Metals and Materials International

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12540-019-00472-3

Friction Stir Welding of Thick AA2519 Alloy: Defect Elimination,

Mechanical and Micro‑Structural Characterization
Mohammed Ubaid1 · Dhruv Bajaj1   · A. K. Mukhopadhyay2 · Arshad Noor Siddiquee1

Received: 1 August 2019 / Accepted: 16 September 2019

© The Korean Institute of Metals and Materials 2019

Abstract
Friction stir welding (FSW) of thick aluminium sections will pave way for remarkable new defence applications, provided
the accompanying challenges are successfully addressed. These challenges include elimination of tunnel defects, loss of
strength in heat-treatable aluminium alloys, tool design and excessive process forces. Accounts of defect elimination, detailed
micro-structural and mechanical characterization for thick section FSW are scarce in the published literature. Further, special
strategies such as bobbin tool, pre-drilled hole for plunging and inverted double pass are generally deployed to overcome
these challenges. This makes the process less productive and complex. In the present work, armor grade aluminum alloy
AA2519-T87 plates having a thickness of 15.4 mm have been successfully joined with a joint efficiency of greater than 75%
without supplementary strategies. The disparity in the effects of tool rotational speed and welding speed in the formation of
a sound weld has been addressed in detail to enhance the understanding of FSW of thick sections. Micro-hardness measure-
ments have been carried out throughout the transverse cross-section of the welds and correlated with different zones and
their corresponding microstructures. Scanning electron microscopy and X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy have been
used to characterize the coarse phase particles present in the weld zones.

Keywords  Friction stir welding (FSW) · Aluminium alloy AA2519 · Thick plates · Defect elimination · Joint efficiency ·
Mechanical properties

1 Introduction alloys is unfavorable [1, 4]. A solid-state joining process

Wrought aluminum alloys with copper as major alloying
element are of prime importance to several strategic and
technology intensive sectors. Classified under the 2xxx
series, these alloys find usage in cryogenic, aerospace and
a variety of critical defence applications [1]. AA2519 is a
relatively new armor grade aluminum alloy currently being
utilized to develop lightweight combat structures. Charac-
teristics like high-strength to weight ratio, high toughness
as well as high resistance to stress corrosion cracking make
AA2519 alloy suitable for ballistic applications [2, 3]. Being
an age-hardenable alloy, this alloy derives its strength from
strengthening precipitates and hence fusion welding of such
* Dhruv Bajaj
maildhruv08@gmail.com
1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Jamia Millia
Islamia, New Delhi 110025, India
2
Aeronautical Materials Division, Defence Metallurgical
Research Laboratory, Hyderabad 500058, India
such as friction stir welding (FSW) has proved to be the key
enabler towards utilizing such an aluminum alloy for the
targeted applications [5–12].
FSW studies conducted on AA2519 plates having a thick-
ness of less than 8 mm have demonstrated the role of tool
design in the material flow and heat balance in the welded
plates. Tapered as well as straight cylindrical pin profiles
have exhibited defect free welds [13]. Moreover, underwater
FSW (UFSW) has yielded a better joint efficiency owing to
suppression of precipitate dissolution and coarsening [14].
Studies aimed at optimizing traverse speed have also been
conducted. In case of UFSW, lower traverse speeds resulted
in sound welds [15]. Characterization of weldments from
a microstructural viewpoint, establishing a relationship of
micro-hardness values corresponding to various zones has
also been performed [13–15].
Rao et al. [16] performed FSW on 10 mm and 16 mm thick
plates of AA7075 alloy in order to study the mechanical prop-
erties of the welds. Sound welds with a joint efficiency of 70%
and 53% were observed for 10 mm and 16 mm weldments,

