Materials Science & Engineering A 560 (2013) 781–786

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Materials Science & Engineering A

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

Microstructure and mechanical properties of friction welded alloy 718

R. Damodaram, S. Ganesh Sundara Raman n, K. Prasad Rao
Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai-600036, India

a r t i c l e i n f o abstract

Article history: The present work deals with the effects of pre- and post-weld heat treatments on microstructure and
Received 13 September 2012 mechanical properties of alloy 718 friction weld joints. Prior to friction welding, alloy 718 rods were
Received in revised form subjected to two types of heat treatments - solution treatment (ST) and solution treatment followed by
9 October 2012
aging (STA). In the as-welded condition, samples welded with prior ST condition exhibited higher
Accepted 10 October 2012
Available online 17 October 2012
hardness in the weld zone compared to the base material in ST condition and this is attributed to grain
refinement due to dynamic recrystallization. Samples welded with prior STA condition exhibited
Keywords: decreased hardness in the weld zone and room temperature tensile properties in relation to the base
Friction welding material in STA condition. It is due to dissolution of g00 (Ni3Nb) phase as the temperature measured at
Alloy 718
weld zone was found to be 1118 1C. In order to retrieve the hardness and room temperature tensile
Aging
properties, friction weld joints were subjected to direct aging (DA) treatment. A significant increase in
Dynamic recrystallization
hardness was observed in the weld zone after direct aging for both samples welded in ST and STA
conditions. This is attributed to the grain refinement due to dynamic recrystallization and formation of
precipitates by the DA treatment.
& 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Alloy 718 is a nickel-iron based superalloy extensively used in
components for aircraft, chemical plant equipment and petro-
chemical equipment due to its excellent corrosion resistance and
good mechanical properties at high temperatures. The primary
strengthening is mainly produced by g00 (Ni3Nb) precipitates
which are coherent disc shaped particles [1,2]. Fusion welding
techniques are used in the joining of superalloys. The weldability
of these alloys is generally considered to be good, mostly because
of their resistant to strain age cracking due to the sluggish
precipitation kinetics of g00 phase [3]. But, it has been reported
that some problems, such as Boron/Niobium segregation, Laves
phase and microfissures (liquation cracking), which could occur
in either fusion zone or heat affected zone (HAZ) of alloy 718
welds [4–6]. Laves phase is a brittle intermetallic phase, known
for its deleterious effect on mechanical properties [7–9]. In order
to eliminate these problems in fusion welding, use of solid state
welding process like friction welding is attractive for alloy 718.
Because melting and solidification are not involved in this
process, welds are free from segregation, porosity and liquation
cracking [10]. Friction welding is now extensively used in auto-
motive, aerospace, petroleum and electrical industries [11].
n
Corresponding author. Tel.: þ91 044 22574768; fax: þ 91 04422570509.
E-mail address: ganesh@iitm.ac.in (S.G.S. Raman).
Wang et al. [12] have reported the dissolution of d phase and
niobium carbides in the fine grain region of alloy 718 friction
weld joint. In another work, the same investigators reported that
the tensile strength of alloy 718 weld joint can be improved
through optimization of friction weld parameters and post weld
heat treatment [13]. Fine grain microstructure of the friction weld
interface did not change even after post weld heat treatment [14].
Mary and Jahazi reported that higher friction pressure leads to
structural degradation, very high temperature at the weld inter-
face and narrow thermo-mechanically affected zone (TMAZ) in
case of linear friction welds of IN 718 [15]. Bu et al. [16] reported
that with increasing friction time, the temperature gradient in the
axial direction decreases mainly due to very high energy given in
the initial stage and low heat conduction of alloy 718. Kim et al.
[17] have observed that an aging treatment after friction welding
improves hardness and tensile properties of friction welded alloy
718 and SNCrW stainless steel (chemical composition (in wt. %) of
SNCrW stainless steel is 0.2 C, 1.4 Si, 19.8 Cr, 9.5 Ni and 68.3 Fe).
Peak temperature at interface can significantly affect microstruc-
ture in the weld zone and mechanical properties [18]. Doong et al.
[19] used infrared temperature sensing equipment to observe the
surface temperature of laser welding. The literature available on
microstructure and mechanical properties of direct drive friction
welds of alloy 718 is limited as the experiments conducted by
Wang et al. [12–14] had machine constraints limiting the upset
pressure to 350 MPa due to which the softening region was wide
and the joint strength was low. Though the Laves phase and
liquation cracking can be avoided in friction welds, they may

