CRITICAL REVIEWS IN SOLID STATE AND MATERIALS SCIENCES

https://doi.org/10.1080/10408436.2019.1671799

REVIEW

Advances in friction stir spot welding

Zhikang Shena,b, Yuquan Dingb, and Adrian P. Gerlichb
a
State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Friction Welding Technologies, Northwestern
Polytechnical University, Xi’an, China; bCentre for Advanced Materials Joining, Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics
Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada

ABSTRACT KEYWORDS
Friction stir spot welding (FSSW) is a variation of linear Friction Stir Welding (FSW), which Friction stir spot welding;
was invented to compete with resistance spot welding (RSW) and riveting of lightweight fundamentals of FSSW;
alloys in the automobile, shipbuilding and aerospace industries. Recently, the application of parameters optimization;
microstructural evolution;
FSSW has rapidly extended to a variety of metals and nonmetals. This article provides a mechanical properties
comprehensive review of the recent progress on the process fundamentals, parameters opti-
mization, microstructural evolution and mechanical properties, and relevant simulation and
modeling of FSSW. The article also evaluates the energy generation, temperature distribu-
tion, plastic flow and joining mechanisms. The optimizations of tool design and welding
parameters are obtained through experiments and modeling. Furthermore, a particular
emphasis is given to microstructural characterization of the recovery, recrystallization and
grain growth, and related annealing phenomena after in the welded alloys. The mechanisms
of defect formation and liquidation cracking are discussed in detail. The mechanical proper-
ties, including hardness, static strength, fatigue performance and failure mechanisms and
the relationship between mechanical properties and microstructures are also addressed
along with residual stress and corrosion behavior.

Table of contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
1.1. Motivation and history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2. Classification of FSSW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2.1. Conventional FSSW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2.2. Pinless FSSW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2.3. Refill FSSW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2.4. Short traverse FSW variants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2. Fundamentals of friction stir spot welding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
2.1. Heat generation during FSSW process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.1.1. Heat generation from surface
frictional heating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.1.2. Heat generation from plastic deformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.1.3. Total heat generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.1.4. Empirical constitutive material law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.2. Experimental investigation of temperature and material flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.2.1. Temperature measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.2.2. Experimental investigation of material flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.2.3. Summary of material flow in conventional FSSW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.2.4. Three-dimensional material flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.2.5. Material flow in pinless FSSW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.3. Modeling of heat and material flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

CONTACT Zhikang Shen z45shen@uwaterloo.ca State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Friction Welding
Technologies, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, China; Adrian P. Gerlich agerlich@uwaterloo.ca Centre for Advanced Materials Joining,
Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada
Color versions of one or more of the figures in the article can be found online at www.tandfonline.com/bsms.
ß 2019 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
2 Z. SHEN ET AL.

2.3.1. Analytical models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

2.3.2. Numerical models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3. Tool design and process parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
3.1. Tool design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.1.1. Tool geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3.1.2. Tool materials and wear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.2. Process parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3.2.1. Rotational speed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
3.2.2. Plunge rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
3.2.3. Plunge depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
3.2.4. Dwell time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
3.3. Pre and post weld treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
4. Macro/micro-structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39
4.1. Macrostructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
4.2. Microstructural evolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
4.2.1. Microstructure formation mechanisms in aluminum alloys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
4.2.1.1. Recovery, recrystallization and grain growth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
4.2.1.2. Precipitate transformations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
4.2.1.3. Texture and Grain Boundary Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
4.2.2. Unique features in specific welded materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
4.2.2.1. Single crystal metals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
4.2.2.2. Mg alloys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
4.2.2.3. Copper alloys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
4.2.2.4. Steels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
4.2.2.5. Dissimilar materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
4.2.2.6. Metal matrix composites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
4.2.2.7. Polymers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
4.3. Weld imperfections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
4.3.1. Hook formation and sheet thinning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
4.3.2. Local melting and liquation cracking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
5. Mechanical properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55
5.1. Hardness, bonded area, and weld geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
5.2. Lap shear strength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
5.3. Fatigue behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
5.3.1. S-N curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
5.3.2. Fatigue failure mechanisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
5.3.3. Analytical models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
5.4. Residual stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
5.5. Corrosion behavior. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
6. Summary and outlook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61
Disclosure statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63

1. Introduction are prone to solidification and liquation cracking, or

1.1. Motivation and history
The solid-state joining technology, friction stir weld-
ing (FSW) was developed by Thomas et al. at The
Welding Institute (TWI) in 1991 in Abbington, UK,
and it was initially applied to aluminum alloys which
are particularly difficult to weld, such as 2000 and
7000 series Al alloys and Al-Li alloys.1 These alloys
porosity during fusion welding, and these issues can
be avoided by solid-state welding technology, since
the temperature during the FSW is less than the bulk
solidus temperature of the base material,2–4 which
suppresses cracking issues and thermal distortions
stemming from heat input. FSW is considered to be
one of the most significant developments in materials
joining in the last few decades, and it has been

implemented by the automotive, aerospace, high speed
rail and shipbuilding industries.5–8
The basic concept of FSW is remarkably simple,
however the details of joint formation are rather com-
plex. During the FSW process, a non-consumable
rotating tool with a specially designed pin and shoul-
der is gradually plunged into the faying interface of
the workpieces to be joined. Frictional heat and local-
ized softening leads to high plastic deformation at
high strain rates, which provides another heat gener-
ation mechanism. During the pin plunge stage, the
temperatures rapidly increase, and the contact condi-
tions transition from chipping and cutting, to deform-
ation and high temperature material flow. Both the
pin and shoulder contribute to heat generation by
friction and plastic deformation once the shoulder
contacts firmly on the top surface. A short dwell time
is typically applied to further soften the material, espe-
cially for higher melting point metals. The axial force
diminishes once the workpiece reaches a critical tem-
perature for plastic flow, and then the tool traverses
along the joint line, which facilitates the mixing and
flow of plasticized material from the front side (or
advancing side) of the tool to the back (retreating
side), leaving forged and recrystallized material. It is
worth mentioning that Mishra et al. also demon-
strated that friction stir processing (FSP) is useful for
localized microstructural modification such as elimi-
nating casting defects and improving specific proper-
ties by performing FSW on a monolithic piece
of material.9
Friction stir spot welding (FSSW) has been devel-
oped based on the basic principles of linear FSW,
without lateral movement of the tool. The purpose is
to spot weld two or more overlapping sheets by
plunging the rotating tool at a specific rate until the
shoulder makes contact with the upper sheet, while a
stationary anvil provides backing support for the axial
loads. In order to reach the desired temperature
required for plastic flow, a short dwell phase is often
useful, especially for high melting point materials.
This dwell phase also increases the volume of
deformed material and promotes material flow and
mixing between the upper and lower sheet material.10
The material around the tool is softened and plastic-
ally deformed to high strains during the plunge and
dwell stages, and the tool movement in the vertical
direction facilitates the flow of plasticized material in
both circumferential and axial directions, which also
helps to disrupt the oxide layer at the joint interface.
Once the weld is formed, the tool is then retracted
rapidly either once the target plunge depth is reached,
or after a dwell period.11,12 The combination of
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN SOLID STATE AND MATERIALS SCIENCES 3
forging pressure, heating and material flow of the
plasticized material produces an annular, solid state
metallurgical bond, which comprises a fine-grained
microstructure with high-angle grain boundaries adja-
cent to the rotating tool.13–15
Similar to FSW, joining using FSSW also takes
place by extrusion and forging of the material at high
strain rates. The complex interactions between the
simultaneous thermomechanical processes which
determine the heat and mass transfer, affect the heat-
ing and cooling rates, plastic deformation and flow,
leading to recrystallization phenomena. The FSSW
process is much more complex in the sense that the
actual welding time itself is shorter but the process
dynamics all focus on the transient stages of the tool
plunge, material mixing and tool retraction.16,17
Drastic heating and cooling rates are experienced dur-
ing the short cycle time (from 2 to 5 seconds),18 which
can also lead to non-equilibrium phase formation.
There is no tool advancing or retreating side, and the
FSSW process can be considered to be axisymmetric
due to the absence of the traverse movement.4,19
FSSW produces a microstructure similar to that of
FSW, namely a stir zone (SZ), a thermo-mechanically
affected zone (TMAZ), and a heat affected zone
(HAZ). Each of these zones exhibit differing micro-
structural features depending on the thermal cycle
and degree of plastic deformation.20,21
FSSW offers advantages from an environmental
and economic standpoint (such as reduced energy
demands), and so it has been gaining momentum as a
potential replacement for conventional single-spot
joining methods, such as RSW, self-piercing rivets
(SPR) and clinching in the automotive and aerospace
industries. The main process limitations during RSW
of aluminum are weld consistency and electrode-life.
The main limitation with SPR is related to the con-
sumable cost of the rivets, the limited range of joint
configurations achievable with each gun, and the end-
of-life recycling of aluminum when they contain steel
rivets.22 Compared to RSW, FSSW can produce com-
parable or superior weld strength with better consist-
ency since FSSW is not sensitive to tool wear or
surface conditions.23 Similar to linear FSW, the tem-
peratures during FSSW remain below the bulk melting
point, thus it can avoid defects formation associated
with solidification, porosity, hot cracking, thermal dis-
tortion, and bulk intermetallic formation. FSSW also
offers benefits for joining polymers,24 Al alloys,25 Mg
alloys,26 copper,27,28 metal matrix composites,29
steels,30 dissimilar combinations of metals/compo-
sites,31 non-ferrous/ferrous metals.32
4 Z. SHEN ET AL.
Figure 1. Schematics of conventional FSSW process: (a) rotating, (b) plunging, (c) stirring (dwell), (d) drawing out.43
The numerical simulation, microstructure, mechan-
ical properties, equipment and commercial applica-
tions of FSSW have been previously reviewed.25,33–35
Although research on FSSW is evolving rapidly, the
specifications for FSSW of aluminum have already
been developed.36 In the recent past years, some var-
iants of FSSW have been explored based on the basic
principles of linear FSW, with some fundamental pro-
cess mechanisms remaining complex and unclear. In
order to gain a better understanding of FSSW and
widen the applicability of this technology, it is valu-
able to have a systematic evaluation of heat gener-
ation, material flow, optimization of tool design and
welding parameters, microstructural evolution and
mechanical properties of FSSW.
1.2. Classification of FSSW
During the past two decades, several variants of FSSW
process have been explored, including: conventional
FSSW,37 pinless FSSW,38 refill FSSW,39 and other
short traverse FSW variants including swept FSW,40,41
stitch FSW and swing FSW. Currently, conventional,
pinless and refill FSSW processes are the three most
widely and intensively investigated FSSW variants in
the open literature, and can truly be considered as
spot welds rather than short traverse seam welds.
Therefore, this article will focus on those processes in
terms of heat generation, material flow, parameter
optimization, microstructural revolution and mechan-
ical properties.
1.2.1. Conventional FSSW
The conventional FSSW technique was first reported
by Sakano et al. in 200142 and Iwashita et al. in
2003,37 and has been used in the automotive industry
since that time. The FSSW process can be divided
into three main stages, as shown in Figure 1, the pin
is rotated at a predetermined rotational speed, and
then plunged at a specific rate into the overlapped
sheets to a predetermined depth, such that the tool
promotes material flow downwards away from the
tool shoulder. After that, a dwell time with a certain
duration (usually a few seconds) is applied to enable
the materials of two metal sheets to mix together. The
retraction of the pin tool leaves an esthetically
undesirable keyhole in the center of the weld zone,
and the geometry of the keyhole depends on the pin
swept volume.13
Conventional FSSW was first used in Mazda RX-8
rear door panels in 2003,44 and then used to join the
aluminum trunk lid to the steel bolt retainers for the
2005 Mazda MX-5 sports car.45 Toyota has also used it
for the decklid and hood for Prius gasoline/electric
hybrid vehicles.46 It was estimated that the use of con-
ventional FSSW resulted in
90% energy savings and

40% capital investment reduction when compared to
the RSW of Al alloys, since it avoids needing several
pieces of equipment, including a large electric power
supply, a cooling unit, an electrode dresser.25 However,
it should be noted that an esthetically undesirable key-
hole depression remains at the weld center. Aside from
the surface appearance, the keyhole causes a reduction
of weld size and reduces the bonded area, and creates a
potential corrosion concentration point for electrolyte
to accumulate.25,47,48 Thinning of the top sheet caused
by excessive tool penetration and upward material flow
near the pin (sometimes referred to as “hooking”) also
can occur during FSSW, which has been found to
reduce the joint strength.48
1.2.2. Pinless FSSW
As described above, one of the major drawbacks of
conventional FSSW is the keyhole at the weld center
left by tool pin.47 This can limit the metallurgically
bonded area, potentially leading to low failure energies
by fracture through the weld line. Also, in order to
avoid this and help form a larger bonded area in a
short time, tools with no pin have also been
considered.48–52
Pinless FSSW was developed in 2009, and it has
received increasing attention in the most recent

