Friction Stir Welding on Aluminum
6092/sic/25p/t6 Metal Matrix
Composite: its Microstructure
Evolution and Mechanical Properties
Umar Bin Patthi
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS
Tronoh, Malaysia
Urmesty@yahoo.com
Abstract— This paper focuses on the application of friction stir
welding (FSW) as a joining process for aluminium metal matrix
composite (MMC). FSW is known as a relatively new joining
technique and in Malaysia the application of the technique is still
in its infant stage. Among the advantages of this method
compared to the conventional joining technique is that it reduces
problem associated to metal re-solidification as the technique
involves no melting stages. In addition the welding strength is
higher; reduce in energy consumption and a longer tool life.
Recently several substantial studies have been conducted to
further extent the application of FSW. One of these studies is the
application of FSW on newer materials such as aluminium
MMC. This material has been chosen because of its ever
expanding potential in the industry and its unique properties
when compared to other materials. In the past, the material
development was only focusing on the aerospace field
applications, but recently the development of the material have
been directed towards automotive, transportation, recreation and
as well in the electronic industry. The objective of this paper is to
analyze the microstructure and mechanical properties of the
aluminium MMC joining through friction stir welding.
Keywords: Metal Matrix Composite; Friction Stir Welding
I. INTRODUCTION
MMC has recently been known as a relatively new
material in the industrial application. The material has a great
potential in its application as it possesses unique property
when compared to other known material. In the past the
material development was only focused on the aerospace
applications, but recently the development of the material
could also be directed towards automotive, transportation,
recreation and as well in the electronic industry [1]. Metal
matrix composite is a material that constitute of a single
monolithic material which act as a medium for imbedded
particle. This particle is usually called as reinforcement. The
reinforcement particle is evenly spread throughout the metal
978-1-4577-1884-7/11/$26.00 ©2011 IEEE
Mokhtar Awang
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS
Tronoh, Malaysia
matrix resulting in a homogenous material. Reinforce particle
that is imbedded in the matrix acts to reinforce the material
structurally.
Although the joining process can be done adequately
through conventional fusion welding [2] processes but the
process causes liquidation defects due to heating and effecting
microstructure and mechanical resulting properties. To curb
this, new joining methods were introduced in the MMC
joining process. One of this is the introduction of friction stir
welding where material can be joined without melting and
without using filler material to promote joining. The objective
of this research work is to characterize the microstructure
evolution as well as analysing the mechanical properties of
FSW on Al 6092+25 vol% SiC particulate.
II. METHODOLOGY
The type of material used for this experiment is aluminum
6092 plates reinforce with 25vol% SiC particulate. The
material was aged treated (T6). The material was produced by
DWA, California U.S.A. The exact dimension of the
aluminium composite plate is 5inch x 8inch x 0.5 inches. The
plate was cut in half using wire cut EDM before proceeding
with the welding test. Friction welding process was conducted
using conventional Bridge-port CNC milling machine.
Clamping was implemented by means of locking mechanism
on top of a steel back plate. The clamping system can be
viewed as in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. The rotation speed was kept
constant at 1200rpm while the traversed speed was 8 mm/min.
The type of material used for the fabrication of the tool is H13
tool steel. Each welded sample was cut in half, one half for
metallographic studies and the other half for mechanical
testing.