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respectively. Using a combination of computational modeling
and experimentation while joining plates of 19 mm thickness,
Sabari et al. [14] demonstrated a lower peak temperature in the
case of conventional FSW as compared to UFSW. However,
the comparison cannot be held just because the process param-
eters were not identical. Xu et al. [17] investigated tempera-
ture evolution and mechanical properties of FS welded 14 mm
thick AA2219-O alloys. Their work showed a significant varia-
tion of temperature and joint strength along the weld thickness.
Thick section FSW requires robust fixtures, tooling in order
to withstand massive clamping forces. The heat management
along the plate thickness possesses a serious challenge in
the welding of thick plates. During FSW of thick aluminium
alloys the variation of temperature from the top surface (heat
source interface) to the bottom surface is large which requires
high heat-input to keep the bottom sufficiently soft. With high
thermal conductivity, thick section aluminum plates act like
heat sink and heat flow in transverse direction is more than
that in the axial (or thickness) direction. Heat conduction in
transverse directions and large temperature variation in the
axial direction causes vertical material movement complex.
This leads to lower cooling rate and further deterioration in the
microstructure as the thickness of the base metal increases that
in turn influences the mechanical properties in and around the
stir zone (SZ) [18]. Due to the escalation of process forces, tool
design is another major challenge in the FSW of thick plates.
Tool pin failure is the most common cause that not only leads
to decrease in the overall life of the FSW tool, but makes the
welding a challenge at the first place. The issue of tool pin fail-
ure has also been addressed in detail [19]. Increasing the pin
diameter to raise the factor of safety results in tunneling defect.
This is because a greater amount of material has to be swept
due to increased volume of the pin. Moreover, most investi-
gations on welding of AA2519 have incorporated a circular
pin cross-section, which induces a lower strain rate [20]. As a
result, very low advance per revolution (APR) of a tool has to
be used to obtain defect-free FS welds [13–16]. In the current
study, a tapered cylindrical cam tri-flute cross-section has been
used that induces a greater strain rate and hence a higher APR
could be created for successful FSW. Higher values of APR
lead to a decrease in total heat generation, thus improving the
mechanical properties of the FSW joints. Although UFSW
reports higher joint efficiency, it is comparatively less feasible
and reproducible as compared to its simpler version of con-
ventional FSW. Further, due to high rate of heat extraction, the
UFSW has to be performed at very high heat input in compari-
son to conventional FSW. The especial tool design employed
in this work produced better joint efficiency via FSW without
Table 1  Chemical composition Element Al Cu
of AA2519-T87 plates (wt%)
Concentration Balance 5.4
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water cooling. Also, established knowledge of FSW has been
largely based upon thin plates, and there is little to guide for
an effective tool design for thick plates. Arora et al. [21] con-
cluded that, in general, peak tensile strength is obtained when
shoulder diameter is thrice the thickness of base metal. This
approach may not work in totality during welding of thick
plates; as in present case it would need shoulder diameter of
45 mm (for 15 mm thick plates) and would be anomalous.
Very few researchers have successfully addressed the
above-mentioned challenges faced in the joining of thick
plates of aluminium alloys using FSW. Currently, reports on
the investigations on FSW of thick aluminium alloy plates
are gradually increasing in the literature, but studies based
upon the elimination of defects have not been widely dis-
cussed. Substantial work has been performed on the elimina-
tion of weld defects for thin plates [22] that has been mainly
based upon the tool design. However, the elimination of
defects and the optimization of strength for thick aluminium
alloy plates, solely based upon process parameters, have not
yet been published in the literature. Therefore, studies on the
welding of 15.4 mm thick AA2519 plates were carried out in
the present investigation. Tunneling defects and kissing bond
defects were eliminated by varying the process parameters.
2 Methods
Aluminum alloy AA2519-T87 plates of dimensions 160 mm
(length) × 55 mm (width) were used as the base material/
alloy (BM). The as-received plates of thickness 16 mm were
reduced to 15.4 mm and welded in butt configuration. The
chemical composition and mechanical properties of the base
alloy are given in Tables 1 and 2, respectively. It is note-
worthy (refer to Table 2) that the alloy is slightly under-
aged when compared with the specified minimum tensile
strength properties in the long transverse (LT) direction in
the T87 temper i.e. 0.2%PS = 400 MPa and UTS = 469 MPa
of the alloy. The alloy was processed so by the producer at
the industrial scale keeping in mind a specific application.
Table 2  Tensile properties (LT direction) and hardness of AA2519-
T87 plates
Ultimate tensile strength (MPa) 437
0.2%PS (MPa) 398
Elongation (50 mm gauge length) 12
Hardness (HV) 160
Si Fe Mn Mg Zn Ti V Zr
0.08 0.12 0.28 0.18 0.018 0.1 0.06 0.14
Metals and Materials International

Table 3  Parameters and their levels

Process parameters Level 1 Level 2 Level 3

Shoulder diameter, D (mm) 23 26 29

Rotational speed, N (rpm) 450 560 710
Welding speed, v (mm/min) 31.5 40 50

Table 4  Experimental design
Process parameters
Experi- Shoulder Rotational Welding
ment diameter speed (rpm) speed (mm/
number (mm) min)
Fig. 1  Vertical milling machine adapted to perform FSW Taguchi ­L9 1 1 1 1
2 2 1 2
3 3 1 3
4 3 2 2
5 1 2 3
6 2 2 1
7 2 3 3
8 3 3 1
9 1 3 2
10 1 3 1