Figure 2. Schematics of pinless FSSW process: (a) rotating, (b) plunging and stirring (dwell), (c) drawing out.58
years.53 As shown in Figure 2, the pinless FSSW pro-
cess is similar to that of conventional FSSW, in which
the welding process was performed by plunging a pin-
less tool slightly into the top sheet material, stirring
for a short dwell time and retreating.51,54 However,
the weld formation mechanism of pinless FSSW is
rather different from that of conventional FSSW. In
this case, plastic flow was surprisingly complex and
the grain refinement predominantly occurred in the
top sheet. The top sheet material was driven toward
the middle of the weld, which will displace the bottom
sheet material upward at the periphery of the weld.
The material flow pattern was strongly influenced by
tool surface features, with various shapes studied by
Bavakos et al.52 A tool surface with inscribed geomet-
rical features significantly improved stirring and flow
of material, and thus increased the penetration of the
plastic zone into the bottom sheet, promoting an
intercalated interface with surprisingly short weld
times, however the forces and loading rates are higher
than conventional FSSW with a standard pin
tool.38,52,55,56 It should also be emphasized that a crit-
ical shoulder penetration is necessary to achieve reli-
able weld performance for pinless FSSW
process.48,55,57
This FSSW variant has remarkable advantages for
joining thin material (1 mm) and could completely
avoid the keyhole because the welding tool has no
pin, thus increasing the effective bonded area, which
further led to failure by nugget pullout around the
periphery of the weld.38,48,59 Meanwhile, the weld can
be created with short weld cycle times (<1 second),
and such a rapid thermal cycle can avoid the forma-
tion of cracking and decreases the heat input in the
HAZ. Therefore, the mechanical performance of pin-
less spot welds can be comparable or even superior to
those made by conventional FSSW.38,48,52,60 In the
case of joining thick sheet (1 mm), much more tool
penetration is necessary, because the upward material
flow of the lower sheet is less pronounced under this
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN SOLID STATE AND MATERIALS SCIENCES 5
condition. Consequently, the excessive tool penetra-
tion leads to thinning of the upper sheet under the
tool.38,61,62 To compensate for this, double-sided
FSSW was proposed by using a rotating anvil and pin-
less tool, to permit joining of thicker sheets. The
rotating anvil FSSW allows improved mechanical
strength and also reduced the reaction or axial force
on the spot welding frame.58,59
1.2.3. Refill FSSW
Refill FSSW was invented and patented by researchers
currently at Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht in
Germany in 1999, in order to join two or more light-
weight materials sheets such as Al alloys and Mg
alloys together in the lap configuration.39 The joint is
created by plasticizing, and displacing the material in
a process similar to back extrusion. The main advan-
tage of refill FSSW is that no keyhole is left behind,
and the weld is nominally flush with the original sur-
face. As shown in Figure 3, the tool used in refill
FSSW process comprises an outer stationary clamp
ring, a sleeve and an inner pin. The role of the clamp-
ing ring is to hold the workpieces firmly in contact
during the welding process, and prevent the sheets
from lifting and separating as the plasticized material
is displaced by the pin and sleeve.63 The sleeve and
pin can rotate in the same direction and speed by
using the same motor, and these components are
moved up and down independently by using separ-
ate actuators.
The process of refill FSSW is more complex com-
pared to conventional FSSW, and can be divided into
two variants (pin plunge variant and sleeve plunge
variant), depending on which part of the tool is
plunging element. Figure 3 presents a schematic illus-
tration of sleeve plunge variant. Firstly, the sleeve is
plunged into the workpiece to a predetermined depth
to plasticize the materials, while the pin moves
upward to an appropriate distance to create a cylin-
drical cavity to accommodate the plasticized material
6 Z. SHEN ET AL.
Figure 3. Schematic illustration of refill FSSW processes (sleeve plunge variant).65
squeezed out by the sleeve. After a certain dwell time,
the rotating sleeve and the pin move back to their ini-
tial positions, extruding the softened material back
into the joint, thus a spot weld was created with min-
imal or no surface indentation. The main advantage
of sleeve plunge variant is the superior strength weld
due to larger nugget size compared to pin plunge
variant. However, this variant demands higher
plunge force.64–68
This refill method can achieve overlap shear
strengths that compare favorably to SPR, RSW and
conventional FSSW, while joining times are compar-
able to the latter.54,69 Refill FSSW also offers advan-
tages and new capability for joining lightweight
materials, such as polymer, Al and Mg alloys,70 and
dissimilar combinations, such as dissimilar non-fer-
rous metals,64,71,72 non-ferrous to ferrous met-
als,32,68,73–76 and polymer to metals.31 Several
applications of refill FSSW process have been identi-
fied, which include filling the keyhole resulting from
FSW,77 manufacturing skin stiffened panels,78 repair-
ing fatigue cracks,79 fastener or rivet replacement
technology,80 replacement of RSW, and as a tacking
welding preparation method for FSW.81
In order to refill the keyhole, the resulting with-
drawal of conventional FSSW, some variants of refill
FSSW processes are also under development. For
instance, Uematsu et al.47 and Zhang et al.82 also
demonstrated using a double-acting tool consisting of
outer shoulder and inner pin, with a unique feature
that the inner pin retreats gradually while the tool
moves forward by about half the shoulder diameter.
Moreover, Prakash and Sun et al. refilled the keyhole
by a friction forming process (also known as two-step
or flat FSSW technique), where conventional FSSW
was conducted above a round indent previously made
on the backing anvil.83–85 After that, the weld was
turned over and a pinless tool was used to flatten the
weld surface using the same welding parameters.
However, two-step FSSW results in additional costs
and tends to lead to longer weld cycle times due to
the complex welding process.
1.2.4. Short traverse FSW variants
It is worth briefly mentioning other methods to
enhance the weld bonded area, and therefore the weld
mechanical properties. Various short traverse FSW
variants have been explored, namely swept FSW,
stitch (or walking) FSW and swing FSW. As shown in
Figure 4, the tool is plunged into the workpiece to a
predetermined depth, and then traversed for a short
distance via a specific path (the welding path can have
various geometries).86,87 Therefore, a larger joint was
created, which could lead to higher weld strength.
During which, the swept FSW method were developed
by researchers such as TWI (SquircleTM pattern) and
Wichita State University (OctaspotTM pattern),87–89
with the Stitch (or walking) FSW process proposed by
GKSS,90 and swing FSW was invented based on stitch
FSW developed by Hitachi.91
2. Fundamentals of friction stir spot welding
FSSW is a new spot welding technique used to join
overlapping workpieces, and is mainly intended to
compete with resistance spot welding (RSW) techni-
ques. Conventional FSSW can be divided into three
stages, namely, plunge, dwell and retraction. A sche-
matic section illustration of the conventional FSSW
process is shown in Figure 1. The tool plunge stage
initiates a combination of frictional heating, plastic
deformation and viscous dissipation when the rotating
pin contacts the upper sheet surface. During the dwell
stage the temperature continually increases and the
volume of the stir zone region increases as a result of
material flow caused by the features on the tool pin.
Figure 5 shows the macro-scale cross-sections with
increasing dwell times from 0.4 to 2.0 s, for conven-
tional FSSW. It can be noted that weld dimensions
 CRITICAL REVIEWS IN SOLID STATE AND MATERIALS SCIENCES 7

Figure 4. Swept FSW,92 (b) Stitch FSW and (c) Swing FSW.91

Figure 5. Evolution of cross sectional macrostructure during FSSW process with 1 mm thick 6000 series Al alloy. Welding parame-
ters utilized a tool rotation speed of 2500 rpm and 3920 N axial load. A tool with a 10 mm shoulder diameter and 3.5 mm diameter
pin was used.10

and intermixed zones increase significantly with the
dwell times.
An interesting point to consider during FSSW is
the conditions established at the contact surface of the
rotating tool when changing rotation speeds or change
dwell times. Figure 6a presents the relationship
between load and torque values with increasing weld
time during FSSW of 99.999% pure aluminum at a
rotation speeds of 1000 rpm. The temperature was
measured at the tool pin tip using a 0.5 mm K-type
thermocouple, and indicated a gradually increasing
temperature with dwell times, until the tool was
8 Z. SHEN ET AL.
Figure 6. (a) Changes in load and torque values and (b) variation of temperature and displacement values during FSSW applied
to 99.999% pure Al with a rotation speed of 1000RPM.93
retracted, ultimately obtaining a maximum tempera-
ture of 450  C, see Figure 6b. It can be noted that the
FSSW process is inherently a non-steady-state process,
and the tool pin plays a dominant role in comparison
to the linear FSW process.
In order to gain some perspective on the thermo-
mechanical conditions imposed by the tool at the rota-
tion speed and axial forces used during FSSW, it is use-
ful to consider the deformation-mechanism maps
summarized by Ashby.94 It has been proposed that the
dominant deformation mechanism over a range of
stress and temperature regimes can be mapped, where
the normalized shear stress and homologous tempera-
ture during deformation for pure aluminum is sum-
marized.94 The prior work shown in Figure 6 utilized a
torque load cell to estimate flow stress and embedded
thermocouple to measure temperatures at the tool.
However it should be noted that the region away from
the tool pin may experience other deformation mecha-
nisms since the temperatures and strain rates will
decrease. The spot welding process variants involving a
pinless tool,52 refill tool,54,95 and other friction based
variants also consist of a few stages which involve com-
parably high temperatures and stresses, and so one can
expect that dynamic recrystallization is a common fea-
ture of these processes.
In this section an overview of the fundamentals gov-
erning heat generation, heat transfer and material flow
mechanisms during FSSW (and other variants) are pre-
sented, through appraisal of experimental investiga-
tions, and analytical or numerical modeling work. The
basic physical phenomena and their fundamental prin-
ciples during FSSW include solid and fluid mechanics
as well other physical phenomena. The basic transport
phenomena include momentum transfer, heat transfer
and mass transfers that are the common physical phe-
nomena in the field of science and engineering, and
some general laws are adopted to describe the solid or/
and fluid according to solid and fluid mechanics.
Generally the three investigation approaches have
been applied to the FSSW processes: a) analytical (or
theoretical), b) numerical simulation and c) experi-
mental investigation. Although each of these methods
can be applied individually, often these are adopted
simultaneously by many researchers to investigate and
explain the complexities of material behavior and
overcome limitations of individual methods.
2.1. Heat generation during FSSW process
Modeling the FSSW process is particularly challeng-
ing, since unlike linear FSW which can be approxi-
mated as a steady-state process. FSSW involves a non-
steady state with highly transient material flows and
temperature distributions. When modeling the FSW
process, solving the governing equations for mass
transfer, the convective item is often neglected unless
the plunge stage during FSW is being considered.
Modeling the FSSW process is also a complicated task
since the boundary conditions and some of the phys-
ical mechanisms involved are not fully understood or
quantified, in particular for heat generation, contact
conditions at the tool/workpiece interface, and the
heat transfer at workpiece or backing plate interface is
not accurately defined with varying forces.
Furthermore, although a few theories are available,
there is no consensus on the constitutive behavior of
the workpiece material at high temperatures and
strain rates. This demands careful selection of the
appropriate constitutive conversation equations, in
particular for momentum and energy conservation
equations. Consequently, early models often simply
solved the heat transfer equation in order to estimate
the temperature distribution, neglecting the material
flow caused by stirring. More sophisticated models are
now available relying on three possible types of strat-
egies: fluid dynamics, solid mechanics simulations and
a combination of both types of models. From the
numerical analysis standpoint, these three types of
models correspond to Langragian and Eulerian simu-
lations and their combination.

Figure 7. Schematic of the heat generation and transfer in the friction stir spot welding process.96
Although these approaches differ considerably in
their implementation, they all provide a basis for
investigating the role of welding parameters and tool
geometry on the process by quantifying several char-
acteristics. For example, Figure 7 shows the heat gen-
eration and transfer during the convention FSSW
process.96 This illustrates that the total heat generation
arises mainly from two sources, (a) surface friction at
the tool and workpiece interface (Qs) and (b) volume
(bulk) plasticity away from the interface (Qv). The
total heat generation is as
Qtotal ¼ Qtotal, S þ Qtotal, V (1)
The primary heat transfer includes conduction at
the interfaces between the tool and workpiece, con-
duction from the workpiece and backing plate, and
convective heat flow from the friction stir spot weld.
The heat transfer also includes diffusional heat flow
within the workpiece and radiative heat loss from the
tool, workpiece, and backing plate, which is not all
shown in Figure 7.
2.1.1. Heat generation from surface
frictional heating
As illustrated in Figure 7, the heat generation problem
has two components: surface frictional heat at the
workpiece/tool interface and plastic deformation gen-
erated heat in a volume around the tool. Each model
proposed in the literature is classified depending on
the approximations made for dealing with the
assumed dominant contributor to heat generation and
heat flow. Surface frictional forces can be divided into
the two types: Coulombic friction and the Tresca
model (or constant shear friction). For the case of
Coulombic friction, the friction stress s is given
s ¼ lf P (2)
where P is normal load or pressure, and mf is the coef-
ficient of static or dynamic friction which is inde-
pendent of P. It is important to note that the
Coulombic friction model is strictly valid only when
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN SOLID STATE AND MATERIALS SCIENCES 9
the mean contact pressure at the interface lies below
the flow stress of workpiece. There is an upper limit
to the increase in friction stress, in that it cannot
exceed the material shear flow stress of the workpiece,
commonly denoted by the symbol k. As soon as the
friction shear stress reaches this level, the workpiece
material will stick to the surface of the tool, and slid-
ing will no longer take place at the interface; instead,
shearing in a layer below tool surface will dominate.
The constant shear strength, si is given as:
si ¼ mk (3)
where m is called interface friction factor and k is the
yield stress of the material. We can consider that the
interface shear strength may be some constant fraction
m of the shear yield strength.97 Schmidt et al.98 pro-
posed a modified description for the frictional forces
during FSW. They introduced a contact shear stress,
scontact which varies depending on whether the sliding
or sticking condition is present. Under the sliding
condition with a load P, the contact stress is:
scontact ¼ sfriction ¼ lf P (4)
where lf is the coefficient of friction, and s is shear
stress. While under the sticking condition, the contact
stress is:
ryield
scontact ¼ syield ¼ pffiffiffi (5)
3
It is well known that the yield stress is highly tem-
perature dependent. An overview of the different con-
tact conditions and the corresponding values of the
state variables are given in Table 1.
The material velocity relative to the tool is nor-
mally defined in models as a fraction d, which repre-
sents the ratio of the tool surface velocity to the tool/
workpiece sliding contact velocity. d is the ratio
between the workpiece matrix material (vmatrix Þ and
contact tool (vtool Þ velocities. The surface heat source
due to friction at the tool/workpiece interface is
expressed as:98
10 Z. SHEN ET AL.

Table 1. Definition of contact condition, velocity/shear relationship, and state variable (dimensionless slip rate).98
Contact condition Matrix velocity Tool velocity Contact shear stress State variable
Sticking vmatrix ¼ vtool vtool ¼ xr scontact ¼ syield ðhigh e__Þ d¼1
Partial sliding vmatrix < vtool vtool ¼ xr _ contact < syield ðhigh e_ Þ
syield ðlow eÞ<s 0<d<1
Sliding vmatrix ¼ 0 vtool ¼ xr scontact < syield d¼0
Note: e_ strain rate, x and r are defined in the text.

qs ¼ scontact xrð1dÞ (6) *

with 0  d  1: The value of d defined as
vmatrix
d¼
vtool
One frequently adopted equation for the total heat
generation from frictional heating is:99
Q ¼ dQsticking þ ð1dÞQsliding
total, s
2 h i et al.3 proposed that heat is generated due to friction
¼ px dsyield þ ð1dÞlp
h3 
R3shoulder R3probe ð1 þ tan aÞ þ R3probe þ 3R2probe H
where syield is the material yield stress at the welding
temperature, x is the angular rotation speed, a is the
cone angle, Rshoulder is the shoulder radius, Rprobe is the
probe radius and Hprobe is the probe height.
However, in this model Qtotal is an implicit function
of d, syield, m, and P, which are all nearly impossible to
determine accurately from experiments. This restricts
the prediction of weld temperature since experimental
measurements are unavailable for most cases.99
2.1.2. Heat generation from plastic deformation
Based on the considerable work done up-to-date on
friction stir welding, one finds that the tool mechan-
ical energy input is also converted into plastic deform-
ation energy in the stir zone volume, and this can be
separated into two parts, (a) energy converted to heat
and (b) energy stored in microstructure. More than
95% of this plastic deformation energy is dissipated as
heat, which conducts to the surroundings, while a
small fraction (<5%) of the energy is stored in the
microstructure, for example including crystal defects
(such as dislocations) and grain boundaries.100 The
rate of viscous dissipation at which work is being
done on a volume and its shape is defined as:
* *
r : rV ¼ pr  v þ s : rv
where the stress r is divided into the pressure p and
* * *
the shear stress s : r  v and rv are the divergence
of the velocity vector and the velocity gradient,
respectively. The second term on the right side in
Eq. 9 is called the dissipation function,101 and it can
be written as
s : rv ¼ l/
*
(10)
" #
 2  2  2 1 @v @vy @vz 2
@vx @vy @vz x
¼ 2 @x þ @y þ @z  þ þ
3 @x @y @z
(7)      
@vy @vx @vz @vy @vx @vz
þl þ þl þ þl þ
@x @y @y @z @z @x
(11)
where / is the dissipation function factor. Nandan
and plastic deformation at the tool-workpiece inter-
face and due to plastic deformation in the TMAZ. It
was argued that plastic deformation also occurs away
(8) from the too-workpiece interface and its effect on the
local heat generation rate may be estimated as d_e p ¼
bl/ dV where b is the fraction of plastic deformation
work which is dissipated as heat, m is the non-
Newtonian viscosity of the plasticized material. The
term / is the viscous dissipation function, which is
related to the shear rate and divergence of the vel-
ocity, and can be written similar to Eqs. 10 and 11.
The viscous dissipation tends to be important mainly
for high strain rates and material flow (large values of
/) or polymeric liquids (with high values of m).
Energy generation during FSSW of Al 6061-T6 plates
has been investigated by Awang et al.102 Friction work
at the interface of the tool and the workpiece generates
the most energy (indicated to be 96.84%), while the
remaining energy was related to friction work between
the plates (0.02%) and plastic deformation (3.14%),
which seems to be much lower than expected, however
it was assumed that only the workpiece and pin experi-
ence friction sliding contract described by Coulomb’s
friction law. In contrast, Simar et al. suggested that a
surface heat source leads to unrealistically high calcu-
lated maximum temperatures, and that convection in
the stirred zone has a considerable effect on the max-
imum temperature.103 The volume heat (or plastic
*
deformation) sources uniformly distribute over the
(9) TMAZ and give a more reasonable prediction for the
maximum temperature. It was concluded that a purely
friction heating model is probably not adequate, and
the corresponding volume heat sources per unit volume
qV (W/m3) is related to the plastic work.100,104–108
qV ¼ fe__ij rij , i, j ¼ 1, 2, 3
p
(12)