0921-5093/$ - see front matter & 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2012.10.035
782 R. Damodaram et al. / Materials Science & Engineering A 560 (2013) 781–786
soften at the weld interface due to high temperature exposure
and dissolution of g00 phase. Aging treatment may be required to
restore the mechanical properties. The aim of the present study is
to characterize the microstructure and evaluate mechanical
properties of alloy 718 friction weld joints before and after a
direct aging treatment.
2. Experimental Details
The chemical composition (in wt %) of base material alloy 718
was 51.6 Ni, 18.2 Cr, 5.1 Nb, 3.28 Mo, 1.06 Ti, 0.56 Al, 0.33 V, 0.09
Mn, 0.01 S, 0.004 C, 0.003 B and 19.763 Fe. Alloy 718 rods of
13 mm diameter were used with two prior thermal histories
(1) solution treated (ST); (2) solution treated and aged (STA)
conditions. Solution treatment was done at 995 1C for 1 h and two
stage aging, i.e. aging was done at 720 1C for 8 h followed by
furnace cooling to 620 1C and then aging at 620 1C for 8 h
followed by air cooling to room temperature.
Friction welding was carried out in a continuous drive friction
welding machine of 200 kN capacity. The main welding para-
meters in continuous drive friction welding are friction pressure,
upset pressure, burn-off length and spindle speed. The values of
the process parameters used in the present study are given in
Table 1. An infrared (IR) thermometer with a noise equivalent
temperature of 1 1C (peak to peak) was used to measure surface
temperature during friction welding. The thermometer was oper-
ated in the nominal spectral response of 0.75 to 1.1 mm, and
response time of 10 ms. The IR thermometer used in this study
measures from 600 to 3000 1C. The IR thermometer was placed at
an appropriate distance (1 m) from friction weld zone and
Table 1
Welding process parameters.
Friction pressure (MPa) 300
Upset pressure (MPa) 600
Burn off length (mm) 4 rapidly increased to 1118 1C which was maintained for 4 s and
Spindle speed (r.p.m.) 1500
Fig. 1. Photograph of friction welded alloy 718 joint.
Fig. 2. Scanning electron micrographs of alloy 718 base material in two different conditions: (a) ST condition, (b) STA condition.
focused to the weld region. After friction welding, flash was
removed by machining.
According to Wang [20] the maximum content of g0 and g00
phases in alloy 718 base material can be obtained by using a
double aging treatment - 720 1C/8 hþ620 1C/8 h. As per the
recommendation, weld joints were subjected to direct aging
(DA) (720 1C for 8 h followed by furnace cooling to 620 1C and
then aging at 620 1C for 8 h and then air cooling to room
temperature). Specimens for microstructural observations were
prepared as per standard metallographic practices. Etching was
done using Kalling’s agent consisting of 5 g CuCl2, 100 ml HCl and
100 ml ethanol. Microstructural characterization was carried out
by using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). For TEM studies,
samples were mechanically polished to 100 mm. Thin foils for
TEM study were prepared by using twin jet electro polishing with
an electrolyte of 10% perchloric acid in methanol at  30 1C.
Microhardness measurements were made across the weld inter-
face on polished and etched samples using 0.5 kg load for 15 s. ASTM
- E8-04 standard specimen configuration was employed for room
temperature tensile testing. Fracture surfaces were examined using a
scanning electron microscope.
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Temperature measurement using IR thermometer
Thermocouples have been used to measure the temperature
variation during a typical friction welding cycle. However, the
thermocouple readings are usually unreliable due to the damage
brought during rubbing and upsetting operations [21]. In the
present study, an IR thermometer was used to measure the
temperature at the interface. The IR thermometer was placed in
such a way that the field of view was focused at the plasticized
region confined between the rubbing surfaces. A gradual increase
in the temperature along with friction time was observed in the
weld region for the first few seconds, after that the temperature
then temperature rapidly decreased to room temperature. Based
 R. Damodaram et al. / Materials Science & Engineering A 560 (2013) 781–786 783