sound weld and to study the effects of the process param-

Fig. 2  FSW tool a Schematic b HSS tool
A robust vertical milling machine adapted for performing
FSW was used to join the BM as shown in Fig. 1. An in-
house designed and fabricated fixture [23] was used to firmly
hold the BM plates during welding as well as a especially-
designed tool-adapter [24] was used to hold the FSW tool.
High speed steel (HSS) was used as tool material for per-
forming the FSW process. A tapered cylindrical cam tri-flute
with left-hand threads was employed for welding. The root
and tip diameters, and the pin length were kept constant at
10 mm, 6.5 mm and 14.95 mm, respectively. The tool tilt
angle was also kept constant at 2°. The FSW tool used in the
present study is shown in Fig. 2.
Three notable process parameters viz. the shoulder diam-
eter, rotational speed and the welding speed were recognized
to influence the formation of a sound weld, provided effec-
tive tool geometry is used. Therefore, in order to obtain a
eters, rigorous trial experiments were performed. Successful
trial experiments resulted in the realisation of the tolerance
box of the FSW parameters. Three process parameters each
at three levels were selected for the final set of experiments,
as shown in Table 3. Taguchi ­L9 orthogonal array was used
to design the experiments, as shown in Table 4. It was fur-
ther utilized to find the optimum combination of process
parameter yielding maximum strength and zero defect.
The metallographic samples were prepared using stand-
ard metallographic techniques and etched using Keller’s
Reagent (2 mL-HF; 4 mL-HNO3; 94 mL-H2O). Etched sam-
ples were observed under an optical microscope (OM) for
the analysis of defects and microstructural characterization.
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive
spectroscopy (EDS) were utilized to characterize the mor-
phology and the chemistry of coarse second phase particles
present in weld and base alloy samples.
The test coupons were accurately machined in the trans-
verse direction on a CNC wire electric discharge machine
and were subjected to tensile testing using a computer con-
trolled Tensometer of 20 kN capacity. Testing was performed
at room temperature and a cross head speed of 2 mm/min.
The micro-hardness was determined using Vickers micro-
hardness testing machine. Each indentation was performed
for a dwell of 15 s with a load of 100 g at a distance of 1 mm
both along the thickness of the transverse cross-section and

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the transverse direction, as shown in Fig. 3. The micro-hard-
ness readings were plotted on a 2D contour map.
3 Results
3.1 Macro‑structure
The macrostructures of experiment numbers (Exp. Nos.)
1–9 have been classified into three categories with respect
to tool traverse speed. The macrostructures of experiments
with traverse speeds of 31.5, 40 and 50 mm/min are shown
in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, respectively. Figure 4a–c represent the
macrostructures corresponding to Exp. Nos. 1, 6 and 8,
respectively welded at a traversing speed of 31.5 mm/min.
Exp. No. 1 is free of voids, while samples from Exp. 6 and
8 suffer from minute tunnel defects. At this traverse speed,
both the shoulder diameter and rotation speed increase from
Exp. No. 1 to Exp. No. 8, as shown in Fig. 4. The area of
the thermo-mechanically affected zone (TMAZ) on the
retreating side (RS) is seen to increase (refer to Fig. 4a–c)
from Exp. No. 1 to Exp. No. 8 since an increase in both
the rotation speed and shoulder diameter leads to a rise in
the net heat flux and rate of shear (due to enhanced stir-
ring action) experienced by the material. Moreover, as the
shoulder diameter increased, considerable growth in the size
of the shoulder affected stirred zone (SASZ) was observed
(Marked in Figs. 7 and 8), whereas the overall size of the
stir zone (SZ) reduced. The SZ appears bell-shaped at a rota-
tional speed of 450 rpm and shoulder diameter of 23 mm,
whereas with an increase in both these parameters, distortion
in the geometry of the SZ could be noticed.
At the interface between the shoulder driven region and
the pin driven region, voids could be observed, as shown
in Fig. 4d, e1–e4. Figure 5a–c represent macrographs cor-
responding to Exp. Nos. 9, 2 and 4, respectively, welded at
a traversing speed of 40 mm/min. In the case of Exp. No. 9,
a tunnel defect of significant magnitude could be observed
(refer to Fig. 5a). Exp. No. 2 is free from tunnelling defects
Fig. 3  Indentation marks on the
transverse cross-section of the
welded joint
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(voids), while Exp. No. 4 experiences minute voids (refer
Fig. 5d) which may be attributed to insufficient mixing at
the pin-and-shoulder driven interface. Since Exp. Nos. 7 and
9 exhibit large voids which are clearly discernible in the
macrographs, the zoomed in images of their corresponding
tunnelling defects has not been shown.
Macrostructures corresponding to experiments carried
out at a welding speed of 50 mm/min are shown in Fig. 6.
Exp. Nos. 5, 7 and 3 correspond to Fig. 6a–c, respectively.
Small and relatively large tunnel defects are experienced in
Exp. Nos. 5 (refer to Fig. 6d) and 7 (refer to Fig. 6b), respec-
tively, whereas a void free weld has been realised in Exp.
3. The void area and tool rotational speed corresponding to
Exp. 1-9 has been shown in Table 5. The maximum void
area has been observed for highest rotational speed, whereas
least rotational speed yields void-free welds.
3.2 Micro‑structure
3.2.1 Optical Micrographs
Figures 7 and 8 represent the microstructural mapping of
the welded samples corresponding to Exp. Nos. 1 and 10,
respectively. Visible difference may be observed between the
microstructure evolutions in the two cases. In Fig. 8, a tunnel
defect may be observed on the AS in Exp. No. 10, whilst, a
reduction in rotational speed resulted in a sound weld as in
the case of Exp. No. 1.
The SZ can been distinctly categorised into three sub-
zones, namely, shoulder affected stir zone (SASZ), transi-
tion stir zone (TSZ) and the pin affected stir zone (PASZ),
as shown in Figs. 7 and 8. A larger SASZ and much smaller
TSZ are observed for Exp. No. 10 as compared to Exp. No.
1. Also, both TSZ and PASZ can be seen to have tortuous
profiles for Exp. No. 10; whereas the transverse section pro-
files of TSZ and PASZ in Exp. No. 1 are smooth and regular.
The micrographs of the grain structure captured from the
SASZ, TMAZ and HAZ indicate the coarsening of grains
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Fig. 4  a Macrostructure (AS is on left and RS on right side) for Exp. No. 1, b macrostructure for Exp. No. 6, c macrostructure for Exp. No. 8, d
Void for Exp. No. 6 e-1,2,3,4) Voids for Exp. No. 8