p
where e_ ij and rij are the components of the plastic strain
rate tensor and the Cauchy stress tensor respectively. f
in Eq. 12 is the fraction of plastic work rate converted
in to thermoplastic heating and generally, it ranges
between 0.8 and 0.99.100 The remaining energy is stored
in the material as crystal defects with plastic deform-
ation, traditionally known as the stored energy of cold
work. The dependence of the fraction of plastic work
converted to heat on strain and strain rate was deter-
mined for aluminum 2024-T3 alloy and a-titanium. The
flow stress and plastic work converted to heat for 2024-
T3 aluminum alloy were found to be a function of strain
(not strain rate), while they were found to be strongly
dependent on strain rate for a-titanium.109,110 For plastic
strains above 0.3, nearly all the energy of plastic deform-
ation is dissipated as heat in titanium.
2.1.3. Total heat generation
Heat-source estimation during FSW and FSSW con-
tinues to be a topic of active research, and methods
are available for measuring the power consumed dur-
ing the welding process. In work by Khandkar
et al.,111 the heat input has been correlated with the
experimentally measured torque data by assuming a
uniform shear stress at the tool interface. These inter-
faces are the shoulder-workpiece interface, the vertical
pin surface-workpiece interface, and the pin bottom-
workpiece interface. The total torque is related to the
average power input by
Pav ¼ Mtot x (13)
where Pav is the average power input, Mtot is the total
torque (i.e.: the sum of the three torque components),
and x is the tool rotation speed. Almost all of this
power is transformed to heat, while the fraction of
power lost within the tool is very small but taken into
account through the welding efficiency g,
gPav ¼ Pin ¼ Qs þ Qv (14)
where Pin is the actual power input into the weld, Qs
is the surface heat source and Qv is the volumetric
heat source.
Su et al.112,113 performed detailed measurements of
the torque and forces during FSSW, and found that
energy generation resulting from tool rotation during
FSSW (Qapplied Þ can be calculated from high-speed
data acquisition using the relation:
X
n ¼N  addressed to simulate other processes such as metal
Qapplied ¼ ForceðnÞðxn  xn1
n¼1
(15)
X
n ¼N
þ TorqueðnÞxðnÞ, Dt
n¼1
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN SOLID STATE AND MATERIALS SCIENCES 11
where xn is the penetration depth at sample (n), n is
the sample number, N is the final sample and Dt is
the sampling time. It is important to note that during
the dwell period in spot welding, the tool continues to
rotate while the axial force and torque decrease. The
efficiency of utilization of energy during plunge test-
ing (ß) is the ratio of the amount of energy required
for stir zone formation divided by the energy pro-
duced by tool rotation.
Qstir zone
¼
Qapplied
qCp ððTs To Þ
Pn¼N Pn¼N
n¼1
ForceðnÞðxn  xn1 Þ þ n¼1 TorqueðnÞxðnÞ, Dt
(16)
where Qstir zone ¼ qCp ððTs To Þ is the energy (kJ)
required to raise the stir zone temperature from room
temperature (To) to 95% of the homologous peak tem-
perature (0.95 Ts), q is the density, Cp is the heat cap-
acity, and V is the volume of the stir zone. In Eq. 20
the underlying assumption is that all of the mechan-
ical energy delivered to the stir zone results in heat
generation.12,114 They found that the rotating pin
accounts for around 70% and 66% of the energy gen-
erated when 6.3 mm thick Al6061-T6 and AM50 Mg
alloy sheet materials are spot welded without the
application of a dwell period.
Heat generation and heat dissipation must be
adjusted and balanced to obtain a validation with
experimental temperature values. In addition to the
heat dissipated into the workpiece due to friction and
plastic deformation, heat loss occurs by means of con-
duction to tool and the backing plate, and also by
means of convective heat loss to the surrounding
environment. Generally the heat lost through convec-
tion/radiative is considered negligible.
2.1.4. Empirical constitutive material law
The material flow behavior during FSSW is usually
modeled either on a numerical or analytical basis
guided by experiments. Due to complex interaction
between friction, thermal softening, and strain rate
hardening, the use of constitutive equations may not
accurately describe the interactions between the tool
and workpiece, and empirical approaches are more
common. However similar challenges have been
forming.115 The selection of an appropriate constitu-
tive material law to reflect the relation between flow
stress and temperature, strain and strain rate at all
times and positions in the weld. The commonly used
constitutive equations in FSSW include Hansel-
12 Z. SHEN ET AL.

Table 2. Constitutive Material model used for FSSW.

Equation name Equation form Ref
Hansel-Spittel pffiffiffi
mðT Þ Guerdoux and Fourment (2009)117, Sellars and Tegart (1972)116
r ¼ rf ¼ K ðT Þ 3 e_
Johnson-Cook    n  Johnson and Cook (1983)118
n _pl
ry ¼ ðA þ Bje pl j Þ 1 þ C ee_ o 1 Tmelt
TTroom
Troom
h
1 i  
Ulysse (2002)122
re ¼ a1 sinh1 AZ =n , Z ¼ e_ exp RT
Zener-Hollomon Q
pffiffiffi
m1
Norton-Hoff law s ¼ 2K 3e_ e_  Miles et al (2014)123

Arrhenius constitutive e_ ¼ A½sinhðarÞn exp Q=ðRTÞ
The references are cited by the original publication or by the publication applied to FSSW.
K(T) and M(T) are the material consistency and the strain rate sensitivity, respectively.
Spittel’s,116,117 Johnson-Cook’s,118,119 Sheppard and
Wright’s120,121 equations. More detailed constitutive
equations which have been used to model FSSW in
the literature are summarized in Table 2.115
Here, Z denotes the Zener-Holloman parameter,
and r, e,_ and e, are the average stress, strain rate,
and strains, respectively. Tmelt is the melting point,
and Troom is a room temperature. The remaining vari-
ables are material constants, and are obtained
experimentally.
In particular, the Johnson and Cook (1983) model
(see Table 2) has been most widely used to simulate
extremely high strain rate processes including machin-
ing, ballistic impacts, and forging, since the tempera-
ture and strain rate and elastic–plastic dependence
can be described. A rigid-viscoplastic model with flow
stress dependent on temperature and strain rate, was
utilized with different constitutive equations for FSW
simulation in prior work.121,125–128
An adaptive arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE)
formulation has been developed to compute the
material flow and the temperature evolution during
the three phases of the friction stir welding (FSW)
process for Al 6061 aluminum alloy by Guerdoux and
Fourment.117 The material model in this work is
based on the Hansel–Spittel constitutive equations,
with two different laws for the constitutive behavior
of the Al 6061 material, whose solidus and liquidus
temperatures, respectively, are around 582 and 652  C.
The first law is elasto-viscoplastic for a temperature
range of 20–250  C. The second law is purely visco-
plastic for a temperature range of 250–550  C. In con-
trast, CFD modeling of friction stir welding has also
been conducted by Colegrove and Shercliff to opti-
mize the welding of thick, Al 5083 and Al 7449-T4
aluminum alloy for aerospace applications, which
used the material viscosity for calculations determined
from the normal stress and strain-rate.121
The Zener-Hollomon constitutive equation (see
Table 2) can also be used to describe the flow strength
of aluminum alloys, as proposed by Sellars and
Tegart,116 and modified by Sheppard and Wright.129
Zhao et al (2015)124
This is one of the most widely used models for sum-
marizing and extrapolating experimental data. Tello
et al.130 have provided previously unavailable con-
stants for the Zener-Hollomon constitutive equation
for hot metalworking for a wide range of alloys
and conditions.
2.2. Experimental investigation of temperature
and material flow
Experimental results evaluating the temperature and
material flow and deformation in FSW can usually be
applied to FSSW. Most experiments involve tracer
particles to investigate deformation during FSSW
using markers embedded into the workpiece or the
interface between workpieces where the movement of
the marker materials after deformation is subsequently
analyzed to explain the deformation process.
2.2.1. Temperature measurements
The temperature during FSW is an important output
since it plays a critical role in material structure,
mechanical properties and material flow. The tem-
perature distribution within the weld, particularly
within stirred zone, are very difficult to measure due
to the severe plastic deformation produced by the
tool. Temperature measurements of the weld during
FSW have previously been carried out131 using various
methods including infrared imaging/thermometers,
thermocouples embedded in the base metal, as well as
direct contact thermometers.15 These methods usually
only measure the temperature of the surface of the
metal, or requires the drilling of holes to embed ther-
mocouples at selected areas in the case of internal
temperatures,132 although methods have also been
employed by addition of a foreign marker material
into the weld which reacts to temperature changes.
For comparison, the peak temperatures produced by
FSW range from 0.8 to 0.9 of the homologous melting
temperature of the welding material, Tm, as measured
by Tang et al. and Colegrove et al.132,133
 CRITICAL REVIEWS IN SOLID STATE AND MATERIALS SCIENCES 13

Figure 8. Schematic diagram showing thermocouple locations used for measuring stir zone tempreatures in several alloys during
in friction stir spot welding shown in Table 3 (all dimensions mm).134

Figure 9. (a) Tool force and temperature attained during dissimilar Al 6111/AZ91 spot welding, when Al 6111 is upper sheet: time
t1 is 1.8 s after pin contact with workpiece, and time t2 is when dwell period starts. (b) Tool force and temperature attained during
dissimilar Al 6111/AZ91 spot welding, when AZ91 is the upper sheet.134

An accurate method for temperature measurement
during FSSW has been successfully demonstrated by
utilizing a rotating sample and a stationary tool with
embedded thermocouples at the pin and shoulder as
shown in Figure 8. The peak temperature has been
measured during FSSW using this system for similar
and dissimilar aluminum and magnesium alloys by
Gerlich et al.134 The maximum temperatures were
determined using K type thermocouples with a
0.25 mm diameter located 0.2 mm from the base of the
pin and 0.8 mm from the outer periphery of the tool
shoulder (see Figure 8).135–137 The thermocouples were
inserted into 1.0 mm diameter holes in the tool assem-
bly so that the tip of each thermocouple was in direct
contact with plasticized material formed during the
FSSW operation, and this contact was confirmed by
later removing the material extruded onto the thermo-
couple junction within the tool.134 The highest temper-
atures attained at the tool shoulder are about 10 to
45  C lower than those at the base of the rotating pin.
The thermal history for the pin and shoulder in
Figure 9 are shown for dissimilar Al 6111 and
AZ91 Mg-alloy when the two sheets are alternated as
the top and bottom sheet during FSSW. These results
illustrate that peak temperatures outside the weld nug-
get vary from 422.7  C to 475.7  C at the edge of the
nugget. The peak temperatures for a wide range of Al
and Mg-alloys in similar welds were all found to be
within 0.94 of Tm, which will be shown to potentially
lead to incipient or local melting, see Table 3. Also,
during subsequent overlap shear testing, fracture
propagated through the lower temperature material in
the HAZ (located about 8 mm from the center of the
sheet), corresponding to a temperature regime
between 300.7  C and 350.7  C. It will be shown in
Section 4 that the fracture site corresponds to a loca-
tion where precipitates have locally melted and pro-
moted liquation cracking.
Bakavos et al.52 investigated the thermal history in
the pinless FSSW process, by embedding three
14 Z. SHEN ET AL.
thermocouples in the steel anvil at radial distances of
2.5, 5, and 10 mm from the tool center. The thermo-
couple tips were mounted
0.1 mm beneath the anvil
ensuring good contact aided by the welding down
force. The temperature measurements are summarized
in Figure 10a for various tool geometries investigated,
with the maximum peak temperatures varying by
approx. 70  C. The most effective tools at generating
high weld temperatures are the fluted wiper tools,
with the flat tool and the scroll tool showing signifi-
cantly lower temperature rises. Due to a high penetra-
tion depth of the deformation zone, the fluted wiper
tool surface features can strongly influence the mater-
ial flow, which affects the weld interface position,
along with energy input and temperatures.52 The tem-
perature measurements as a function of time in
Figure 10b shows that the maximum temperature
reached after a 2.5-second dwell time is more
than 400  C.
The thermal cycle during dissimilar refill friction
spot welding of Al alloy Al 5754 to AZ31 Mg alloy
was measured using thermocouples located in the
weld region, see Figure 11.64 In their study, the ther-
mal cycling behavior during the dissimilar friction
spot welding of Al 5754/AZ31 was measured. Two K-
type thermocouples were embedded in the Al sheet, at
a depth of 2.5 mm from the bottom of the Mg sheet,
as illustrated in Figure 11. At the beginning of the
process, due to the frictional heating, the weld is
heated to a peak temperature of 450  C, which is the
Table 3. Peak temperatures of selected aluminum and mag-
nesium alloys measured during FSSW.138
Measured peak Solidus Peak temperature,
Alloy temperature ( C) temperature ( C) as % of solidus ( K)
Al 2024 501 509
Al 5754 565 609
Al 6061 543 586
Al 6111 531 582
Al 7075 527 535
Mg-9Al-1Zn 462 469
Mg-3Al-1Zn 560 604
Figure 10. Thermocouple measurements from the base of the pinless welds in (a) for different tool designs with a 2.5-s dwell
time and in (b) for the long flute wiper tool (iii) as a function of dwell time.52
equilibrium eutectic melting point of Al þ Al3Mg2 in
the Al-Mg binary system. The plastic deformation and
high temperatures induced local melting, and it was
argued that liquation and solidification occurred
repeatedly based on the oscillating temperature, result-
ing in a non-equilibrium solidus temperature. During
the sleeve retraction period, the semi-solid material
experienced further diffusion and dynamic recrystal-
lization, resulting in the formation of fine equiaxed
Al17Mg12 grains at the weld center.
2.2.2. Experimental investigation of material flow
Several material flow visualization techniques have
been applied in FSW, and these can often be used in
analyzing FSSW joints. In this subsection will classify
and summarize the visualization techniques which
have been applied to spot welds. Extensive literature
on visualization methods of material flow and deform-
ation in FSW can be found in a recent sum-
mary.139,140 Material flow during FSW is controlled by
the tool geometry, process parameters and base mate-
rials141,142 and these are equally important in spot
welds. Reynolds has demonstrated some key results
regarding FSW by post-weld flow visualization to pro-
vide a 3 D image of the material transport.143
A summary of experimental techniques and results
on material flow in FSSW is presented in Table
4.144–148 The principle methods employed include 1)
tracer materials, 2) dissimilar weld metals, 3) metallo-
graphic and crystallographic texture analysis, 4) tool
“freezing” by interruption or pin breaking, and 5)
other techniques. Many have also generated useful
knowledge and visualizations of material flow through
99
95 a combination of carefully designed experiments and
95 numerical simulations. The following sections will dis-
94
99 cuss some of the main features which have been dis-
99 covered concerning the material flow as a result of
95
these investigations.