Fig. 3. Bright field transmission electron micrograph showing g00 in the base Fig. 5. TEM microstructure of an STA friction weld interface.
material in STA condition.

Fig. 4. Cross sectional scanning electron micrographs of an STA sample after friction welding: (a) shows three regions - DRX, TMAZ and HAZ, (b), (c) and (d) show
magnified views of DRX, TMAZ and HAZ respectively.
784 R. Damodaram et al. / Materials Science & Engineering A 560 (2013) 781–786
on temperature measurements using thermocouples, Mary and
Jahazi [15] have reported that near interface peak temperature
exceeds 1100 1C in linear friction welding of IN 718. Heat is
generated at the interface due to the relative motion against
metal to metal contact and axial friction force applied during
friction welding [11].
3.2. Microstructure
Fig. 1 shows a photograph of friction welded alloy 718 joint.
Microstructures of the base material in ST and STA conditions are
shown in Fig. 2(a) and (b) respectively. The base material in STA
condition consists of fine disc shaped g00 precipitates distributed
in the g matrix as shown in Fig. 3. Microstructural features in
various regions of friction welds across the interface are shown in
Fig. 4. The interface is very narrow and its width is around
250 mm. The microstructure in the interface of the joint consists
of fine grains due to dynamic recrystallization (DRX) during
welding. Beside this region elongated grains are observed; this
Fig. 6. Cross sectional scanning electron micrographs of an STA sample after friction welding followed by direct aging: (a) shows three regions - DRX, TMAZ and HAZ,
(b), (c) and (d) show magnified views of DRX, TMAZ and HAZ respectively.
region is generally referred to as thermomechanically affected
zone (TMAZ). TMAZ shows a necklace-shaped microstructure in
which fine grains are distributed along the grain boundaries of
elongated grains. Due to recrystallization characteristics, there is
a difference in microstructure of interface and TMAZ. Fully
recrystallized grains are formed in the interface, while recrystal-
lization in the TMAZ was localized to elongated grain boundaries.
No recrystallization was observed in the HAZ and similar obser-
vations have been made by Ashfaq in friction welded titanium-
AISI 304L joints [22]. Temperature above 885 1C will lead
to solutionising of g00 phase in alloy 718 [23]. It may be noted that
IR thermometer measurement indicated 1118 1C. This temperature is
sufficient for dissolution of hardening precipitates near friction weld
interface. In present study, the weld interface of an STA sample shows
clear grains with no precipitates (Fig. 5). The weld interface fine grain
microstructure remains same even after direct aging heat treatment
(Fig. 6). But TMAZ shows clear necklace-shaped microstructure in
which fine grains are distributed along the grain boundaries of
elongated grains Fig. 6(b).
 R. Damodaram et al. / Materials Science & Engineering A 560 (2013) 781–786 785