Fig. 5  Macrostructure: a Exp.
No. 9, b Exp. No. 2, c Exp. No.
4 d Voids for Exp. No. 4

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Fig. 6  Macrostructure: a Exp.
No. 5, b Exp. No. 7, c Exp. No.
3 d Void for Exp. No. 5
with the increase in tool rotational speed, as observed in
Figs. 7a–c and 8a–c.
3.2.2 Morphology and Chemistry of Coarse Phase Particles
Figures 9 and 10 show the scanning electron micrographs
(SEM) and X-ray EDS analyses, respectively of the coarse
second phase particles present in the base alloy. All the
micrographs were taken using back scattered electron imag-
ing (BSEI) mode. This enabled us to recognize (on the basis
of atomic number contrast) the presence of two distinct vari-
eties of coarse phase particles: one mostly having a globular
shape and dirty white in contrast showing only Al and Cu
peaks, and the other mostly having a plate shape and bright
white in contrast showing Al, Cu, Fe and Mn peaks (refer
to Fig. 10).
The X-ray EDS analyses obtained from the Cu-rich
globular particles showed compositions in the range of
30–32 at% Cu and 68–70 at% Al. This is close to the theo-
retical composition of 33 at%Cu and 69 at%Al, as derived
from the compound formula of the ­Al2Cu phase. Identifi-
cation of the coarse, globular phase as the A ­ l2Cu phase is
justified because it is the only equilibrium phase that will
have formed in the base alloy (containing as low as 0.18 wt%
Mg) as well as during thermal exposure of the base alloy to
temperatures produced during the FSW process.
The Fe-bearing constituent phase particles present
in the base alloy showed compositions in the range of
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20–25 at% (Cu + Fe + Mn) and 75–80 at% Al. This phase
may be described as (AlCu)6(CuFeMn). The origin of this
phase is ­Al6(CuFeMn), wherein the (Cu + Fe + Mn) con-
tent is 14.28 at% and the balance being Al i.e. 85.72 at%,
as derived from the compound formula. There is a ten-
dency for Cu atoms to replace certain amounts of Al
atoms in this compound, and in that case, the phase will
be described as (AlCu) 6(Cu + Fe + Mn) i.e. the phase
being present in the base alloy. The coarse phase particles
present in the base alloy are, therefore, a combination of
­Al2Cu and (AlCu)6(Cu + Fe + Mn).
Figure 11a represents a scanning electron micrograph
(in low magnification) showing various zones of the weld
obtained from Exp. 1. Figure 11b, c represent scanning
electron micrographs obtained from SZ and TMAZ of
the weld obtained from Exp. 1. Figure 11d, e represent
X-ray EDS analyses typically obtained from the coarse
particles present in the SZ of the weld. It was revealed
that ­Al2Cu phase is not present, whilst both A
­ l6(CuFeMn)
and (AlCu)6(CuFeMn) phases are present in this zone. On
the other hand, the X-ray EDS analyses obtained from the
particles present in the TMAZ revealed that such particles
were a combination of both A ­ l2Cu and (AlCu)6(CuFeMn)
(Refer to Fig.  11f, g). The micrographs presented in
Fig. 11b, c showed that the particles present in SZ are
relatively finer and more uniformly distributed as com-
pared to the TMAZ. This is because of extensive plastic
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Fig. 7  Macrograph and Microstructure corresponding to Exp. No. 1 a TMAZ b SASZ c HAZ-1 d PASZ e TSZ f HAZ-2
deformation and very fine grains in the SZ. As compared
to SZ, the grains in TMAZ are coarser and elongated.
Figure 12a represents a scanning electron micrograph
(in low magnification) showing various zones of the weld
obtained from Exp. 10. Figure 12b–d represent scanning
electron micrographs obtained from SZ, TMAZ and HAZ
of the weld obtained from Exp. 10. In the SZ, a majority of
the grains are equiaxed, whilst fewer elongated grains could
also be observed. The X-ray EDS analyses obtained from the
coarse phase particles present in SZ of the weld, once again,
showed the absence of the A ­ l2Cu phase whilst detected the
presence of both (AlCu) 6(CuFeMn) and ­A l 6(CuFeMn)
phases. On the other hand, the presence of both A ­ l2Cu and
­Al6(CuFeMn) phases in the TMAZ, and the presence of
­Al2Cu and (AlCu)6(CuFeMn) phases in the HAZ of the weld
were established.
The absence of A ­ l2Cu phase in the SZs of the welds
obtained from both Exp. 1 and Exp. 10 tends to follow that
the temperature attained in the SZ was sufficient for the
dissolution of this phase. Furthermore, a larger area with
smaller number density of precipitates could be observed in
the SASZ region for Exp. 10 (Fig. 12a). This is because of
much higher heat input in SASZ in the case of Exp. 10 with
greater rotational speed. A large difference in the number
density of precipitates in the SASZ and PASZ in the case of
Exp. 10 further confirms the significant difference in heat
prevailing between these zones during welding. Due to this
very reason, the extent of dissolution of precipitates is much
higher in the SZ for Exp. 10 as compared to Exp. 1.
Figure 13a–c represent scanning electron micrographs
obtained from SZ/TMAZ interfaces of welds obtained
from Exp. 1, Exp. 3 and Exp. 10, respectively. The X-ray
EDS analyses obtained from the phase particles present at
such interfaces were found to be a combination of A ­ l2Cu
and (AlCu)6(CuFeMn) for Exp. 1, A ­ l2Cu and A­ l6(CuFeMn)
for Exp. 3 and ­Al2Cu, and (AlCu)6(CuFeMn) phases for
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Fig. 8  Macrograph and Microstructure corresponding to Exp. No. 10 a TMAZ b SASZ c HAZ-1 d PASZ e TSZ f HAZ-2