Figure 11. (a) Two K-type thermocouples were embedded in the Al sheet, at a depth of 2.5 mm from the bottom of the Mg sheet
(0.5 mm above the interface of Al and Mg sheets), (b) The temperature profile during the friction spot welding. The scatter of the
temperature during the dwell period is shown in the diagram.64
2.2.3. Summary of material flow in conven-
tional FSSW
The material flow, microstructure and texture studies
are central issues in friction stir welding technologies.
In order to develop a more fundamental understand-
ing of this, experiments involving pure materials and
single crystals deserve particular attention.155,160–163
This method may considerably simplify the material
flow and microstructure and microtexture observa-
tions, because there are no grain boundaries or phase
transformations occurring in the base material. Thus,
material flow affecting grain-boundary development as
well as crystallographic variation can easily be
observed. The predominant deformation mode during
a friction stir process is clearly dominated by shear,
although the shear plane and shear direction are not
constant. Instead, they follow a curved surface or
boundary line roughly parallel to the tool sur-
face.160,162 Crystal rotations of during FSSW of aus-
tenitic stainless steel single crystal were shown to be
mainly associated with simple shear deformation. On
the other hand, grain boundary development was
deduced to be closely related to the texture
evolution.162
The material flow has been investigated during
FSSW of dissimilar Al 5754/Al 6061 and Al5754/
Al6111 aluminum alloys, and it was found that as the
rotating tool penetrates into the contacting sheets,
material beneath the shoulder moves towards the pin
root.149 A downward flow is created by the pin
threads close to the pin periphery when there are
right-hand helical threads on the pin surface and the
tool rotations in a counter-clockwise direction. The
displaced material near the pin threads is extruded at
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN SOLID STATE AND MATERIALS SCIENCES 15
the bottom of the pin, and a reacting upward and out-
ward flow of material is developed at the outer
boundary of the pin. The material which is displaced
upward until it reaches the shoulder, where it is again
drawn towards the root of the pin and downwards by
the pin threads, thus repeating the flow and forming a
so-called helical recirculating flow as shown schemat-
ically in Figure 12.155 This flow pattern was shown to
lead to formation of the intermixed lamellae, which
was validated by both numerical modeling and par-
ticle tracer experiments.149
The material flow during the FSSW has been
studied in detail by Yang et al.11 using 25.4 mm Cu
foil to study the interface material movement, which
presented a new model of material flow. The material
flow was also investigated by using tracer alloys.146
with embedded Al 1100 aluminum rods in Al 7075-
T7 specimens at several radial locations from the cen-
ter of the plunging tool, which revealed the material
flow near the tool. Tozaki et al.164 also used dissimilar
aluminum alloys, Al 2017-T6 and Al 5052, to follow
track the joint formation and provided a confirmation
that the upper sheet material moves downward within
the pin threads. They also found that when the mater-
ial beneath the pin is displaced upward and outwards
in an outer flow zone, this contributes to formation of
the hook feature at the interface.
However, the results observed during intermixing
of dissimilar materials should be interpreted with
some caution, since it has been found that unique
flow patterns may be established between materials
with low versus high viscosity, and these may not be
representative of the phenomena occurring in mono-
lithic materials.165,166 Zhang et al. observed some
16 Z. SHEN ET AL.
Table 4. Summary of experimental techniques and results on material flow in friction stir spot welding.
Technique/study type
Tracer material
A1100 foil with 0.04 inch
Al markers with virtual tracers
Al 6061–T6/20 vol.-%Al2O3
(i) Al2O3 tracer material in a 0.7-
mm-diameter hole (ii) A 0.5-mm
thick disk of Al 6061-T6
20% Al2O3
Gold foil with10 um thick
Copper, Al3003 and tungsten
powder used as marker materials
Cu foil (25.4 mm thick) on top
surface of upper sheet and at
sheet interface with EDS analysis
of Cu content
(i) Cu sheet with 0.05 mm thickness,
(ii) Ni, stainless steel, Mo wires
with o.16 mm diameter, (iii) WC
powder with 0.98 mm
Al 3003 strip/Fine W powder/
Cupper strip
Alclad as tracing material
Stainless steel (SS) wires of
1.3 mm diameter
Dissimilar weld
Dissimilar Al alloys have different
microstructures with the
same etchant
Dissimilar Al alloys
Workpiece material Ref (year) Flow pattern
Al 2024-T3 Muci-Kuchler (2005)147 Three 0.04 inch thick and one 0.125 inch thick Al 2024 –T3
plates are used. Thin sheets of aluminum foil are placed
between the plates. The materials chosen exhibited
contrast etched with Keller’s thus indicating the material
flow during the spot welding process.
Al 7075-T7 Itapu (2006)146 Macrograph for a full plunge test showing the deformation
of the marker initially located at 0.762 mm (0.03 inches)
from the pin’s circumference. Virtual tracers were defined
in the region of the plate 0.254 mm away from the
centerline of the pin and the region below the
circumference of pin.
Al 5754/Al 6111 Su (2006)113 Two distinct flow zones are produced during friction stir spot
MMC/Al 6061–T6 welding, namely, an inner flow zone close to the pin
periphery, where upper sheet material is moved
downwards in an anticlockwise direction with the rotating
pin, and an outer flow zone, where lower sheet material
is moved upwards and outwards in a spiral motion.
Al 5754/Al 6111 Su (2007)149 Dissimilar intermixing during the dwell period in spot
welding results from the incorporation of upper (Al 5754)
and lower (Al 6111) sheet materials at the top of the
thread on the rotating pin.
Al 6061/Al 6061 Fujimoto (2009)150 The dissimilar lap friction stir spot joining showed that the
Al 6061 /Al 5052 movement of the lap surface was attributed to the
downward plastic flow from the upper plate to the lower
plate around the probe.
Al 7075-T6 Kalagara (2010)148 It was observed that copper and tungsten were better
choices from the point of view that it was easier to
identify them in the metallographic samples. Although
dissimilar aluminum alloys are attractive choices for
marker materials.
AZ31 Mg Yang (2010)11 (i) Before the shoulder contacts the upper sheet, the pin
mainly extrudes the material downwards, causing the
adjoining lower sheet material to move upwards into the
upper sheet. (ii) After the rotating shoulder comes in
close contact with the upper sheet, three distinct regions
are developed in a weld.
Mg-3%Al and AZ31 Shigematsu (2013)151 (i) The combination of upper and lower sheets affects largely
on the stir zone formation and joint soundness.(2) The
tracer material must be selected carefully in consideration
of the reaction with the bae material.
Al 6061-T6 Lin (2013)152 (a) the material flow of two overlapped A6061-T6 aluminum
sheets during FSSW by applying powder tracing
techniques.(b) The mechanisms of material flow for
various geometric tools were proposed according to the
experimental results.
Al 7B04-T74 Zhao (2015)124 All of them are distinguishable from Al 7075 when Keller’s
reagent is used. A material flow path resulted in the “U-
shaped” morphology of the bonding ligament, the
upward curving of the hook, and the upward distortion of
the grains in the thermomechanically affected zone.
DP590 steel sheets Sarkar (2016)153 (a) Subdivided in both rotational flow and through thickness
flow. (b) A combination of the two components results in
the spiraling motion of plasticized material within the
flow zone.
Al 2024-T351/Pure Al Zhang (2014)154 When the soft material is the upper sheet, both downward
flow of the soft material and upward and outward flow of
the hard material contribute to the formation of
intermixed region of fine intermingled lamellar. (b)
Material, the hard material moves downward near the pin
periphery with the rotating pin contributing to the
formation of a hard material layer around the
pin periphery.
Al 6011-6082 Reilly (2015)49 A novel kinematic flow model is presented, which
Al-Steel successfully predicts the observed layering of the
dissimilar Al alloys under a range of conditions. The
model and the experimental observations provide a
consistent interpretation of the stick-slip conditions at the
tool-workpiece interface.
(Continued)
 CRITICAL REVIEWS IN SOLID STATE AND MATERIALS SCIENCES 17

Table 4. Continued.
Technique/study type
Microstructure& Texture
a) Optical microscopy and EBSD
b) Optical microscopy and EDS
chemical analysis
Tool “stop” and cross-sectioning
a) The tool rotation was suddenly
terminated (2) pin-sectioning
with plasticized material
The dwell times change from 0.4 to
2.0 seconds at the same load
and rotation
Combined techniques
(i) A6061-A6061 lap, A6061-A5052
lap and butt welding. (ii)
Microstructure and texture
(i) Copper strips, Al 3003 strips, and
fine tungsten powder. ii) X-Ray
imaging. iii) Metallography
(i) Dissimilar materials. ii)
Microstructure. iii) Hardness
distribution map. iii)
Laser micrograph
High-resolution X-ray tomography
with Au coating
(i) Tool stop, ii) Microstructure and
EBSD analysis
Workpiece material Ref (year) Flow pattern
Single Al crystal Shibayanagi (2009)155 A55^ND texture in the stir zone is associated with material
flow imposed by the thread on the rotating pin.
Al 2024-Al Zhang (2014)154 Optical and EDS analysis was taken to distinguish the
chemical contents of Al 2024 and Al lamellae in the
intermixed all of them are distinguishable from Al 7075
when Keller’s reagent is used.
Al 5754/Al 6111 Su (2007)149 Intermixed regions comprising fine intermingled Al 5754 and
Al 6111 lamellae are formed in spot welds made using
dwell times of 0.78 and 3.3 seconds. (b) A ribbon of
contiguous Al 5754 and Al 6111 lamella is moved
downward via the pin thread as the tool rotates during
the dwell period in spot welding. (c) A helical vertical
rotational flow is created during the dwell period in spot
welding because the ribbon of contiguous Al 5754 and Al
6111 lamellae discharged from the bottom of the pin
thread moves outward and upward before moving back
toward the tool periphery and downward again
6000 series Fujimoto (2009)150 The evolution of cross sectional macrostructure of the joint
aluminum alloy during the FSSW procedure from 0.4 to 2 second dwell
times (at intervals of 0.4 sec). The upper plate thickness is
under the shoulder decreases as the loading time passes.
AZ31–O/glassfiber Zettler (2006)156 (a) Gold foil, 10 mm thick, was placed between the upper
and carbon fiber and lower plates Dissimilar weld. (b) Microstructure
reinforced polymer and texture.
Kalagara (2010) Kalagara (2010)148 (a) An experimental study aimed at visualizing the material
flow during the plunge phase of refill FSSW of an
aluminum alloy. (b) Copper and tungsten were better
choices from the point of view.
AZ31–O/glassfiber Amancio-Filho (2011)31 The joining is accomplished by a mixed regime of surface
and carbon fiber mechanical interlocking and adhesion between the
reinforced polymer metallic and consolidated polymeric layers, as well as
direct partial fiber attachment on the metallic plate.
Al 6082/Al 6111 Bakavos (2011)52 The pinless RSSW material flow is complex and strongly
Spot-Butt welding influenced by surface features on the tool. Material flow
experiments have been used to understand the stages of
weld formation and relationship to the tool
surface features.
AlMgSc J. Shen et. AlMgSc alloy The evolution of the joint-line remnant (JLR) within the SZ
aluminum alloy (2018)64,157–159 during the welding process reflects the macroscopic
material flow characteristics. Based on the EBSD analysis
results it was found that the material flow is mainly
driven by two components: the simple shear acting on
the horizontal plane causing an inward-directed spiral
flow and the extrusion acting on the vertical plane
causing an upward-directed or down-ward-directed flow.

unique material flow patterns in dissimilar Al 2024/Al
FSSW joints.154 Based on these dissimilar material
welds, it can be noted that when the soft material is
the upper sheet in a lap weld, both downward flow of
the soft material and upward and outward flow of the
hard material contribute to the formation of inter-
mixed region of fine intermingled lamellae. However,
when the upper sheet is the hard material, the hard
material moves downward near the pin periphery,
which promotes formation of a predominantly hard
layer around the pin. In comparison, when a butt
weld is made using FSW, the hard material flows into
the soft material under the pin and around the pin
periphery.154
2.2.4. Three-dimensional material flow
Three-dimensional material flow models during FSSW
using simple threaded tools have been suggested.167
The material flow during spot welding of AZ31 Mg
alloy sheet was investigated by introducing fine Ni,
stainless steel, and Mo wires, along with WC powder
into the weld interface. The resulting displacement of
these materials was readily analyzed using SEM
microscopy, and summarized schematically in Figure
13. The material flow during FSSW is divided into
two stages before and after the tool shoulder contacts
the surface of upper sheet material. Before shoulder
contact with the upper sheet, the lower sheet material
is moving upwards. This movement is caused by the
18 Z. SHEN ET AL.
displacement of material when the rotating pin pene-
trates into the lower sheet material. After the shoulder
contacts the upper sheet material, the lower sheet
material suddenly changes its flow direction towards
the pin periphery and material becomes incorporated
into the stir zone via the pin thread. This motion con-
tinues during dwell period and expands the stir
zone boundary.
2.2.5. Material flow in pinless FSSW
Material flow during pinless FSSW of aluminum
alloys has been investigated by high resolution X-Ray
tomography and optical microscopy.52 The X-ray tom-
ography was used to track a gold marker, which was
originally uniformly sputter deposited on the surface
of the bottom sheet, and the final location of this gold
Figure 12. Schematic diagrams showing formation of a helical
vertical rotational flow of material within the stir zone formed
adjacent to the periphery of the rotating pin.155
Figure 13. Three-dimensional material flow model during FSSW: a) Tip of probe reaches lower sheet, b) Lower sheet material is
squeezed upwards by tool penetration, c) Shoulder contacts upper sheet, d) Lower sheet material reaches to inlet of thread
located at root of probe, e) Both upper and lower sheet materials move downwards via thread, f) Incorporated materials are dis-
charged from outlet of thread located at tip of the pin.167
marker can be observed in Figure 14, which compares
welds produced with the long flute wiper tool. Figure
14a and b show that during welding, the gold does
not remain distributed homogenously across the inter-
face between the two sheets, but becomes concen-
trated in spiral-like patterns. This finding indicates
that sticking between the top and bottom sheet surfa-
ces first occurs locally, at locations such as high spots
on the sheet surfaces for example. When the gold
areas are plotted and connected by surface rendering,
the plan and edge views in Figure 14b–d confirm the
observations that the weld interface becomes increas-
ingly dished with weld time. It was also found that to
rapidly produce a high strength FSSW joint with a
pinless tool, control must be kept to avoid the tool
adhering and shearing with the top sheet. The tem-
perature must increase sufficiently to soften the base
material to prevent cracking, and to promote suffi-
cient radial flow and ensure enough penetration of
the deformation zone to achieve bonding.
Reilly et al. proposed a kinematic model of material
flow in the case of pinless FSSW.49 The material flow
during FSSW of aluminum to both aluminum and
steel has been investigated, using pinless tools in a lap
joint geometry. A novel kinematic flow model is pre-
sented, which successfully predicts the observed layer-
ing of the dissimilar Al alloys under a range of
conditions. One of the core assumptions of the model
is that the deformation volume is a through-thickness
cylinder of diameter equal to the tool diameter, with
zero velocity proscribed on the cylindrical surface.
 CRITICAL REVIEWS IN SOLID STATE AND MATERIALS SCIENCES 19

Figure 14. X-ray tomography measurements shown displacements of a uniformly sputtered deposited gold marker layer following
welding produced with a pinless, long flute wiper tool. (a) Plan view showing the distribution of gold at the weld interface, (b–d)
the development of the dished nature of the weld line as a function of dwell time (top and side view).52