3.3. Hardness
The variation of microhardness across the weld interface in the
friction weld joints of ST and STA samples with and without post
weld direct aging treatment is shown in Fig. 7. In the as-welded
condition, the microhardness of the weld zone of the sample with
prior ST condition was found to be higher than that of its base
material counterpart. The increase in hardness of the ST sample in
the weld zone can be attributed to grain refinement due to
dynamic recrystallization. However, in the case of the sample
with prior STA condition, the hardness of weld zone was lower
than that of its base material counterpart. This could be attributed
to dissolution of strengthening precipitates g00 as the temperature
reached in the weld zone was found to be 1118 1C. Mary and
Jahazi [15] observed a similar trend in the microhardness profile
of linear friction welds of IN 718. They reported that decrease in
hardness is due to reversion of g0 and g00 . Slama et al. [24] noted
that the decrease in hardness is due to dissolution of g00 at 850 1C.
The decrease in the hardness in HAZ/TMAZ can be due to high
temperature experienced during friction welding causing dissolu-
tion or coarsening of these precipitates. Friction welding involves
very high cooling rates, and these cooling rates are high enough to
allow any reprecipitation of strengthening phases. The extent of
precipitate dissolution or coarsening depends on high tempera-
tures and durations experienced by the HAZ/TMAZ as reported by
Kalid Rafi et al. [25] in friction welded AA 7075-T6.
In the post weld direct aged specimens, a significant increase
in the microhardness was observed in all three zones. The
improvement in hardness at the weld interface is due to com-
bined effect of grain refinement and the formation of g00 (Ni3Nb)
precipitates by direct aging.

3.4. Tensile properties

In the as-welded condition, samples with prior ST condition

Fig. 7. Microhardness profile obtained across the weld.
failed in the base material while samples with prior STA condition
failed in the weld zone. The microstructure of the vertical cross
section of the fracture surface of a tensile tested weld joint
sample with prior STA condition showed fine grain region
(Fig. 8). The yield strength, ultimate tensile strength and %
elongation of the weld joint sample with prior STA condition
were lower than that of base material (see Table 2). This could be
attributed to dissolution of strengthening g00 (Ni3Nb) precipitates
in the weld zone.
After direct aging treatment both the samples welded with
prior ST and STA conditions failed in the base material rather than
at the weld zone. Post weld direct aged specimens exhibited
almost the same tensile properties as the base material in STA
condition. In all the cases, the tensile fracture was of cup-and-cone
type. The fracture surface revealed dimples, for example see Fig. 9.

4. Conclusions

1. The friction weld zone of alloy 718 exhibited fine and dyna-
mically recrystallized grains.
Fig. 8. Optical micrograph showing the vertical cross section of fracture surface of
2. In the as-welded condition, samples welded with prior ST
a tensile tested weld joint sample with prior STA condition in the as-welded condition exhibited higher hardness in the weld zone com-
condition. pared to the base material in ST condition. This is attributed to

Table 2
Room temperature tensile test results.

S.No. Material Yield Ultimate Tensile Elongation in 24 mm Reduction in Failure

Strength (MPa) Strength (MPa) Gage Length (%) Area (%) Location

1 ST Base Material 499 996 59 54 –

2 STA Base Material 1230 1539 22 41 –
3 ST þ FW 570 1003 46 58 Base Material
4 STA þ FW 870 1081 15 42 Interface
5 ST þ FWþ DA 1266 1532 23 45 Base Material
6 STA þ FWþ DA 1271 1520 21 38 Base Material
786 R. Damodaram et al. / Materials Science & Engineering A 560 (2013) 781–786
Fig. 9. Appearance of fracture surface of tensile tested samples: (a) base material in STA condition, (b) friction weld with prior STA condition in the as-welded condition.
grain refinement in the weld zone due to dynamic
recrystallization.
3. In the as-welded condition, samples welded with prior STA
condition exhibited lower hardness and room temperature
tensile strength in the weld zone compared to the base
material in STA condition. This is due to the dissolution of g00
(Ni3Nb) phase at the weld zone as the temperature reached in
the weld zone was found to be 1118 1C.
4. The direct aging treatment after friction welding improved
hardness and tensile strength of friction welds. This is attrib-
uted to the combined effect of grain refinement due to
dynamic recrystallization during friction welding and forma-
tion of precipitates during the direct aging.
5. The welds subjected to direct aging treatment after friction
welding exhibited similar values of hardness/tensile strength
irrespective of whether they were welded with prior ST or STA
conditions.
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