Figure 1. Customized clamping system for friction stir welding process
and all dimensions are in mm.
Figure 2. Aluminum 6092/SiC/25p/T6 joined by friction stir welding.
Metallographic observation was conducted to study
the redistribution of the particulates and also to detect other
deformities that might have occurred during the welding
processes. Welds were characterized by using Scanning
Electron Microscope (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX)
and X-ray Diffraction Diffrectometer (XRD). The sample
surfaces were prepared by standard metallographic techniques
and then etched with kellers reagent to reveal its
microstructure morphologies. Actual observation of the
particulate redistribution in the weld zone does not need
etching, thorough grinding and polishing is sufficient. XRD
was conducted to detect any changes in the space lattice (d-
spacing) and also to detect any development of new phases
within the material. Full spectrum (area analysis) EDX with
different magnification was conducted to observe the sample
qualitatively and quantitatively. Spot analysis using EDX were
also used to confirm each particle within the welding segment
and parent metal. The material hardness was measured using
Vickers hardness method with 200-gf.
III. RESULT AND ANALYSIS
The joining of the composite material through
friction stir welding was successfully accomplished. Typical
onion flow was observed on these kinds of welds (Fig. 3),
which was caused by the material flow during the joining
process [3]. It was also observed during the welding, there was
minimal occurrence of splatter at the side of the welding line.
Upon the material sectioning, the two plates were welded
perfectly without any visible defection (Fig. 3).
Parent metal Weld TMAZ
HAZ
Figure 3. A typical onion flow of the FSW cross sectioned sample.
III.1 Microstructure of the Friction Weld
SEM image shows that there is no definite orientation
of the SiC particulate in the base metal which is shown in Fig.
4a. When compared to Fig. 4b through 4c, there is a
significant case of particulate re-alignment. It is observed from
the SEM micrograph that there is a definite concentration of
SiC particulate in the TM-HAZ (Fig. 4b and Fig. 4c) region
while there is a lesser concentration of the SiC particulate in
the centre of the welding zone (fig. 4 d). The SEM imaging
failed to show any breakage of the SiC particulate within the
welding Zone. It is observe from the SEM that there is no
evidence of liquidation during the welding process when
compared to fusion welding processes. Neither eutectic
precipitate nor dendritic structures were detected within the
welded joint which is usually observed in fusion welding
processes [4, 5].
Fig. 5 shows fusion welding resultant done earlier by
Storjohann [5] on aluminium 2124 reinforce with 20 percent
SiC whiskers. Although the material specification is not
similar with the material used in the research but it gives a
clear picture the dissimilarities between the welding processes.
Formation of dendritic structures and eutectic precipitate was
evident in the welding microstructure. There are three distinct
zone in the fusion micrograph that is the fusion line noted as
FL, partially melted Zone (PMAZ) and heat affected zone
(HAZ). B1 indicate the zone between the PMAZ and HAZ,
while B2 indicate the line between the HAZ and the parent
metal.
 SiC
Pariculate

SiC
Pariculate

(a) (d)
Figure 4. Microstructure evaluations for friction stir in each different region
are compared: (a) parent metal (b) HAZ region (c) TMAZ and (d) Centre of
weld region.

SiC
Pariculate

(b)

SiC
Pariculate

Figure 5. Optical micrographs of fusion welds made with different welding

processes on Al-SiC composites are compared: (a) through (c) the GTA
welds,(d) through ( f ) the EB welds, and (g) through (i) the LB welds. The
needlelike features in (c), (f), and (i) are aluminum carbides, and the gray-
coloredngular precipitates are silicon phase. The fine mottled structure is
eutectic constituents formed during the later stages of weld solidification.
Arrows mark the approximate locations of the FL, B1, and B2. The directions
x and y are in the plane of the micrographs, and the z direction perpendicular
to the x-y plane is the welding direction [5]

(c)
III.2 XRD Analysis
From the XRD results (Fig.6), there are no evidence of
phase changes between based metal and the welded zone. No
new peaks were indentified between the welding zone. Among
the type element or compound founded on the measured peak
is Silicon Carbide and aluminum that can be viewed in Fig. 7.
This shows the welding process does not produce enough heat
causing phase changes within the material. Results from table
1 shows that there is a high distortion in the space lattice
between the welding regions (d spacing) which induces some
stresses within the material matrix. Such stresses could cause
failure within the zone during tensile test [6]. Further study
must be conducted to know the effect of such stresses by III.3 Hardness Test
conducting further mechanical testing. The measured hardness in Fig. 8 shows an irregular hardness
WELD
1400
across the welding section. This is partly due to the metal flow
1300
during the friction stir welding process. It can be seen that the
1200
weld region is slightly softer than the base metal. This
partially concludes an adequate retainment of the material
Weld
hardness after the friction welding process when compared to
1100

