evolution of microstructure and mechanical properties of the joints with welding parameters yet. Besides, on some specic issue, such as the existence of TMAZ, Lee and Jung [10] reported that no distinct TMAZ was identied in copper welds while the results of Sakthivel and Mukhopadhyay [16] and Andersson and Andrews [25] exhibited distinct TMAZ, however no reason was given. In order to control welding heat input in FSW process, a 3-mmthick pure copper plate was friction stir welded using a low tool rotation rate in the present study. Under the denite condition of tool rotation rate, the aim is to investigate the effect of welding speed on the microstructure and mechanical properties of copper joints.

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J.J. Shen et al. / Materials and Design 31 (2010) 39373942 Table 1 Width of NZ formed at various welding speeds. Welding speed (mm/min) 25 50 100 150 200 Width of NZ (mm) 5.26 5.13 5.01 4.66 4.27

2. Experimental procedure The base metal (BM) used in the experiment was a pure copper plate (under the 1/2H condition) of 3 mm thickness. The plate was cut and machined into rectangular welding samples of 200 mm length by 50 mm width, and then the samples were butt welded perpendicular to the rolling direction using a welding machine (FSW-3LM-003). The rotation tool was made of high-speed tool steel, with a pin (/3 2.85 mm) having standard right-hand threads and a shoulder (/12 mm) having a concave prole. FSW was conducted at a constant rotation rate of 600 rpm together with different welding speeds of 25, 50, 100, 150 and 200 mm/min. The specimens for microstructural evaluation were sectioned from the FSW joints transverse to the welding direction, polished and then etched with a solution of 15 ml hydrochloric acid, 100 ml distilled water, and 2.5 g iron chloride. Microstructural features were examined by optical microscopy (OM, Olmpus-PGM3). Vickers hardness measurements were performed on the cross section at mid thickness of the welds with a load of 500 g for 10 s. Tensile specimens with a gauge length of 50 mm and a width of 12 mm were machined perpendicular to the FSW direction. The tensile test was carried out using a universal testing machine (Instron-1186) at a constant crosshead speed of 1 mm/min. The facture surfaces were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM, Hitachi-570).

3. Results and discussion 3.1. Microstructural characteristics Fig. 1 shows the typical cross-sectional photographs of the joints welded at a tool rotation rate of 600 rpm. It can be seen that no welding defect was detected in the joints welded at lower welding speeds, and a high welding speed results in cavity defect (see Fig. 1c). The joint exhibits several distinct microstructural regions, i.e. the NZ at the weld centre, the HAZ surrounding the NZ, the TMAZ between the NZ and HAZ, and the BM. Besides, the size of NZ decreases with the increase of welding speed. The width of NZ at mid thickness of the welds is listed in Table 1, in which it is indicated that the width of NZ decreases more remarkably at a higher welding speed. The microstructures of NZ formed at various welding speeds are shown in Fig. 2ac. Compared with the BM (see Fig. 2d), the NZ has much smaller equiaxed grain due to dynamitic recrystallization. With the increase of welding speed, the grains become coarse rst and then get small, which is similar to those reported in Ref. [9]. Its well known that a high welding speed (tool rotation rate is a constant) results in a decrease in both the degree of deformation and the peak temperature of thermal cycle. On one hand, the decrease in the degree of deformation during FSW results in an increase in the recrystallized grain size according to the general principles for recrystallization [26]. On the other hand, the decrease in peak