A list of the coarse phase particles detected in base alloy

Table 5  Defect dependency on rotational speed
and different zones of the welds (obtained from various
Experiment number Rotational speed (rpm) Void area (­ mm2) experiments) is given in Table 6 for ready comparisons.
1 450 0
2 450 0
3.3 Mechanical Characterization
3 450 0
6 560 0.047
3.3.1 Micro‑hardness
4 560 0.593
5 560 0.167
Figure 14 represents the Vickers Micro-hardness contour
8 710 0.976
map for the weld obtained in Exp. No. 1. The hardness con-
9 710 1.124
tour map has been superimposed on the macro-structural
7 710 1.593
zones characterized in Sect. 3.2 by using image processing,
as shown in Fig. 15. A maximum micro-hardness value of
154 HV was observed in the SASZ, which is comparable to
the micro-hardness of base metal (160 HV). A significant
Exp. 10. The presence of a high density of dislocations decrease in hardness could be observed in the TSZ on mov-
at such interfaces will have nucleated coarse ­Al2Cu par- ing along the weld thickness. In Fig. 14, the lowest hardness
ticles during cooling of the welds from high processing distribution region begins at the outer boundary of TMAZ.
temperatures [35]. This region has been characterized in the transverse section

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Fig. 9  SEM images of Base alloy a 800 X b 2.25 KX
as HAZ-1. The TMAZ/HAZ-1 interface region exists clos-
est to the tensile failure location which has been shown in
Sect. 3.3.2.
Rise in hardness can be observed in HAZ-2 on moving
towards the base metal. HAZ-2 extends up to a distance at
which the micro-hardness value matches that of the base
metal. Also, in the HAZ-2, higher values of micro-hard-
ness could be seen in the lower half section of the weld as
compared to the upper half section. Average hardness in the
transverse direction at different heights from the weld bot-
tom reveals alternating values of 109, 111, 105 and 111 HV,
as shown in Fig. 14. Further, at the bottom of the SZ, certain
spots with lower hardness are also discernible.
3.3.2 Tensile Strength
Tensile properties, fracture location and the corresponding
images for Exp. Nos. 1 through 10 are shown in Table 7.
Figure 16 represents the dimensions of the machined tensile
specimen. The maximum tensile strength of 331 MPa was
observed for Exp. No. 1 which was performed at minimum
rotational speed, traverse speed and shoulder diameter. Ten-
sile strength greater than 320 MPa was observed for travers-
ing speed of 31.5 mm/min (Exp. Nos. 1, 6 and 8) irrespective
of the variation in rotational speed and shoulder diameter.
Optimal elongation of 32% was observed for Exp. No. 6. In
general, higher percentage of elongations was observed for
welds with less traversing speed. Moreover, all the welds
with traversing speed greater than 31.5 mm/min failed from
the SZ. The failure occurred at RS-TMAZ/HAZ-1 interface
for Exp. No. 1, whereas for Exp. Nos. 6 and 8, the tensile
specimen fractured from AS-HAZ-1. The fracture location
across the weld cross section closely follows the path of least
micro-hardness/resistance, being closest to the RS-TMAZ/
HAZ-1 interface. This can be clearly observed in the micro-
hardness contour map (Fig. 14). The image of the failed
tensile specimen of Exp. No. 10 has been shown in Fig. 17.
It can be observed that, in the TSZ, fracture path shifts from
AS towards the RS on moving from SASZ to PASZ.
4 Discussion
4.1 Defect Elimination
Steep temperature gradient exists along the depth during
welding of thick aluminium alloy plates [18, 25], and BM
experiences significant variation in flow stress too. This