The model and the experimental observations provide
a consistent interpretation of the stick-slip conditions
at the tool-workpiece interface, addressing an elusive
and long-standing issue in the modeling of heat gen-
eration in friction stir processing.
Figure 15 shows the sections in vertical single-butt
(top Al 6082/Al 6111) and bottom galvanized steel.
Two welds produced at different rotation speeds in
the plunge, long duration welds in single-butt config-
uration with the Zn-coated steel. It is interesting to
note that the material layering or intermixing is
largely perpendicular to the weld interface, with a
small dish-shaped region at the center of the higher
rotation speed weld. Detailed investigation showed
that due to the low temperature eutectic reaction in
the Al–Zn system53 (occurring at 382  C), melting of
the Zn coating occurred in these welds. Hence it may
be assumed to provide little or no constraint to the
underside of the Al sheet. The kinematic model has
therefore been used to investigate these layering pat-
terns, by modifying the boundary condition between
the workpieces.
2.3. Modeling of heat and material flow
In terms of heat generation in FSSW, it is equally
important to briefly consider the amount of heat
transferred to the workpiece and tool since this can be
useful for determining the microstructures in ther-
mally sensitive alloys. Conduction and convectiive
heat flux at any point may be applied for predicting
heat flow from Fourier’s law. In order to calculate the
temperature distribution and plastic deformation dur-
ing the FSSW process, the mass, momentum and
energy equations must be solved with temperature
dependent (or both temperature and strain rate
dependent) material properties. The governing equa-
tions are similar to those proposed by Ulysse122 and
Nandan et al.3,168 for the case of modeling linear
FSW. However, there is a major difference between
their formulation and the equations for FSSW. During
FSSW the tool gradually moves into the workpiece
and generates increasing amount of heat and deform-
ation, both of which closely depend on the tool pos-
ition and accordingly the plunge time. This transient
nature of plunge stage therefore requires preservation
20 Z. SHEN ET AL.
Figure 15. Micrographs of sections through friction stir spot welds between Al and Zn-coated steel, with dissimilar Al alloys in sin-
gle-butt configuration in the top sheet (dwell) time of 1 sec: (a) 800 rpm and (b) 2000 rpm. c) Initial setup of vertical single-butt Al
6082 and Al 6111 top sheets and galvanized steel bottom sheet.49
of time dependent terms in the mathematical
expressions.169
2.3.1. Analytical models
Both analytical and numerical models are powerful
tools in developing an understanding of a welding
process, some of the earliest analytical models related
to temperature analysis.170 The Rosenthal equa-
tions,171 describe the quasi-steady temperature field of
a semi-infinite body with a moving point heat source
at a constant velocity, representing the welding torch.
A similar framework has been applied to FSW, for
example in the work of McClure et al.,172 and Feng
et al.,173 who incorporated a friction heating term,
assuming a constant uniform pressure between the
tool and the work pierce. The axial force, rotation vel-
ocity, and traverse speed of the tool are the key
parameters in these models. The heat source produced
around the tool is assumed to follow a simple analyt-
ical solution based depending on the coefficient of
friction,174 however, attempts to use analytical models
for FSSW are limited.
The work of Schmidt and Hattel on modeling of
FSW also included analytical models which involve
analytical estimation of heat generation during the
plunge and dwell periods,98 and so there is some
potential to apply these to the FSSW process. For
example, Figure 16 shows the heat generation from
the plunge and dwell periods, where the plunge force
increases during the first stage of the plunge (from
13.7 to 8 s) to 21 kN and the torque increases to
15 Nm. This initial gradual rise in both tool torque
and axial force are caused by the tool pin penetrating
the base material. This is followed by a transient
response in both the plunge force and torque (rising
to a maximum of 60 Nm), which is a result of the
shoulder contacting the workpiece surface. Figure 16
also shows the heat generation as function of time,
which shows that the analytical power calculated
based on sticking contact assumption matches fairly
well to the experimental measurement.
A simplified model for the material flow created
during a friction stir/spot welding process has been
developed using a boundary driven cylindrical Couette
flow model with a specified heat flux at the inner
cylinder for a Bingham plastic material.175 Non-
dimensionalization led to three parameters being iden-
tified which influence the velocity and temperature
fields, with analytical solutions being compared to a
parametric study of experimental results which
showed good correlation to experiment. This study
also presented numerical solutions for velocity and
temperature fields resulting from the non-linear cou-
pling of the momentum and energy equations created
by temperature dependent transport properties.
2.3.2. Numerical models
The material flow during FSSW has been investigated
using both experimental and numerical methods, or
combined methods, especially since the last dec-
ade.12,144,146,149,176–181 The modeling work has been
summarized in Table 5, which lists the materials and
approach used in each model, most of which focus on
material flow during FSSW. The process involves solv-
ing the coupled thermo-elasto-plastic response of the
tool-workpiece system, in which the constitutive
model of the material and the non-linear temperature
dependent transient heat transfer response produce
both plastic deformations and a temperature distribu-
tion which depends on the parameters and tool geom-
etry.182 In most cases, these mathematical models
cannot be solved analytically, requiring a numerical
solution. Thermal modeling has been one of the most
studied issues in FSW and FSSW modeling since the
late 1990s. However, unlike many other thermome-
chanical processes, the mechanisms controlling FSW
and FSSW are fully coupled and heat generation is
related to material flow and friction/contact condition.
The material close to the tool/workpiece interface will
reduce its heat generation, as the material approaches
the solidus temperature. A model can be considered a
thermal pseudomechanical description in which the
temperature-dependent yield stress is the driver for

Figure 16. Heat generation (left y-axis) and plunge force and torque (right y-axis). Plunge period 13.7 to 5 s. Dwell period 5
to 0 s. Weld period is from 0 to 52.5 s.98
the heat source.99 A self-stabilizing effect will thus be
established at a temperature slightly below the solidus
temperature as described by North et al.136 However,
unlike material laws used in the flow models, the
strain rate dependence is not included in the model.
Currently, the FSSW approaches can be divided
into conventional, refill, pinless, as well as swing or
sweep weld variants. To develop FSSW tool geome-
tries and optimize process parameters, it is critical to
understand the physical phenomena during the pro-
cess which include complex thermo-mechanical issues.
The modeling techniques adopted can be categorized
as being based on: a) fluid dynamics for simulation of
material flow and temperature distribution, b) solid
mechanics for simulation of temperature distribution,
stress and strain, or c) a combination of a) and b).
Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and computa-
tional mechanics are the branches of fluid dynamics
and solid mechanics, respectively, and they provide a
cost-effective means of simulating real flow by the
numerical solution of the governing equations. In the
CFD techniques, the material is numerically analyzed
as a viscous fluid flowing across an Eulerian mesh
and interacting with a rotating tool.117 Continuum
solid mechanics models require the use of Lagrangian
formulation due to the high deformation levels.
However, the steep gradient values of the state varia-
bles near to the probe and the thermomechanical cou-
pling requires a high number of degrees of freedom,
which is costly in terms of computation time. In order
to deal with this, adaptive arbitrary Lagrangian
Eulerian (ALE) formulation has been implemented by
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN SOLID STATE AND MATERIALS SCIENCES 21
some authors. The models used to numerically simu-
late the FSSW process have used commercial software
including ABAQUS, Deform, FORGE3, FLUENT,
ANSYS, LSDYNA, FIDAP, COMSOL as well as user-
defined codes, each offering its own advantages.
In an early preliminary model describing FSSW of
Al 6061 alloy, Gerlich et al.145 presented evidence that
the peak temperature measured at the base of the
rotating pin is 0.95 Ts, where Ts is the solidus tem-
perature of Al 6061, and that a viscous flow model
can be satisfactorily applied to calculate the tempera-
ture distribution in material immediately beneath the
rotating tool. This model is being further developed to
account for deformation at the surface of the Al 6061
sheet and for flow of material due to extrusion when
the tool penetrates into the Al 6061 sheet. It was also
noted that convective heat transfer resulting from
material extrusion should be taken into account dur-
ing FSSW. The model indicated that an ALE formula-
tion can be used for modeling of FSSW with an
appropriate material law that provides flow stress as a
function of strain, strain rate, and temperature. There
has been some prior work in this area,177 where fur-
ther FSSW has been modeled using a fully coupled
thermo-mechanical 3 D FE model of the process
developed using an ABAQUS/Explicit code.102 The
thermal response is governed by the general heat
equation and mechanical response is governed by the
differential equation of motion.
To simulate the material behavior in the analysis,
material constitutive laws correlating temperature and
strain rate stress were dependent on the elastic-plastic
 22

Table 5. Summary of modeling and results on material flow in friction stir spot welding simulation.
Author (year)/ref Material Material model Approach Software Comment: key findings
Gerlich (2005)145 Al 6061-T6 Navier-Stokes CFD User empirical model Temperature distribution, the calculated peak temperature exceeds 440  C with
/Transient 300 mm of pin penetration.
energy equations
Kakarla (2005)184 Muci- Al 7075-T6 MIL_HDBK-5H 3-D isothermal solid ABAQUS /Explicit A simplified isothermal 3D model of the initial plunge phase of the FSSW
Kuchler (2005)178 mechanics FEM process is presented.
Muci-Kuchler (2010)185 Al 7075-T6 Linear elastic-perfectly Fully coupled thermos- ABAQUS /Explicit The simulation results included the temperature, deformation, stress, and strain
Z. SHEN ET AL.

plastic material and mechanical FEM distributions. An experimental study was also conducted to validate the
MIL-HDBK-5H temperatures predicted by the model.
Itapu (2006)146 Al 7075-T7 MIL-HDBK-5H 3-D isothermal solid ABAQUS /Explicit Virtual tracers are incorporated into the FEM model to predict the flow of
mechanics FEM material in the vicinity of the pin.
Awang (2005 Al 6061-T6 Johnson-Cook 3D Coupled thermal- ABAQUS /Explicit The combined features of this approach allow the coupled thermo-elasto-
and 2006)177,186 mechanical model plastic response to be obtained, which clearly shows the extent of the
thermomechanically affected zone and the temperature profile.
Su (2007)149 Al 575 4/6111 Navier-Stokes/Transient CFD Semi-implieit method The three-dimensional axisymmetric model assumes that nonslip conditions
energy equations exist at the contact interface during the entire temperature cycle from room
temperature to the solidus temperature of Al alloy.
Mandal (2008)183 Al 2024 Johnson-Cook Thermomechanical ABAQUS /Explicit An experimental and numerical investigation was performed on the plunge
stage of friction stir welding. The peak temperature under the tool pin was

500  C.
Sathiya (2008)187 Al 6061-T6 Johnson-Cook Fully coupled ABAQUS /Explicit Temperature graph in radial direction as well as stress, strain are presented
thermomechanical
FEM
Badarinarayan Al 6022-T4 material properties Thernomechanical FEM ANSYS FEA results showed the maximum thermal expansion of the tool to be
(2007)188 from experiments 0.124 mm which agrees well with the experimental results. The tool was
divided into 10 zones. The temperature of each zone was set based on the
temperature seen from the IR image.
Hirasawa (2009)189 Al 6061 Elastic-plastic A two-step approach: Moving particle The effect of tool geometry on the plastic flow and material mixing during
Hirasawa (2010)19 deformation and a) temperature semi-implicit friction stir spot welding (FSSW) is investigated using the particle
particle method distribution from method approach.
unsteady thermal
conduction
equation. b)
material flow from
elastic–plastic
deformation
equations using
particle movement.
Awang (2010)102 Al 6061-T6 Johnson-Cook Fully 3D Coupled ABAQUS /Explicit Friction work at the interface of the tool and the 1) The peak temperature
thermal- obtained from the simulation, which is equivalent to 0.95Ts (Ts is solidus
mechanical model temperature of Al 6061-T6), 2) Workpiece generates the most energy, which
is about 96.84%, for the FSSW process. The rest of the energies come from
the friction work between the plates (0.02%) and the plastic
deformation (3.14%).
Kim (2010)190 Al 6022-T4 Elaso-linear hardening Eulerian FVM Star CD 3.26 1) Using FVM code, material flow patterns near the tool boundary were
Al 5083-H18 Mises plastic Lagrangian FEM PAM-CRASH analyzed
without rate and 2) to explain weld strength difference between welds with cylindrical and
temp dependence triangular pins.
Fanelli (2012)180 Al 6082-T6 Setup a complex Complex 3D FE model Theoretical framework The interest is focused on joint strength and fracture modes
numerical model
of reference
Veljic (2013)191 Al 2024-T3 Johnson-Cook ALE Abaqus/Explicit Increasing the plunging speed of the tool decreases the friction-generated
heat and increases the amount of deformation-generated heat, while
increasing the tool rotating speed has the opposite influence on both
heat portions.
Gao (2013)125 Al 6082-T6 Rigid-viscoplastic Rigid-viscoplastic DEFORM-3D For the work piece of Al6082-T6, a rigid-viscoplastic temperature, strain and
strain rate-dependent material model with strain rates from 0.001 to 100/
sec was utilized. During FSSW, the effective strain and strain rate is
extremely high due to the high-rotational speed of the tool. The effective
strain under the tool is high enough to exceed the critical strain which is
necessary for GDRX.
Miles (2014)123 DP980 steel Isotropic, visco-plastic ALE R
FORGEV Material flow was calculated from a velocity field that is two-dimensional. The
Norton-Hoff law model predicted welding temperatures to within 4%, and the position of
the joint interface to within 10% of the experimental results.
D’Urso (2015)192 Al 6061-T6 Analysis with Lagrangian method Deform 2D 1) A 2D approach used for the simulation of a 3D problem. 2) A set of
Experimental with an automatic experiments used for modeling and validation. 3) An index for the
analysis remeshing approach prediction of the joint shear resistance using FEM simulations was finally
proposed and validated.
Zhao (2015)124 7B04-T74 Arrhenius constitutive ALE DEFORM-3DTM The temperature and material flow behavior during the Refill FSSW were
studied by both the numerical simulation and welding experiment.
Liu (2015)169 Al 6061/TRIP780 steel Modified Johnson- User analysis models a) Analysis model b) In the early stage of plunging, the estimated axial force correlates well with
Cook with a volume ABAQUS /Explicit the experimental results, where a short plateau can be observed before the
fraction a final peak occurs.
Cao(2017)193 Al6061-T6/5A06 Johnson-Cook Coupled Eulerian- ABAQUS During the plunge stage, materials from the upper and lower sheets were
Lagrangian (CEL) successively extruded upward in a rotating motion into the reservoir as the
sleeve plunged. During the refill stage, the pre-ejected materials were
pushed downward by the pin to refill the keyhole from the inside.
194
X. Yang (2018) Al 2198-T8 Johnson-Cook ALE ABAQUS /Explicit The plasticized material of top surface flows inward. Then a downward flow
occurs and the plasticized materials move outwards. At same time, the
material from the lower plate has been extruded to upward flow. Finally,
part of the plasticized material moves toward the outer circumference ofthe
shoulder indentation to form flash. maximum flow velocity appears at the
region near the sleeve outer wall
MIL_HDBK-5H: Military Handbook, metallic Materials and Elements for Aerospace Vehicle Structure, December 1998.
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN SOLID STATE AND MATERIALS SCIENCES
23
24 Z. SHEN ET AL.
Johnson-Cook material model.118 The temperature
profile and energy dissipation history of an FE model
have also been analyzed. The peak temperature at the
tip of the pin is in close agreement with the experi-
mental results134,145 to within about 5.1%. A 3 D finite
element-based model (FEM) of the plunge stage of
FSW was also developed using the commercial code
ABAQUS to study the thermomechanical processes
involved during the plunge stage of FSW.183 This
work also involved a strain rate and temperature-
dependent Johnson–Cook material law which was
incorporated into the FEM, where numerical simula-
tion data correlate well with the experimental data.
Kim et al.190 have utilized finite volume method
(FVM) and commercial finite element method (FEM)
codes, which are based on Eulerian and Lagrangian
fomulations, respectively. For the thermo-mechanical
analysis of FSSW processes, the continuity equation as
well as the momentum and energy conservation equa-
tions was solved with temperature dependent material
properties. The rate-insensitive and incompressible
rigid-perfect von Mises plastic property was applied
for the work-piece.195 The Lagrangian explicit
dynamic FEM code, PAM-CRASH, and the Eulerian
CFD based FVM code, STAR-CD, were utilized to
understand the effect of pin geometry on weld
strength and material flow under the unsteady state
condition. Using the FVM code, material flow pat-
terns near the tool boundary were analyzed to explain
weld strength difference between welds by a cylin-
drical pin and welds by a triangular pin, whereas the
frictional energy concept using FEM code had a lim-
m1
ited capacity to explain the differences in weld
strength. Thermo-mechanical modeling of the FSSW
process was conducted using commercial FEW and
FVM codes based on Lagrangian and Eulerian formu-
lations, respectively.190 The weld strength results for
various tool geometries were predicted based on the
frictional energy obtained from the Lagrangian FEM
model, but this approach was acceptable only for rela-
tive comparison among regular (cylindrical) pin geo-
metries. Using the concept of the material flow
pattern, however, the Eulerian FVM simulation pro-
vided an explanation for the formation of different
hook shapes near the pin formed by triangular and
cylindrical pins, and how these correlate to
weld strength.
Also a fully coupled thermo-mechanical FE model
was developed in ABAQUS/Explicit to simulate the
plunge phase of the refill FSSW process under consid-
eration by Muci-Kuchler.185 The numerical results
obtained were in good agreement with the
temperatures, flash height, tool plunge force, and tool
torque measured during the validation experiment.
Also, the stress and equivalent plastic strain distribu-
tions were consistent with the ones expected for the
refill FSSW process considered. There are several key
parameters in the model that have a significant impact
in the simulation results: 1) the coefficient of friction
between the tool and the plate material, 2) the limit-
ing shear stress that controls the stick/slip condition
between contacting surfaces, 3) the distribution of
frictional heat between the pin and the plates, and 4)
the gap conductance between the bottom plate and
supporting anvil. Ideally, carefully designed experi-
ments should be conducted to determine the value of
those parameters. However, in a practical context,
experiments can be used to select their values so that
the numerical and experimental results are similar.185
In the case of modeling welds in steels, some
details have differed slightly from other alloys. For
example, a model for FSSW of DP 980 steel was
developed using a finite element approach within the
196
ForgeV R software package. The FSSW process was
modeled using a simplified 2 D, axisymmetric
approach. An ALE scheme with explicit time integra-
tion was employed to predict the flow of the work-
piece material, subjected to boundary conditions of a
rotating tool and a fixed backing plate. An isotropic,
viscoplastic Norton-Hoff law was used to model the
evolution of material flow stress as a function of
strain, strain rate, and temperature. The expression
for the deviatoric stress tensor is shown below:
pffiffiffi
s ¼ 2K 3_e e_ (17)
where _e is the strain rate tensor, e_ is the effective
strain rate, K and m are the material parameters, see
Eq. 22. K is a function of temperature T and equiva-
lent strain e, n is the strain hardening exponent and
b is a thermal softening parameter:
b
K ¼ Ko ðeo þ e Þn eT (18)
This viscoplastic law is capable of modeling mater-
ial flow stresses in the region of the weld, while pro-
viding the contact stresses with the tool that was used
to calculate the friction shear stress at the tool/sheet
interface. The model provided temperature predictions
within the sheets and the tool during the welding pro-
cess. The greatest difference between the experiment
and the model predictions of temperature was 4%.123
The interface between the sheets was also modeled, in
terms of both shape and position, to within 10% of
the experiment. This model has a good potential to be
extended to a prediction of welded bond area, by