temperature of FSW thermal cycle leads to generation of small recrystallized grains. Therefore, the variation of recrystallized grain size with welding speed in FSW depends on which factor is dominant. Some literatures [9,27] appear to indicate that the peak temperature of FSW thermal cycle is the dominant factor in determining the recrystallized grain size. Thus, the recrystallized grain size in FSW generally decreases with increasing welding speed. But in this study, it is shown that the degree of deformation is the dominant factor at rst, and with the further increase of welding speed, the peak temperature of FSW thermal cycle is the dominant factor. Fig. 3 shows the microstructure of HAZ obtained at various welding speeds. Compared with the BM (see Fig. 2d), the grains in the HAZ grow to some extent, but the grain size almost does not change with the welding speed from 25 mm/min to 200 mm/ min (see Fig. 3ac). This implies that the welding speed has little effect on the grain size in the HAZ. Besides, the grain size of HAZ on the RS is bigger than on the AS (see Fig. 3d). Fig. 4 shows the TMAZ produced at various welding speeds. Following observations can be made from this gure. First, the TMAZ is not so distinct as that in aluminum FSW joint because no elongated or rotated grains adjacent to the NZ are observed. The grains in the TMAZ are bigger than those in the NZ, but smaller than in the HAZ. Second, there is a distinct boundary between TMAZ and NZ on the advancing side (AS), while the transition between TMAZ and NZ is smooth on the retreating side (RS), which can also be observed in Fig. 1. Such a result is attributed to the difference of metal plastic ow state between the two sides in FSW process, which has been explained in detail in Ref. [11]. Third, when the welding speed is high, e.g. 200 mm/min, the TMAZ is quite narrow and there is a sharp boundary between the TMAZ and NZ (see Fig. 4c). As the welding speed decreases, the TMAZ becomes wide and the boundary is obscure. So whether the TMAZ is distinct or not depends mainly on the welding parameters, and Lees [10] and Anderssons [25] results reect two aspects of this effect respectively.

3.2. Mechanical properties Fig. 5 shows the tensile properties of the joints welded at various welding speeds. It can be seen that the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and elongation have a similar variation trends. Both increase rst and decrease nally with increasing welding speed. It

TMAZ

TMAZ NZ HAZ 1mm

HAZ

1mm

1mm

Fig. 1. Cross-section macrograph of copper FSW joint: (a) 25 mm/min, (b) 100 mm/min, and (c) 200 mm/min (AS on the right).

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20m

20m

20m

20m

Fig. 2. Microstructure of NZ: (a) 25 mm/min, (b) 100 mm/min, (c) 200 mm/min, and (d) BM.

40m

40m

40m

40m

Fig. 3. Microstructure of HAZ: (a) 25 mm/min, (b) 100 mm/min, (c) 200 mm/min (ac on the RS), and (d) 200 mm/min (AS).

is noted that the UTS and elongation of joints obtained at the welding speed range of 25150 mm/min have little change, and their highest values are corresponding to the welding speeds of 50 mm/min and 100 mm/min, respectively. Fig. 6 shows the fracture locations of the joints welded at various welding speeds. From the front face graph (see Fig. 6a), significant necking exists around the fracture locations when the welding speed is not higher than 150 mm/min, which means that the macroplastic deformation occurs in the joints during tensile test. However, there are no signicant necking in the joints obtained at the welding speed of 200 mm/min. In addition, the joint is fractured on the RS for the former situation, and it is on the AS for the latter. The specic fracture position can be observed from

Fig. 6b. The fracture occurs at the cavity defect of the joint when the welding speed is 200 mm/min, and the fracture path of the joints passes through TMAZ, HAZ and BM when the welding speed is not higher than 150 mm/min. The fracture surface of the joint welded at the welding speed of 25 mm/min can be divided into two regions, as marked with 1 and 2 in Fig. 7a, and their magnied SEM graphs are shown in Fig. 7b and c. Figs. 8 and 9 show the fractograph of the joints welded at the welding speeds of 100 mm/min and 200 mm/min, respectively. It is noted that the fracture surface of the joint formed at the welding speed of 200 mm/min can be divided into four regions, as marked with 14 in Fig. 9, according to their low magnication fracture pattern. This interesting phenomenon is similar to that re-

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40m

40m

40m

40m

Fig. 4. Microstructure of TMAZ: (a) 25 mm/min, (b) 100 mm/min, (c) 200 mm/min (ac on the AS), and (d) 200 mm/min (RS).

300

20

275

15

250

10

225

Tensile Strength Elongation

200 0 50 100 150 200 0

Welding speed (mm/min)

Fig. 5. Tensile properties of the joints.