makes the material near the shoulder relatively easier to stir.
Thus, a simultaneous increase in tangential velocity of tool
and tool diameter promotes steep reduction in flow stress
near the tool shoulder as compared to the pin driven region,
resulting in discrepancy of material flow at the shoulder-pin
driven material interface. This discrepancy emerges in the
form of voids at this location.
In all the cases represented in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, a lower
rotational speed of 450 rpm promoted void free welds, as
reported elsewhere too [26, 27]. On the other hand, defects
in the advancing side (AS) are observed because of insuf-
ficient material movements from the RS to the AS [28].
The flow of plasticized material during FSW occurs from
the RS to AS behind the tool [29]. In addition, it is the tan-
gential component of tool velocity which governs the flow
in transverse direction along the periphery of the tool. This
fact supports the strong influence of rotational speed on the
size of tunnel. This dependence could be confirmed from
the defect area as shown in Table 5. In order to confirm this
effect, Exp. 10 has been added to this study, in which all the
parameters were kept same as those of Exp. No. 1 except the
tool rotational speed, which was kept maximum. Notably, a
significant tunnel was observed in the TSZ for Exp. No. 10
whereas, Exp. No. 1 yields void free weld with maximum
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Fig. 10  X-Ray EDS analysis of
Base alloy a SEM Image b Spot
1 c Spot 2 d Spot 3 e Spot 4 f
Spot 5
tensile strength (Sect. 4.3.2). The influence of the rotational
speed on the defect formation can be explained as follows:
Figure  18 exhibits the material flow during FSW as
experimentally validated by Chen and Cui [30]. The plas-
ticized material moving beneath the shoulder and around
the tool pin is referred as the flow zone. In the flow zone,
the material picked up from the AS is deposited behind the
pin in the form of discrete shear bands due to sticking and
slipping action between the base material and tool pin. The
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shear layer material just before consolidation has its tangen-
tial velocity vector perpendicular to the traversing speed.
Exp. Nos. 1 and 10 differ only in terms of tool rotational
speed, with the latter being higher. As mentioned in the pre-
vious section, higher rotational speeds generate higher heat
flux which engenders a decrease in flow stress in the flow
zone. With a decrease in flow stress, slipping of the mate-
rial with the traversing tool increases and hence the ability
of the tool to drag the material is curtailed [31]. As a result,
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Fig. 10  (continued)

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Fig. 11  SEM images and X-Ray EDS analysis of various zones of weld obtained from Exp. 1. a Low magnification image b SZ c TMAZ d, e
X-Ray EDS analysis of SZ f, g X-Ray EDS analysis of TMAZ

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Fig. 11  (continued)

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Fig. 12  SEM images of various zones of weld obtained from Exp. 10. a Low magnification image b SZ c TMAZ d HAZ

the softened material flowing from RS to AS in the wake of this location, as demonstrated schematically in Fig. 18. This
the weld is not able to traverse the full length of flow zone increases the probability of a tunnel near the AS at the SZ-
along the transverse direction, causing material deficiency at TMAZ interface. Consequently, at 710 rpm, a tunnel defect