Figure 17. Change of positions of particles (left) and flow pattern (right) for cylindrical pin. (a) 0.13 s; (b) 0.26 s; (c) 0.35 s and (d)
0.44 s. The black particles are an indication of the original particle position.19
incorporating time, temperature, and pressure data
from diffusion bonding experiments.
A two step approach to model FSSW of Al 6061
can be undertaken for the numerical analysis of fluid
flow including an elastic-plastic deformation model
using the particle method.189 Initially, the temperature
distribution is calculated with the unsteady thermal
conduction equation. Local contact surface heat gener-
ating rate qo (W/m2) is calculated by
qo ¼ pdlpN
where d is diameter (m), l is the dynamic friction coef-
ficient (l¼ 0.6 in this work),197 p is contact pressure
(Pa), and N is rotating speed. In the second step, the
plastic flow of material is analyzed with the obtained
temperature distribution and then is calculated with the
elastic–plastic deformation equations by the moving par-
ticle semi-implicit method. The angular velocities and
the rotation angles of each particle are implicitly calcu-
lated from the velocities and coordinates of the neighbor
particles respectively. Large deformations accompanied
by rigid rotation can be implemented readily using this
technique, while quantifying the total energy by
employing a symplectic scheme. By introducing a vis-
cosity term, the total energy can be decreased without a
loss of angular momentum.198,199 In the particle
method, the workpiece material is assumed to be com-
posed of several “particles” and the movements of these
particles are computed. Temperature distribution is axi-
symmetric and the temperature below the rotation
cylindrical tool is 340  C at 0.44 s for the standard
tool.19 Figure 17 shows the instantaneous snap-shot
material flow at different time instances during the tool
plunging phase for standard tool. The material flow at
the pin periphery is in the upward direction. Near the
shoulder, there are two flow patterns observed-closer to
the centerline, the material is pushed downward due to
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN SOLID STATE AND MATERIALS SCIENCES 25
the force acting from the shoulder face, whereas on the
shoulder periphery the material flows upward and out-
ward due to extrusion of the material that is caused by
the shoulder plunge.
D’Urso and Giardini presented an FEM model for
the thermo-mechanical characterization,200 where they
developed a new 2 D model for the FSSW process,
taking advantage of the uniaxial symmetry for study-
ing lap spot welding using the with DEFORM 2 D
(19) code. A satisfactory correlation with temperature dis-
tributions and welding forces was found for a wide
range of welding conditions (with average errors rang-
ing around 10%) when the numerical results were
compared to spot welding experiments on Al 6060-T6
aluminum alloy plates.
Due to the shortcomings of purely Lagrangian and
purely Eulerian descriptions, the arbitrary Lagrangian
Eulerian (ALE) method has been developed in com-
bining the best features of both the Lagrangian and
the Eulerian approaches. In an early model by Itapu
et al.,146 the pin and clamp are modeled as analytical
rigid surfaces and solid linear hexahedral elements are
used to mesh the plate. To avoid mesh distortion
problems caused by the large deformations experi-
enced by the material close to the pin, the ALE Finite
Element formulation combined with an adaptive
meshing algorithm are employed in ABAQUS/Explicit
to perform the analysis. In addition, the surface-to-
surface contact algorithm together with a modified
Coulomb friction law is used to define the frictional
interaction between the pin and plate and between the
clamp and plate. A maximum shear stress value is
defined to control the stick/slip behavior of the mater-
ial in contact with the pin. More analyses need to be
performed to determine the largest mass scaling factor
that can be used without degrading the accuracy of
the numerical solution.
26 Z. SHEN ET AL.
Figure 18. Simulation results of material flow during refill FSSW: (a) material flow velocity distribution on the weld surface at the
welding time of 3 s (plunging/dwell) stage), material flow velocity distributions on a half cross section of the weld at the welding
time of (b) 2 s (plunging) and (c) 4 s (retreating). The welding parameters were tool rotation speed of 1500 rpm, sleeve motion
speed of 1 mm/s, and sleeve plunge depth of 3 mm.124
Recently, Zhao et al.124,201 presented that the tem-
perature and material flow behavior during refill FSSW
of 7B04-T4 aluminum alloy were studied by both
numerical simulation and experimentation. They
reported that during welding, the metal which flowed
into the sleeve cavity experienced higher temperatures,
and the peak temperature in the stir zone was higher
than the incipient melting temperature of the base
material. An Arrhenius constitutive model202 which
incorporated temperature and the rate into account was
employed. In the sleeve retraction stage of the refill
welding process, the material in the sleeve cavity flowed
downward out of the sleeve cavity, and then it flowed
laterally and upward to fill the gap left by the retreating
sleeve. Such a material flow path resulted in the “U-
shaped” morphology of the bonding ligament, this leads
to an upward curve at the hook feature, and upward
distortion of the grains in the thermo-mechanically
affected zone.128,203 The ALE formulation was adopted
with the commercial finite element analysis software
DEFORM-3DTM using a continuous FEM model, and
Figure 18 reveals the material flow behavior during refill
FSSW. The material flows rotationally and symmetrically
with respect to the weld center driven by the rotational
welding tool. The material in the sleeve cavity has much
higher flow velocity than the material near the outer
edge of the sleeve (see Figure 18a–c) which shows the
material flow velocity distributions on a half cross-section
of the weld in the sleeve plunging (Figure 18a and b)
and retreating (Figure 18c) stages, respectively. In the
sleeve plunging stage of the friction spot welding process,
the material flow into the sleeve cavity from the periph-
ery and the bottom of the sleeve is marked by a red
arrow in Figure 18b. In the sleeve retreating stage, the
material in the sleeve cavity is extruded by the pin and
flows downwards out of the pin cavity, and then it flows
laterally and upwards to fill the gap left by the retreating
sleeve, as marked by a red arrow in Figure 18c. This
material flow caused the material near the outer edge of
the sleeve to significantly flow upward.
3. Tool design and process parameters
Tool design features such as geometry or tool mater-
ial, and process parameters including rotational speed,
plunge rate, plunge depth and dwell time are critical
to the success of the FSSW technology, since these
factors significantly affect heat generation, material
flow, torque, axial force, weld integrity and tool deg-
radation mechanisms.205 Low heat generation and
insufficient material flow could result in defects such
as voids, lack of bonding, incomplete refill, or inad-
equate bonded areas.114,206 However, with higher heat
input, grain growth or excessive softening of the sur-
rounding HAZ occurs as a result of precipitate dissol-
ution. In order to explore optimum tool design and
process parameters, it is vital to gain a better under-
standing of mechanisms influencing these factors.
Also, the effect of pre/post treatment on the weld
strength should be considered.
3.1. Tool design
The primary functions of the tool are to induce rapid
heating, induce material flow, and constrain the over-
flow of plasticized material out of the weld zone. As
described in the first section, the classification of
FSSW was made based on the tool types and move-
ments. The tool used in conventional FSSW has been
traditionally derived from FSW,207 in which a fixed
pin tool corresponds to a single piece comprising both
the shoulder and pin. This pin tool can only weld a
workpiece with a constant thickness due to the fixed
pin length. The main goals of the tool design in linear
(butt) FSW and FSSW are rather different. In the case
of FSW, more emphasis is given on horizontal mixing,

Figure 19. Summary of published
FSSW:12,13,16,17,26,43,48,205,207,209,210,213,219–258 (a) Shoulder/Pin diameter versus workpiece thickness, (b) Pin length versus work-
piece thickness.
i.e. to move material from one workpiece to the other
in the plane of welding such that material flow occurs
across the vertical interface line.207 Also, some of the
FSW tool designs (such as cylindrical, and trade-
marked Whorl and Triflute pin tools) are not suitable
for lap configuration joining because they could cause
excessive thinning of the upper sheet and the trapping
of surface oxide between the overlapping surfaces.208
This implies FSW tools should be optimized before
applying them on FSSW. In fact, FSSW tools have
gradually evolved into completely new technologies
such as pinless and refill FSSW tools.
The tool used in pinless FSSW consists of only a
shoulder, and can be considered as an extreme
example of the fixed pin tool. In refill FSSW, the
adjustable pin or sleeve length allows joining variable
thickness workpiece and refilling the keyhole.
Currently, steel tools are the most common and reli-
able tool material to join low melting point materials,
such as polymer, Al and Mg alloys. However, FSSW
has been yet to be commercially applied on high melt-
ing point metals such as steels alloys, because of the
lack of cost-effective and durable tool materials.
3.1.1. Tool geometry
The shoulder applies an axial force to the workpiece
top surface to produce forging action necessary for
welding consolidation, constrains the plasticized mater-
ial around the pin, and establishes frictional and
deformational heating and material flow in a relatively
thin layer under the shoulder bottom surface. The plas-
tic flow occurs not only within the stir zone but also in
a larger area below the tool shoulder.209 It is suggested
that heat generation under the large tool shoulder area
is the dominant feature in FSW.19 However, the heat
generation mechanism during FSSW is rather different
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN SOLID STATE AND MATERIALS SCIENCES 27
tool diameters versus workpiece thickness used in conventional
from linear FSW, since FSSW is a highly transient join-
ing process, and the tool shoulder only plays an import-
ant role briefly when the tool pin is completely plunged
into the workpiece.15
Geometrical details of the tool, including the dimen-
sions, shapes and surface features are considered to be
essential welding parameters.16,19,52 The heat generation
rate, plastic flow and hook geometry are significantly
affected by the tool shoulder shape and dimensions.205
Up to now, most optimization of FSSW tool shoulder
dimension has been empirically carried out by trail and
error methods. It is reported that larger shoulder diam-
eters could improve the heat generation, bonded area
and weld strength.210,211 Figure 19 summarizes the tool
diameters commonly used in conventional FSSW of
lightweight material, such as Al and Mg alloys. As
shown in Figure 19a, unlike the trends in linear FSW,
primarily only the shoulder diameters increase with
workpiece thickness for the case of FSSW, since heat
input strongly depends on the tool shoulder dimen-
sion.212 However, since excessive heat input could
reduce the friction coefficient at the contact surface
between a tool shoulder and an upper sheet material,
this can reduce the ability to push the material out-
wards and upwards from the stir zone, and degrade the
weld strength.213 During pinless FSSW, a 10 mm diam-
eter shoulder was commonly used.38,48,49,52,62 Numerical
simulation results indicate that the sleeve with a larger
outer diameter greatly increases heat input, the flow vel-
ocity, and the welding spot area,214 where a sleeve with
a diameter of 9.0 mm was most commonly used in refill
FSSW.65,206,215–218
The most common tool shoulder outer face has a
cylindrical shape, but a triangular250 or conical sur-
face259 is also occasionally used. The tool shoulder
end surface is a critical aspect of tool design in FSSW.
28 Z. SHEN ET AL.