ported in Ref. [11]. The fracture characteristics and micro-fracture mechanism are listed in Table 2. Obviously, the fracture mechanisms of the FSW joints are inuenced by the welding speed. In order to explain the relation between tensile features and welding speed, the transverse hardness distribution of the joints

for various welding speeds are measured, as shown in Fig. 10. With the increase of welding speed, the average hardness of NZ rst decreases and then increases, identical to the variation trend of grain size of the NZ (see Fig. 2), and this comparability is in accordance with the HallPatch equation. In detail, the hardness exhibits the highest value in the NZ and gradually falls down from the NZ to two sides when the welding speed is 25 mm/min or 200 mm/ min, and the average hardness of the NZ is approximately equal to the base metal when the welding speed is 100 mm/min or 150 mm/min. And the regions except NZ have almost the same hardness value whatever the welding speed is. When the welding speed is 100 mm/min or 150 mm/min, all the regions within the joint have almost the same hardness, but the grain size of HAZ is the biggest and the microstructure in the NZ is more uniform, accordingly the joint is easy to fracture in an uneven multi-component zone, i.e. TMAZ, HAZ and BM (see Fig. 6b). When the welding speed is 25 mm/min or 200 mm/min, the hardness of NZ is the highest, therefore the joint will most likely fracture in the lower hardness zones, i.e. TMAZ, HAZ and BM if no defects exist in the joint, or the fracture will be originated from the defect location if defects exist in the joint (see Fig. 6b). As mentioned above, the grain size of HAZ on the RS is bigger than on the AS, and thus the fracture occurs on the RS of the defect-free joints.

Tensile Strength (MPa)

Elongation (%)

RS 25mm/min 50mm/min 100mm/min 150mm/min

AS

RS

AS 25mm/min

100mm/min

200mm/min 200mm/min
Fig. 6. Fracture locations of the joints: (a) front face, and (b) cross-section.

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Fig. 7. SEM images of the tensile fracture surface: (a) low magnitude, (bc) magnied of region 12 marked in (a) (welding speed: 25 mm/min).

140 120

Hardness (Hv)

100 80 60 40 20 0 -10 -8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4

25mm/min 100mm/min 150mm/min 200mm/min

6 8 10

Fig. 8. SEM images of the tensile fracture surface: (a) low magnitude, and (b) high magnitude (welding speed: 100 mm/min).

Distance from weld centre (mm)

Fig. 10. Microhardness distribution of FSW joints formed at various welding speeds.

1 2 3

All in all, in regard to the defect-free joints, the fracture occurs in the multi-component zone composed of TMAZ, HAZ and BM on the RS during tensile test. When the welding speed is changed from 25 mm/min to 150 mm/min, there is little hardness variation in this zone on the RS (see Fig. 10), therefore the tensile properties of joints have little change, as shown in Fig. 5.

4
4. Conclusions (1) No welding defect was detected in the joints welded at lower welding speeds, and the size of NZ decreases with the increase of welding speed. (2) As welding speed increased, the grain size of NZ increased rst and then decreased, while TMAZ became narrow and the boundary between TMAZ and NZ got distinct, but the grain size of HAZ has little change. (3) The ultimate tensile strength and elongation of the joints increased rst and decreased nally with increasing welding speed, but the welding speed almost had no effect on the tensile properties of the joints when the welding speed is in the range of 25150 mm/min. (4) The defect-free joints were produced at lower welding speeds and the fracture path of the joints passed through TMAZ, HAZ and BM on the RS, therefore the fracture surface showed a microvoid coalescence and slipping mechanism or only microvoid coalescence mechanism. (5) With the increase of welding speed, the average hardness of NZ rst decreased and then increased, but the welding speed had little effect on the hardness of the other regions within

Fig. 9. SEM image of the tensile fracture surface (welding speed: 200 mm/min).

Table 2 Fracture characteristics and mechanism of typical joints. Fig. Region Fracture characteristics Low magnication 7 1 2 8 9 1 2 3 4 Tear ridge and snakelike pattern Tear ridge and holes Tear ridge and holes Tear ridge and snakelike pattern Tire pattern Smooth and regular Tear ridge and holes High magnication Smooth and few at dimples Dimples Dimples Smooth and few at dimples Dimples River pattern Dimples Fracture mechanism Slipping Microvoid coalescence Microvoid coalescence Slipping Microvoid coalescence Cleavage Microvoid coalescence

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the joints. Such hardness distributions can be used to explain the tensile features of the joints.

Acknowledgements The research was sponsored by the National Key Technology Research and Development Program No. 2006BAF04B09, Ministry of Science and Technology, PR China, and was also supported by the Program of Excellent Team in Harbin Institute of Technology, PR China. References
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