1000 Nugget fusion welding processes. It is also observe that the hardness
900
Thermo- value is not homogenous within the welding zone, this maybe
mechanical be due to the irregularities of the material flow during the
Lin (Counts)

800

700
affected Zone welding process. This is in complete agreement with work
600
(TMAZ) done earlier on this subject [2,5].
500

400

HAZ
300

200

100

0
BM
3 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

2-Theta - Scale
WELD - File: WELD.raw - Type: 2Th/Th locked - Start: 2.000 ° - End: 80.000 ° - Step: 0.050 ° - Step time: 1. s - Temp.: 25 °C (Room) - Time Started:
Operations: Y Scale Add -10 | Y Scale Add -1 0 | Y Scale Add -10 | Y Scale Add -10 | Y Scale Add -10 | Y Scale Add -10 | Y Scale Add -10 | Y
BM - File: BM.raw - Type: 2Th/Th locked - Start: 2.000 ° - End: 80.000 ° - Step: 0.050 ° - Step time: 1. s - Temp.: 25 °C (Room) - Time Started: 130076
Operations: Y Scale Add -20 | Y Scale Add -2 0 | Y Scale Add -20 | Y Scale Add -20 | Y Scale Add -20 | Y Scale Add -20 | Y Scale Add -20 | Y
HAZ - File: HAZ.raw - Type: 2Th/Th locked - Start: 2.000 ° - En d: 80.000 ° - Step: 0.0 50 ° - Step time: 1. s - Temp.: 25 °C (Room) - Time Started: 1300 Weld
TMAZ HAZ
Operations: Y Scale Add 10 | Y Scale Add 10 | Y Scale Add 10 | Y Scale Add 10 | Y Scale Add 10 | Y Scale Add 10 | Y Scale Add -20 | Y Scale

Nugget
TM - File: TM.raw - Type: 2Th/Th locked - Start: 2.000 ° - End: 80.000 ° - Step : 0.050 ° - Step time: 1. s - Temp.: 25 °C (Room) - Time Started: 1 30075
Operations: Y Scale Add -10 | Y Scale Add -1 0 | Y Scale Add -10 | Y Scale Add -10 | Y Scale Add -10 | Y Scale Add -10 | Y Scale Add -10 | Y

Figure 6. Phase change evaluation

WELD Al peak Fig 8 Micro hardness profile measured in the cross section of
220
1 the friction stir welded 6092 + 25% SiC metal matrix
210
SiC
200

190 Peak composite.

180

170

160

150
Al peak III.4 EDX analysis
140 2
130
EDX analysis was further implemented on the welded
Lin (Cps)

120

110 sample. Spot EDX was implemented to identify different

particulate on the cross sectioned of the welded. It was
100

90

confirmed that bright particulate scattered across the

80

70

60

50
micrograph were the SiC particulate (Fig. 8), while the grayish
40

30
matrix is confirmed to be the aluminum alloy (Fig. 9). From
20

10
Fig. 10 and Fig. 11 the EDX clearly shows that there are no
0

2 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
evident of additional element embedded on to the sample
2-Theta - Scale surface. This clearly shows the stability of the welding
process.
WELD - File: WELD.raw - Type: 2Th/Th locked - Start: 2.000 ° - End: 80.000 ° - Step: 0.050 ° - Step time: 1. s - Temp.: 25 °C (Room) - Time Started: 1300673152 s - 2-Theta: 2.000 ° - Theta: 1.000 ° -
Operations: Import
65-2869 (C) - Aluminum - Al - Y: 50.00 % - d x by: 1. - WL: 1.5406 - Cubic - a 4.04970 - b 4.04970 - c 4.04970 - alpha 90.000 - beta 90.000 - gamma 90.000 - Face-centred - Fm-3m (225) - 4 - 66.415
89-1978 (C) - Silicon Carbide - SiC - Y: 50.00 % - d x by: 1. - WL: 1.5406 - Hexagonal (Rh) - a 3.07800 - b 3.07800 - c 264.39001 - alpha 90.000 - beta 90.000 - gamma 120.000 - Primitive - R3m (160

Figure 7 Indicating the type of element and compound detected within the
welding zone.