Figure 20. Type I: Commonly used tool geometries in conventional FSSW,16,207 Type II: tools used in FSSW of steels: (a) coarsely
threaded pin tool,271 (b) three flat pin tool,123 (c) swirl pattern convex shoulder tool,262 and (d) thick cylindrical pin tool.272 Type
III: Tools used in pinless FSSW: (a) the featureless flat tool, (b) the short flute wiper tool, (c) the long flute wiper tool, (d) the fluted
scroll tool, (e) the proud wiper tool, and (f) scroll grooved tool.52,265

As shown in Figure 20, three types of shoulder end
surfaces are commonly used in conventional FSSW:
concave,256 flat256 and convex.16 Currently, a concave
tool shoulder is the most common shoulder design in
conventional FSSW,260 since the concave surface pro-
file of the shoulder serves as a reservoir for the mater-
ial displaced by the pin, which facilitates the inward
material flow efficiently beneath the shoulder. The dis-
placed material held in the concave shoulder profile
renders a forging action on the material behind the
tool by exerting a downward applied pressure on the
tool, therefore increasing effective top sheet thickness.
Meanwhile, a concave shoulder tool produces a sharp
hook, which prevents failure propagation along the
contact surface of the overlapped workpieces. Hence,
a concave tool shoulder produces higher joint strength
than those made by flat or convex tool shoulder by
restricting material extrusion from shoulder
bottom.16,207,256 Also, for the same plunge depth lesser
amount of extruded material is in contact with the
concave shoulder, thus the concave tool resulted in a
lower axial load compared to a convex or flat tool.
Therefore, the angle of concave surface is also an
important factor, which affects temperature distribu-
tion and axial force. If this is too extreme, it is pos-
sible that the axial force is too low and the material
will not be stirred enough so the weld strength will
decrease.261
The convex shoulder “protrudes” out and comes in
contact with the workpiece at a much earlier plunge
depth compared to the concave shoulder, thereby
thinning the top sheet, producing poor material mix-
ing and thus producing the lowest weld strength.16,19
However, the main advantage of this shoulder is that
the outer edge of the tool does not need to engage the
workpiece, so the shoulder can be engaged with the

workpiece at any location along the convex surface.
An additional benefit of a convex shoulder tool is that
one may vary the depth of welding with some amount
of flexibility, which is more difficult with a concave
shoulder tool. This would allow for welding materials
of different thicknesses using the same tool, within a
reasonable tolerance.207,262 Moreover, there is no hook
formation in the weld region generated due to the
tool geometry.19 As shown in Figure 20, a PCBN con-
vex shoulder tool with its surface was machined with
a swirl pattern is typically used in FSW and FSSW of
steel to promote material flow.262–264 The flat shoulder
tool results in output that is intermediate between
concave and convex shoulder tools, producing weld
strengths that are compromise between these
designs.16 However, a flat shoulder is used exclusively
in pinless FSSW tools.52,62,265
More complex shoulder end surfaces have also
been considered in order to increase material friction,
and deformation to induce an inward material flow
beneath the shoulder.213 The typical shoulder end
styles include flat (smooth or featureless), spiral,266
scrolls, ridges, knurling, grooves and concentric
circles.267,268 These features can be applied to concave,
flat or convex shoulder ends, in which scrolls are the
most commonly used shoulder feature.269,270 The typ-
ical scrolled shoulder consists of a flat end surface
with a spiral channel cut from the edge towards the
center. The scrolls assist in moving the material from
the outer periphery of the shoulder towards the cen-
tral pin when the tool rotates in the counterclockwise
direction.141
During pinless FSSW, the end surface features are
crucially important. As shown in Figure 20 (Type III),
featureless flat, fluted wipe, fluted scroll, proud wiper
and scroll grooved pinless tools are commonly
used.52,265 These features facilitate adequate stirring of
the material, strongly influence the material flow and
increased the penetration of the plastic zone into the
bottom sheet, leading to higher weld strength com-
pared to a conventional pin tool.52 These end surface
features and tool plunge depth are the two most
important process variables for pinless FSSW.38 For
instance, the flutes on the shoulder can drive the
material flow inwards radially near the top surface
and downwards through the weld center. Therefore,
the lower material was driven upwards into the top
material through the interface, and thus enclosing a
volume of the upper sheet within a ring of material
formed from the lower sheet.38,49,52 It should be noted
that the tool rotation direction also plays an import-
ant role in determining the thermal cycle and material
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN SOLID STATE AND MATERIALS SCIENCES 29
flow pattern when the shoulder was coupled with a
surface feature.52
The main role of the tool pin is to disrupt the fay-
ing surface, shear the adjacent material in the stir
zone, and generate frictional plus deformation heat-
ing.229 In FSW, the tool shoulder accounts for 80% to
99% of the energy generated since tool shoulder
remains in contact with stir zone material for almost
the entire seam welding operation.98,273,274 During
conventional FSSW, the tool shoulder only contributes
to energy generation after the rotating pin has pene-
trated into the upper sheet material.275,276 Therefore,
it would be expected that much of the energy gener-
ated during the spot welding operation would origin-
ate from the rotating pin. For example, the rotating
pin accounts for around 70% and 66% of the energy
generated when 6.3 mm thick Al6061-T6 and
AM50 Mg-alloy sheet materials are spot welded with-
out the application of a dwell period.113 In the joining
of thick sheets, the depth of deformation is mainly
governed by the pin, which assists in the vertical flow
of the material, which determines the extent of
deformation required to consolidate the weld.205,209
As shown in Figure 19b, the pin length is determined
linearly by the workpiece thickness, since the thermal
input and velocity fields from the tool shoulder
decreases as the workpiece increases, a longer pin
must be used to guarantee sufficient thermal energy
and velocity fields for the weld formation.58,277
However, it should be noted that in the case of thin
gauges (1 mm), the pin could be expected to become
less important and a pinless tool could potentially
produce acceptable weld strength, as long as the
deformation zone penetrates sufficiently into the bot-
tom sheet to disperse the interfacial oxide layer.48
The larger the pin radius, the greater the amount
of heat, and the material under the pin becomes
much softer. Therefore, the material offers less resist-
ance against the tool, and increases the maximum
temperature during the plunge.261 The larger pin
radius is beneficial to increase the bonded
area,207,210,235 although a larger volume of the stirred
material is extruded out of the keyhole, and excessive
flash is produced around the weld circumference,
which counteracts the benefits of a larger bond area.
Thus, a pin diameter of
4 mm is most commonly
used, regardless of the workpiece thickness (see Figure
19a). In refill FSSW, a pin diameter ranging from
5.0 mm to 6.4 mm is used to cooperate with the sleeve
movement by adjusting the plunging and retreating
rates.206,216–218,278–281
30 Z. SHEN ET AL.
The pin profile is one of the dominant factors in
determining weld strength, where the geometry sig-
nificantly affects energy output, grain size, hook for-
mation, the shape and dimension of the stir zone,
which lead to the pin having a stronger influence on
properties than the shoulder geometry.16,224,250,282 As
shown in Figure 20, most pin designs incorporate a
cylindrical, tapered and triangular pin. Meanwhile,
inverse tapered,207 square,283 hexagonal,283 spherical259
and off-center geometries were also studied.229,259
Also, polycrystalline cubic boron nitride (PCBN) tools
with a coarse thread or stepped-spiral pin was com-
monly used in FSSW of steels.264,284
The effects of pin geometries on the material flow
and weld strength have been extensively investigated
by several groups. The standard cylindrical pin produ-
ces axisymmetric temperature distribution and heat
transfer phenomena, whose material flow pattern
under different plunging phases is schematically
shown in Figure 18, which is nearly circular, and the
effect of the circular flow velocity on the axisymmetric
temperature distribution is small. The main disadvan-
tage of the cylindrical pin in conventional FSSW is
the high forge force during plunging, but cylindrical
pin produces a continuous hook which bypasses the
SZ and terminaters close to the keyhole.16,19 The pin
used in refill FSSW is normally cylindrical since it is
designed to move in the axial direction and constrain
the plasticized material in the weld.278,281,285–289 The
tapered pin tool produces higher frictional heat
increases the plastic deformation and promotes a high
hydrostatic pressure in the weld zone because of the
larger contact area with the material, which is
extremely important for enhancing the material stir-
ring and the nugget integrity. Moreover, a tapered pin
tool produces a smaller hook than the standard cylin-
drical pin.19 Therefore, a tapered pin tool is com-
monly used for joining steels (see Figure 20, type: I).
The inverse tapered pin resulted in welds with the
least strength, this was primarily due to the fact that
the hook extended all the way to the top surface of
the upper sheet thereby allowing the crack to propa-
gate along the hook rather than through the stir zone,
therefore, it is rarely used in FSSW.207
It has been confirmed that triangular pin tool
enhances material flow due to its basic geometry by
suppressing the upward rise of hook geometry.16,19,290
There is more heat generation by plastic deformation
using a triangular pin, and so the temperature is
higher than that of cylindrical pin. Furthermore,
asymmetric rotation of the triangular pin causes the
material in the vicinity of the pin to move back and
forth in the radial direction resulting in the hook
being broken-up (dispersed) in the SZ, thus increasing
the bonded area.16,19 In addition, the triangular pin
results in a finer grain structure in the SZ compared
to the cylindrical pin.250 Therefore, triangular pin tool
produced the stronger weld strength than cylindrical,
tapered, or inverse tapered pin tools.16,19,250,282
However, the triangular pin tool can not be used in
FSSW of steels, since its sharp shape can cause serious
stress concentration and fracture during the initial
plunge stage, while sharp features on the tooling are
worn away rapidly when welding steels.
Generally, the features of the welding tool, such as
threads,150 flat, flutes features on the pin are expected
to improve material flow and increase heat generation
rate because of larger interfacial area.141,248,264,291
During FSSW of lightweight material, the presence of
a thread on the rotating tool has been found import-
ant for degrees of material intermixture and produc-
ing the plastic flow of thickness direction during
friction stir spot joining,150 and increase the energy
applied to the weld, Qapplied, by 3.3% even though it
markedly increased SZ dimensions when a dwell time
is applied.18,113,149,292 For example, Su et al.149 pro-
posed that dissimilar intermixing during the dwell
period results from the incorporation of upper and
lower sheet materials at the top of the thread on the
rotating pin and its rapid transfer downward into the
SZ via threads on the pin. It should be noted that
there was no benefit to machining more complicated
surface features on the pins during FSSW of steels,
since it can cuase severely wear and thus reduces weld
strength.264 As shown in Figure 20, concave shoulder
with tapered pin that has three equally spaced flat fea-
tures is often used in FSW and FSSW of steel to facili-
tate the stirring action,264,293,294 vertical material
mixing and promote material flow, the flat pattern
shows reduced wear compared to flutes,295 and produ-
ces higher weld strength compared to pin tool with
swirl features, but it is reported that the flat features
tended to wear off very quickly, leaving a completely
smooth pin after approximately 10 spot welds.264
Flutes are considered to be the most aggressive fea-
tures machined on the tool pin, which give the highest
dynamic volume ratios,296 which are only used in
swept FSSW to improve the material mixing when
traversing.40,297,298
In refill FSSW, threads are commonly machined on
the sleeve and pin to minimize contamination of the
interface between three components of the tool.287 Ji
et al.214 used a three dimensional finite element model
to investigate the effects of the grooved sleeve on the

material flow, and found that groove on the sleeve
can increase the material flow velocity, the groove on
the sleeve inner wall is better than the smaller width
groove on the sleeve outer wall. Compared with the
concentric circle grooves on the sleeve bottom, the
scrolled groove is more beneficial to decrease the
bonding ligament thickness and increase the bonding
area. However, no experimental results or other sur-
face features such as flats or flutes have been reported
in the available literature. Recently, Shen et al. applied
a modified tool.67
3.1.2. Tool materials and wear
FSSW is a thermo-mechanical deformation process, the
tool is surrounded by plasticized SZ material with high
temperatures, and subjected to severe stress, especially
for the joining of high melting point metals such as
steels. Tool material wear is a critical issue because it
can change tool geometry, interacts and contaminates
the weld material and degrades the weld
strength.284,294,299 Tool wear in FSSW can be more
excessive compared to that in FSW since some severe
wear can occur during the plunge phase.300 However,
tools used in FSSW experience only torsion due to rota-
tional motion as opposed to tools used in FSW experi-
ence both bending moment and torsion due to linear
and rotational motion.141 Tool wear could occur
through adhesive, abrasive, or chemical wear mecha-
nisms depends on the interaction between the tool and
workpiece material, and welding parameters.277
When joining low melting point materials such as
polymer, Al and Mg alloys, the range of tool materials
that can be used is remarkably large. Tool steel, in
which H13 steel is the most commonly used tool mater-
ial. Based on the available literature, acceptable weld
strength can be achieved by pure metallurgical or diffu-
sion bonding mechanism.32,223,301 It has been shown
that softer material were always set as the top sheet
when joining them to a harder material. In this case,
the tool plunge depth could be carefully controlled to
avoid direct contact of the tool into the bottom harder
material, thus tool steel can be still
used.32,60,71,73,223,281,302 In order to obtain mechanical
interlocking by displacing the bottom ferrous material
into the upper sheet, it is necessary to plunge the tool
pin into the bottom sheet, and an advanced tool mater-
ial, such as W–25 wt-%Re should be used.303
In the case of joining high melting point metals,
the requirements for tool materials are remarkably
challenging. During FSSW process, axis force is typic-
ally higher than 10 kN, especially in the plunging stage
when joining steel.284 The tool may deform plastically
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN SOLID STATE AND MATERIALS SCIENCES 31
due to a reduction in yield strength at elevated tem-
peratures in an environment of high loads. Failure
may occur when the stresses are higher than the load
bearing ability of the tool. There is a need to identify
the possibility of interaction of the tool material with
the workpiece material by diffusion and chemical
reaction in model tests and actual welding processes.
Since tool degradation may be exaggerated at elevated
temperatures, particularly if the tool material and
workpiece react to form undesirable phases where also
react with the atmosphere.141 Also, the tool material
thermal expansion can change tool geometry and thus
affect the weld quality by influencing heat generation
and dissipation.188 Therefore, there are several tool
material characteristics that should be considered
when make the selection of tool material for a specific
workpiece material, such as ambient and elevated tem-
perature strength, elevated temperature stability, wear
resistance, fracture toughness, coefficient of thermal
expansion, machinability, uniformity in microstructure
and density, availability of material, and cost.277,304
Table 6 summarizes tool materials used in FSSW of
steel alloys. Currently, three types of tool material are
commonly used, which are based Co, WC,49 WC-
Co,272,299 W-Re,303 and ceramic materials such as sia-
lon, Silicon Nitride (Si3N4),293,305 and PCBN.20,284
Meanwhile, blends of PCBN294 and PCBN-based com-
posite262 have also been occasionally used for the
welding of steels.294
PCBN is the most promising tool material for join-
ing high melting point metals because of its preferable
stability, high strength and hardness at elevated tem-
peratures. It was found that a PCBN tool is capable to
manufacture over one hundred DP600 or M190 spot
welds, over 200 DP590 welds, or hundreds of hot-
stamped boron steel spot welds without any noticeable
degradation or wear.20,328,329 High thermal conductiv-
ity of PCBN avoids the formation of hot spots on
tools and helps in the design of liquid cooled tools,
however, a high thermal conductivity may be undesir-
able if excessive removal of heat from the tool/work-
piece interface occurs, and this requires higher tool
rotational speeds to adequately soften the workpiece
and to reduce tool stresses.329 Meanwhile, PCBN tools
are rather expensive due to their manufacture at high
temperatures and pressure, and their size imitation.
PCBN also tends to fail during the initial plunge stage
because of its low fracture toughness, which generally
leads to failure by unpredictable fracture rather than
wear.333 It was shown that abrasion and diffusion are
the main wear mechanisms for PCBN degradation as
a cutting tool material for hardened steels and super
 32

Table 6. Summary of tool material used in FSSW of steel.

Workpiece material
 and thickness Tool geometry Welding parameters Remarks Ref
Si3N4 IF, DP590, concave shoulder (14 ) and threaded RS: 3000 rpm; DL: 5.39 kN Using both bare and TiC/TiN 306,307
DP980 steels(1.2 mm) cylindrical pin; SD: 10 mm; PD: coated tool with
4 mm; PL: 1.3 mm Ar shielding
AHSS Flat SD: 10 mm; Threaded PD: 3.8 mm; RS: 3000 rpm; DF: 6 kN; DT: 0.5
3.0 s Ar gas was used 308
PL: 1.7 mm for shielding
Z. SHEN ET AL.