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Metals and Materials International
Fig. 13  SEM images of SZ/TMAZ Interface of weld obtained from a
Exp. 1 b Exp. 3 c Exp. 10
is observed at the AS and not at 450 rpm in Exp. Nos. 10
and 1, respectively. Importantly, the incongruity of the flow
stress occurs at the TSZ, which makes it the most favourable
location for void formation along the weld thickness.
The above discussion infers that during the welding
of thick section aluminium, voids form on the AS-TSZ.
Enhanced material consolidation required for elimination
of such defects can be achieved by considerable reduction
in tool rotational speed, as evident from the current study.
4.2 Micro‑structural Characterization
4.2.1 Optical Micrographs
Unlike FSW of thin plates, welding of thick plates results in
large variation of flow stress along the weld thickness (axial
direction) due to wide difference in temperature between
the shoulder driven material and the root of the weld. As
a result, numerous sub-zones could be identified from the
micrographs. Owing to the fact that an appreciable thermal
gradient is observed along the thickness of the weld [18], the
SZ comprises of three distinctively identifiable sub-zones,
i.e. SASZ, TSZ and the PASZ. In the case of thin plates,
the thermal gradient is small, and, therefore, the TSZ is not
fairly distinguishable. On the contrary, a higher thermal gra-
dient in thick plates results in a distinctive transition zone.
Considering the three distinct stir zones as shown in
Figs. 7 and 8, the SASZ has a greater expanse in Exp. No.
10 which tends to suppress the TSZ. This is due to the higher
rotational speed in Exp. 10 that generates higher heat flux
and in turn reduces the flow stress in the SASZ. Hence, a
decreased flow stress leads to greater material movements by
the tool shoulder and hence conquering the TSZ. The higher
rpm and the consequent increase in heat also leads to an
abrupt variation in the radius of TSZ in Exp. No. 10, while
smooth transition occurs for Exp. No. 1, as one moves from
the SASZ to the PASZ. The PASZ of Exp. No. 1 is found be
to be bell-shaped whereas that of Exp. No. 10 is irregular in
shape. This bell-shaped PASZ arises due to a lower heat flux
which in turn promotes higher sticking action and the mate-
rial flow lines tend to create a vortex in the PASZ [32–34].
Whereas, a higher heat gradient is experienced in the case
of Exp. No. 10 and this tends to promote slipping forming
an irregular PASZ.
4.2.2 Morphology and Chemistry of Coarse Phase Particles
For Exp. Nos. 1 and 10, the TMAZ was found to con-
sist of both ­Al2Cu and the Fe-bearing constituent phases
(refer to Table 6) whereas, the A­ l2Cu phase was not found
in the SZ. This tends to infer that the temperature attained
in the SZ was sufficient for the dissolution of ­Al2Cu par-
ticles. A much more uniform distribution of second phase
particles in the SZ and their smaller size in this zone as
compared to the TMAZ occurs due to extensive plastic
deformation and very fine grains in the SZ. Due to con-
siderably higher heat input in the case of Exp. No. 10, a
broad area with substantially lesser number of precipi-
tates was observed in the SASZ. A large difference in the
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 Metals and Materials International

Table 6  The locations of Location Al2Cu (AlCu)6(CuFeMn) Al6(CuFeMn)

alloy phase A
­ l2Cu, and
the Fe-bearing constituent Base alloy ✓ ✓ ×
phases (AlCu)6(CuFeMn) and
SZ of weld from Expt. 1 × ✓ ✓
­Al6(CuFeMn) (✓: Present, × :
Absent) TMAZ of weld from Expt. 1 ✓ ✓ ×
SZ of weld from Expt. 10 × ✓ ✓
TMAZ of weld from Exp. 10 ✓ × ✓
HAZ of weld obtained from Exp. 10 ✓ ✓ ×
SZ/TMAZ interface from Exp. 1 ✓ ✓ ×
SZ/TMAZ interface from Exp. 3 ✓ × ✓
SZ/TMAZ interface of Exp. 10 ✓ ✓ ×

Fig. 14  Vickers Microhardness contour map for weld obtained in Exp. No. 1

Fig. 15  Hardness contour map

of Exp. No. 1 superimposed on
corresponding macrostructural
zones

density of precipitates in the SASZ and PASZ in the case The presence of a high density of dislocations at SZ/
of Exp. 10 further confirms the significant difference in TMAZ interfaces would have assisted in nucleation of
heat prevailing between these zones during welding. Due ­Al2Cu phase during cooling of the welds from high pro-
to the same reason, the extent of dissolution of precipi- cessing temperatures [35].
tates is much higher in the SZ for Exp. 10 as compared
to Exp. 1. This may be clearly observed upon comparing
Figs. 11a with 12a.

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Metals and Materials International

Table 7  Tensile strength and Exp. no. Tensile properties Failure location Image of failed specimen
fracture location
Tensile Elonga- Joint AS RS
strength tion efficiency
(MPa) (%) (%)

1 331 32 75.7 RS-TMAZ/HAZ-1 interface

2 282 24 64.5 SZ (centre)

3 296 26 67.7 SZ (centre)

4 199 16 45.5 AS-SZ (defect)

5 305 25 69.8 AS-SZ (defect)

6 322 32 73.7 AS-HAZ-1

7 215 23 49.2 AS-SZ (defect)

8 329 26 75.3 AS-HAZ-1

9 195 23 44.6 AS-SZ (defect)

10 197 17 45.0 AS-SZ (defect)

4.3 Mechanical Characterization

4.3.1 Micro‑hardness

The decrease of hardness in TSZ ascertains the fact that

relatively high thermal gradient exists in this zone along the
Fig. 16  Dimensions of tensile specimen (in mm)