TABLE 1
D-Spacing Analysis
D spacing
Welding Aluminum Peak Aluminum Peak SiC
Zone 1 2 peak
Base 2.32175 2.01405 2.50602
Metal
HAZ 2.32636 2.01744 2.50064
TMAZ 2.31261 2.00780 2.48994
Weld 2.32636 2.01744 2.50602

(a)
(b)
(b)
Figure 8. (a) Shows the location of the spot EDX spectrum 1
(b) EDX graph indicating the SiC particulate on the indicated Figure 9. (a) Shows the location of the spot EDX Spectrum 2
spot, spectrum 1. (b) EDX graph indicating the greyish background as the
aluminum alloy matrix,spectrum 2
TABLE 2
Quantitive analysis of powder particle in the aluminum alloy TABLE 3
matrix, Spectrum 1 Quantitative analaysis of aluminum alloy matrix
spectrum 2
Element Weight% Atomic%
CK 35.76 56.51 Element Weight% Atomic%
Al K 2.24 1.57 Cu K 0.74 0.31
Si K 62.01 41.91 OK 3.28 5.43
Totals 100.00 Al K 94.80 93.14
Si K 1.19 1.12
Totals 100.00

Figure 10. Qualitative analysis for base metal region

TABLE 4
(a) Quantitative analysis for base metal

Element Weight% Atomic%

CK 24.39 40.68
OK 7.83 9.80
Mg K 0.39 0.32
Al K 39.27 29.15
Si K 28.13 20.06
Totals 100.00
 aluminum matrix due to the stirring action. No
indication in the micrograph that there was any sign
of breakage of the SiC particles.
For future more test should be done to determine the
residual stress within the welded material.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work has been supported by the Univesity Teknologi
PETRONAS under STIRF code number of 43/09.10.
Figure11. Qualitative analysis for weld region

TABLE 5 REFERENCES
Quantitative analysis for Weld region [1] Benji Maruyama and Warren H. Hunt, Jr. Discontinuously
Reinforced Aluminum: Current Status and Future
Element Weight% Atomic% Direction
CK 16.31 29.79
[2] Storjohann, S.S. Babu, S.A. David and P. Sklad, “Friction
OK 5.58 7.66
stir welding of aluminum metal matrix composites,” 4th
Mg K 0.52 0.46 International Symposium on Friction Stir Welding Utah-
Al K 49.75 40.45 USA, 2003.
Si K 27.60 21.56 [3] P. Cavaliere a, E. Cerri , L. Marzoli , J.Dos Santos,
Cu K 0.25 0.09 “Friction Stir Welding of Ceramic Particle Reinforced
Totals 100.00 Aluminum Based Metal Matrix Composite,” Applied
Composite Material 11, 2004, p 247-258.

[4] G. Cao and S. Kou, “Friction stir welding of 2219

IV. CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from the above analyses that:
1) There are no significant sign of surface welding
defect such as porosity and cracking.
2) A reasonable retainment of the material hardness
when compared between the weld region and the
base metal.
3) XRD result shows no formation of additional phases
which concludes the retainment of the material after
the welding process.
4) The XRD results also indicate changes in the lattice
space between the regions which induce internal
stress within the welding region.
5) The SEM micrograph also shows the changes in the
particle orientation and concentration within the
aluminum: behavior of θ (Al2 Cu) particles,” Weld J 84,
2005, pp. 1s–8s.
[5] D. Storjohann, O.M. Barabash, S.S Babu, S.A. David , P.
S. Sklad, E. E, “Bloom. Fusion and Friction Stir Welding
of Aluminum-Metal-Matrix Composite,” Metallurgical
and Materials, 2005 , 36 (11) 3237-3247.
[6] P. Cavaliere a, E. Cerri, L. Marzoli, J.Dos Santos,
“Friction Stir Welding of Ceramic Particle Reinforced
Aluminum Based Metal Matrix Composite,” Applied
Composite Material 11, 2004, p 247-258.