Fig. 17  Tensile sample of
experiment 10 TSZ

SASZ
AS RS

PASZ

13

Fig. 18  Material flow during
FSW
weld thickness which leads to significant variations in local
mechanical yield strength. The decrease in microhardness
values in HAZ-1 could be attributed to coarsening and disso-
lution of strengthening precipitates because of the prevalent
heat flux during FSW [18]. The distortion of grains due to
plastic deformation in the TMAZ results in an increase in
dislocation density leading to higher hardness as compared
to HAZ. Also, due to higher dislocation density nucleation
and growth of precipitates is favoured in this zone, leading
to increase in hardness. The formation of fine recrystallized
grains in the SZ further increased micro-hardness as was
observed earlier in several other alloys in accordance with
the Hall–Petch relationship.
The hardness improves in the HAZ-2 on moving away
from the weld center due to a decrease in the heat experi-
enced by the base metal. In the HAZ-2, higher micro-hard-
ness in the lower half section as compared to the upper half
section could be due to lesser heat loss (due to convection)
from the top surface as compared to the heat dissipation
from the bottom surface (due to conduction) [18]. The pat-
tern of alternating increase and decrease in hardness along
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Metals and Materials International
the transverse direction as observed here is similar to the
variation of temperature distribution on the weld cross-
section measured by Mahoney et al. [36, 37]. Small locales
having lesser hardness have been observed in the root of the
SZ. This is opposite to the findings of Martinez et al. [18].
4.3.2 Tensile Strength
Ahead of the tool in the welding direction, the base metal
enters the flow zone (refer to Fig. 18) at a constant velocity
equal to traversing speed. After rotation around the FSW
tool, the base material exits the flow zone behind the tool.
Assuming the FSW process as a single-phase incompressible
flow, the continuity equation is represented by Eq. (1) [38]:
∇ ⋅ u⃗ = 0 (1)
Using Eq. (1) along the weld seam, it may be pointed out
that the average time spent inside the flow zone by the base
metal is inversely proportional to the traversing speed during
welding. Evidently, high temperature and pressure prevailing
inside the flow zone result in metallic bonding during FSW.
Metals and Materials International
With the decrease in traversing speed, total time spent by the
base material inside flow zone increases, resulting in better
metallic bonding in SZ and stronger welds, which is lucid
in the current work. It is important to note that much higher
tensile strength has been obtained for void exhibiting Exp.
Nos. 6 (322 MPa) and 8 (329 MPa) as compared to void free
Exp. Nos. 2 (282 MPa) and 3 (296 MPa) because of least
traversing speed in Exp. Nos. 6 and 8. The improvement in
the extent of metallic bonding dominates over the weaken-
ing effect of voids in Exp. Nos. 6 and 8, which failed from
HAZ-1 and not from the location of void. Loss of strength is
another major difficulty in achieving thick section FS welds
with high joint efficiency. Although a decrease in traverse
speed of the tool leads to increase in over-all heat input;
considerable improvement in strength was observed due
to enriched bonding (too much heat input, however, may
produce adverse effect due to coarsening and dissolution of
strengthening precipitates). On the other hand, no visible
voids were observed in the case of Exp. Nos. 2 and 3, but
tensile failure occurring from the SZ center suggests the
presence of kissing bond [22]. The displacement of fracture
path from AS to RS occurs in the TSZ for Exp. No. 10 as
shown in Fig. 17. This shift occurring in the TSZ corrobo-
rates the fact that the fluctuation of flow stress occurs in this
zone.
5 Conclusions
FS welds of 15.4 mm thick plates of AA2519 alloy with a
joint efficiency of more than 75% have been obtained for a
shoulder diameter of 23 mm, rotational speed of 450 rpm
and welding speed of 31.5 mm/min.
It is observed that reduced rotational speeds significantly
favours the elimination of tunnelling defects that typically
occurs at the AS-TSZ. The impact of decrease in traverse
speed on the improvement of the weld strength is prominent
to such an extent that any weakening effect of voids is com-
pensated. Significant variations in weld properties further
takes place due to alterations in the characteristics of TSZ.
The incoherency between shoulder and pin driven move-
ments of metal further suffices the formation of voids in the
TSZ and leads to considerable variations in micro-hardness
values along the weld thickness.
Due to the attainment of high temperature in the SZ,
the dissolution of ­Al2Cu phase takes place. Because of the
same reason, the SASZ experiences even further paucity
of strengthening phases. A large number density of coarse
­Al2Cu phase particles is observed at SZ/TMAZ interfaces
and this is attributed to an enhanced nucleation of the ­Al2Cu
phase upon a high number density of dislocations existing
at this these locations.
Acknowledgements  One of the authors (AKM) is grateful to the
financial support of Defence Research and Development Organization
(DRDO).
Compliance with ethical standards 
Conflict of interest  The authors declare that they have no conflict of
interest.
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