TRIP780 (1.5 mm)/ Concave shoulder (7 ); SD: 12.7 mm; RS: 800 rpm; TPD1: 25 mm; WT1: 8 s; Two plunge steps; three 309
HSBS (1.4 mm) tampered PDb: 5.08 mm PR1: 0.313 mm/min; TPD2: 0.2 mm; equally spaced flat
WT2: 0.2 s; PR2: 0.1 mm/min; Total features at pin tip
WT: WT1 þ WT2 ¼ 10 s
DP780GA (1.5 mm)/ Tool1: Concave SD (7 ): 10 mm; RS: 800 rpm; WT: 4, 6 and 10 s; TPD: Two plunge steps; two tool 293
HSBS(1.5 mm), TRIP780 tapered PDt: 5 mm; Tool2: 6 2.6 þ 0.2 ¼ 2.8 mm for DP780GA/ geometries were used
(1.4 mm)/HSBS (1.5 mm) convex spiral shoulder HSBS; TPD: 2.5 þ 0.2 ¼ 2.7 mm for
TRIP780/HSBS
DP980 (1.2 mm) SD: 10 mm; RS: 5000 rpm; PR: 25.4 mm/min; three equally spaced flat 123
features at pin tip
Al 5052 (1.0 mm)/ Ø 12.7 sphere pin tool RS: 970 rpm; WT: 2.5 s; Si3N sphere into a concavity 259
SPCC (1.0 mm) TPD: 1.2
1.75 mm of S45C rod
LCS (1.0 mm) SD1: 12 mm; PD: 4 mm; PL: 1 mm; RS1: 600
900 rpm; DT1; 2 s; DL1: Pinless FSSW process 305
SD2: 15 mm 1000 kg; RS2: 600
1000 rpm; DT2:
2 s; DL2: 2000 kg
DP590 (1.2 mm) SD: 10 mm; PD: 4 mm; PL: 1.3 mm; RS: 3000 rpm; DL: 5390 N 310
thread pitch of pin: 0.7 mm
tungsten LCS (0.8 mm) SD: 8 mm; PDt: 1.6 mm; PDb: 3.2 mm RS: 1200
1600 rpm; TPD into bottom 311
based alloy plate: 0
0.2 mm; DT: 5
25 s
WC AISI 1012, JIS G 3141 and SD: 12 mm; TPD: 4 mm; PL: 1 mm RS: 550 rpm; DL: 15 kN; DT: 2 s 312–314
SPCC (0.8 mm)
IF steel (0.7 and 1.0 mm) SD: 12 mm; PD: 4 mm; PL: 0.63 and RS: 800, 1250, 1600 and 2000 rpm; PR: SiC nanopowders were 315
0.9 mm for thinner and thicker 5 mm/min; TPD: 0.63 mm and added to the joints
plate, respectively; concavity angle: 0.9 mm for thinner and thicker
3 and 5 for thinner and thicker plate, respectively; DT: 4, 6 and 8 s
plate, respectively
S12C steel (1.6 mm) Concave SD: 12 mm; PD: 4 mm; RS: 800 rpm; DL: 2500 kg Preheated by high 316
PL: 1.9 mm frequency induction
High Mn TWIP steel (1.5 mm) SD: 20 mm; PD: 5 mm; PL: 2.8 mm RS: 500, 750 and 1000 rpm; PR: 317
0.05 mm/sec
Al 6111 (1.0 mm)/ DC04 Scroll SD: 11 mm; tapered PD: 3 mm, radius pin orbital path： 2.5 mm; RS: Steel shoulder and WC pin; 318
steel (1.0 mm) PL: 1.0 mm 800 rpm; TPD: 1.1 mm; travel speed: swept FSSW process
60
2000 mm/min; WT: 0.5
18 s
SS400 steel WC SD: 20 mm; SS400 steel rod RS: 1200 rpm; DT: 100 s; DL: 8 kN Assembly-embedded rod tool 319
(different thickness) diameter: 10 mm
IF-steel (1.0 mm) Concave SD: 12 mm; PD: 4 mm RS: 1250 and 1600 rpm; TPD: 0.7, 0.8 SiC nanopowders were 320
and 0.9 mm; DT: 8 s added to the joint
WC-Co alloy LCS (0.6 mm) SD: 13.5 mm; PD: 8.5 mm; PL: 0.5 mm RS: 1600 rpm; TPD: 0.62
0.8 mm 321
hot annealed steel (0.6 mm) RS: 1600 rpm; PR: 15 mm/min 299
Al1050 (2.5 mm)/22MnB5 Concave SD: 12 mm; tampered PDt: RS: 1000 and 2000 rpm; TPD: 2.9 and The tool is coated with 3 mm 322
HSBS (1.8 mm) 2 mm; PL: 2.7 mm 3.5 mm; PR: 0.42 mm/sec; DT: 2 s thick AlCrN
sialon ceramic LCS (0.5 mm) SD:3.6 mm, RS:18000 rpm, PR:0.2 mm/s, Pinless tool 55
TPD:0.05
0.25 mm, DT:0
1 s
cobalt-based super-alloy single-crystal austenitic SD: 15 mm; PDb: 6 mm; PDt: 3.5 mm; RS: 300 rpm; TPD: 1.0, 1.5 and 1.9 mm; 162
stainless steel (5 mm) PL: 1.8 mm DT: 0 s
Blend of PCBN and W–Re DP980 (1.2 mm) Concave SD: 10 mm Three equally spaced flat 294
features at pin tip
W–25 wt-%Re DP780 (1.5 mm) Concave SD: 10 mm; PD: 4 mm; RS: 500, 1000 and 1500 rpm; WT: 4 s; Liquid cooling holder was 323
PL: 1.8 mm DL: 20 kN adopted in FSSW
DP600 (1.2 mm) SD: 10 mm; PD: 4
5.1 mm; PR: 0.5 and 1 mm/min; 324
PL: 1.7 mm TPD: 1.7
2.1 mm
dissimilar Al 6111 (1.15 mm)/ SD: 10 mm; PD: 4 mm; PL: 1.7 mm RS: 3000 rpm; PR: 1.0 mm/sec; TPD: 303
LCS (1.8 mm), AM60 0.4
0.85 mm into the lower steel
(1.2 mm)/DP600 (1.8 mm) sheet; DW: 4 s
Al 6008(2.5 mm)/ PD: 6.0 mm; PL: 4.0 mm RS: 2000 rpm; DT: 0
2 s The shoulder is made of 325
galvanized steel(2 mm) steel Z38CDV5 treated
at 50HRC
Al6016 (1.2 mm)/IF(2.0 mm) RS: 2000
3500 rpm; TPD: 1.5
3 mm 326
PCBN DP980 (1.2 mm) SD: 10 mm; coarsely threaded pin RS: 6000 rpm; PR: 7.62, 25.4 and Three PCBN material grades 284
50.8 mm/min; WT: 2.4, 3.3 and 8.3 s;
TPD: 1.016, 1.778 and 2.413 mm
RS: 2500
6000 rpm; PR: 271
2.5
102 mm/min; DL: 3.6
8.2 kN
SPCC and SUS 409L (1.2 mm) convex scrolled SD: 36.8 mm; PD: RS: 1400 rpm; PR: 8 mm/min; TPD: Tool was made of PCBN 262, 327
5.7 mm (at the root of the pin); 1.45 s; DT: 2 s based composite; Ar gas
PL: 1 mm was used for shielding
DP600 and M190 (1.6 mm) SD: 10 mm; tampered PL: 2.0 mm RS: 1500 rpm; WT: 1.6
3.2 s; 328
DP780 (1.5 mm) SD: 9.5 mm; PL: 1.2 and 2.0 mm RS: 800 and 1600 rpm; TPD: 1.6 and Two plunge steps; Four tool 264
2.7 mm; WT: 1
10 s geometries were used
HSBS (1.4 mm) Concave SD: 10.2 mm; 20 tapered RS: 800, 1200, 1600, 2000 rpm; WT: 20
three-flat PL: 2.3 mm 1.9
10.5 s; PR: 0.4
3 mm/sec
DP590 (1.6 mm) convex scrolled SD: 25 mm; hexagonal RS: 400
2400 rpm; PR: 153, 329
flat faceted PL: 1.2 mm 0.03
3.8 mm/sec; TPD: 1.8 and 2.
2 mm; DT: 0 and 1 s; WT: 4.2, 9
and 70 s
TRIP 800 (1.0 mm) Conical SD: 15 mm; tapered PD < RS: 1600, 2000 and 2400 rpm; DW: 2 s; The pin had six equally 330
5 mm; PL: 1.5 mm TPD: 1.6 mm spaced faces
DP590 and IF270 (1.0 mm) convex scrolled SD: 25 mm; hexagonal RS: 1600, 2000 and 2400 rpm; PR: 3.8 331
flat faceted PL: 1.2 mm and 6.67 mm/sec; TPD: 1.6, 1.7 and
1.8 mm; DT: 1 s
TRIP 800 (1.0 mm) Concave SD: 15 mm; tampered PD: RS: 1600 and 2400 rpm; DT: 2 and 3 s; The pin had six equally 332
5 mm (at the tip); PL: 1.5 mm TPD: 1.6 mm; PR: 6.0 mm/min spaced faces
HSBS, Hot-stamped boron steel; DP steel, dual-phase steel; IF steel, Interstitial-free steel; TRIP, Transformation-induced plasticity steel; High Mn TWIP steel, high-Mn twinning-induced plasticity steel; LCS, low car-
bon steel; PCBN, poly crystalline cubic boron nitride; PL, pin length; PD, pin diameter; SD, shoulder diameter; TP, thread pitch; RS, rotational speed; DT, dwell time; WT, welding time; DF, down force; PR, plunge
rate; TPD, tool plunge depth; PDt, pin diameter at the top (larger diameter) for tapered pin; PDb, pin diameter at the bottom (smaller diameter) for tapered pin; SPCC, cold rolled carbon steels; SUS, ferritic stain-
less steels.
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN SOLID STATE AND MATERIALS SCIENCES
33
34 Z. SHEN ET AL.
alloys.334 More specifically, wear at low rotational
speed is caused by adhesive wear (also known as scor-
ing, galling, or seizing), while wear at high rotational
speed is caused by abrasive wear.335
Hartman et al.284 applied a coarsely threaded pin
tool (see Figure 20, type II) to study the effect of
PCBN material grade, as specified primarily by CBN
grain size, on weld quality and tool life for FSSW of
DP980 steel. The result showed PCBN tools with
3
6 lm CBN grain size resulted in longer tool life
and higher levels of joint strength overall, compared
to tools with larger grains, and the best tool life in
this case was 900 spot welds. Significant adhesion of
steel was observed on tool surfaces. Tool wear mech-
anism was likely dominated by grain pullout, finer
CBN grain size was less adhesion of DP980 steel on
the tool surface, and thus less abrasive wear, while a
larger CBN grain size was related to greater wear rate
and shorter tool life.
PCBN can be used to alloy W-Re to achieve a good
combination of hardness and toughness to withstand
the high stresses and abrasive conditions inherent in
FSSW of steels, which are also substantially lower cost
than PCBN tools. Miles et al. applied a concave tool
shoulder with a pin that has three equally spaced flat
features (see Figure 20, type II), made of the blend of
PCBN and W–Re, one with a composition of 60%
PCBN and 40% W–Re (Q60 tool) while the other
with 70% PCBN and 30% W–Re (Q70 tool), to
improve the tool toughness. The Q70 tool provided
the best combination of wear resistance and joint
strength, lasting for ～1200 DP 980 steel welds, versus
700 welds for the Q60 tool.294
Commercially pure tungsten is strong at elevated
temperatures but has poor toughness at ambient tem-
perature, and wears rapidly when used as a tool
material for FSW of steels and titanium alloys.141 The
performance can be improved greatly by alloying
tungsten. For instance, addition of rhenium can
reduce the ductile to brittle transition temperature by
influencing the Peierls stress for dislocation motion.336
This has motivated use of W–25 wt-%Re alloy as the
most common W based tool material, which has
superior wear resistance and abrasive properties.
Liyanage et al.303 applied a W–25Re tool to join Al
6111 to low carbon steel, and Mg alloy AM60 to
DP600 steel by plunging the tool pin 0.4
0.85 mm
into the bottom steel material. Tungsten rich particles
resulting from wear of the W–25Re welding tool were
entrained in both DP600 and AM60. However, tung-
sten particles were not observed in any dissimilar
Al6111/low carbon steel friction stir spot weld.
Choi et al. has also studied a WC–Co alloy thick
cylindrical pin tool wear during FSSW of low carbon
steel plates.299 As shown in Figure 21, extreme wear
was observed in the area between the pin center and
external edge. Three potential mechanisms were pro-
posed for the tool wear: (a) the carbon monoxide gas
was under a pressure that higher than the material
strength, and it was caused by the oxidation of WC at
elevated temperature, but it is not clear how the oxy-
gen was available to the immersed tool. (b) The frac-
ture and removal of the binder from the tool can be
attributed to the transform of Co binder from ductile
face centered cubic to brittle hexagonal at high tem-
perature. (c) The possible formation of ternary
W–Fe–O compounds on the tool surface may degrade
the tool. It was also suggested that the addition of
CrC2 to WC–Co reduced the tool wear by reducing
oxidation of WC.
Although its strength and hardness is relatively
lower than PCBN, Si3N4 can also be used for FSSW of
steels, at a cost less than 25% of PCBN tools. The
measured machine loads for Si3N4 tools were
75%
of that for PCBN tools and the two tools resulted in
similar joint strengths.337 Si3N4 tools offer low con-
ductivity, which makes it possible to input more fric-
tional heat compared to PCBN tools when the same
welding parameters were used.271 This feature also
contributes to a decrease in the head weight of a
FSSW facility because the tool load can be reduced.338
Ohashi et al.307 studied the welding of DP 590 steel
using both bare and TiC/TiN coated Si3N4 tool with
Ar shielding. Si, N and O contaminations were clearly
found in the weld when bare Si3N4 tool was used
without Ar shielding, and these contaminations
caused higher hardness in the vicinity of the pin hole
and reduced the weld strength. The coated tool and
Ar shielding could suppress the contaminations,
which is beneficial to improve the weld strength, espe-
cially the cross-tension strength.
Compared with the tool shoulder, tool pins are
more susceptible to tool wear, deformation and failure
quickly, since the tool pin is completely immersed in
the workpiece and, therefore, has to face more resist-
ance to its motion compared to the tool shoulder. If
the pin wears significantly or breaks, the whole tool
must be replaced.212 Therefore, a composite tool with
harder, wear resistant material (e.g. PCBN or WC) for
pin and relatively softer material (e.g. W–Re alloy) for
shoulder may be an attractive option for enhancing
tool life and reducing tool costs.259,325 Due to large
differences in the coefficient of thermal expansion,
thermal expansion is a consideration in multi-material

Figure 21. External shape of tools: (a) and (e) before welding, and after (b) and (f) 100, (c) and (g) 300, and (d) and (h) 500 welds,
respectively.299
tools, which could increase the stresses between the
pin and shoulder, thus leading to tool failure.277 In
some cases, special techniques have been used to
reduce tool wear. For example, preheat the workpiece
to reduce its mechanical resistance, or preheat the
tool above the ductile to brittle transition temperature
and use sufficient inert gas cover.262 However, the
commercial applicability of these techniques remains
to be tested.
Based on the available literature, the alloys used in
refill FSSW are primarily made of high temperature
tool steel. Recently, Oliveira et al.339 reported that a
titanium tool preserves the generated frictional heat at
the spot area due to its low thermal conductivity,
resulting in a larger welded volume and thus higher
joint strength. During the refill FSSW process, small
gaps between the tool parts may become filled with
plasticized workpiece material. The plasticized mater-
ial operates as a protection layer that prevents direct
frictional wear between the tool parts. However, it
also leads to abrasive tool wear due to the relative
motion of the friction layers. It was found that the
wear of the refill tool significantly depends on the gap
size between the tool parts that contain infiltrated
plasticized workpiece material. The volume of the
material influences the required torque of the main
spindle and the tool temperature. When reaching 70%
to 80% of the total tool wear life, the process
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN SOLID STATE AND MATERIALS SCIENCES 35
temperature rapidly increases. As the tool wears, plas-
ticized material is pressed into the gaps between the
tool parts and consequently requires increasing forces,
torques and rise in temperature. The most stressed
tool part is observed at the sleeve, which influences
the gaps of the tool set most significantly. Thus, man-
ufacturing costs may be reduced by only replacing the
sleeve and keeping the clamping ring and the pin (In
this design, the sleeve and pin can be manufactured
using different materials and the sleeve can be easily
replaced when worn or damaged.).287
3.2. Process parameters
Tool rotational speed, plunge rate, plunge depth and
dwell time are the four principal parameters in
FSSW.13 Generally, selection of parameters has been
empirically carried out by trails to improve mechan-
ical properties. Approaches such as data fitting to a
second order quadratic mode, response surface meth-
odology, sensitivity analysis and artificial neural net-
work have been applied for the parameter
optimization,257,311,340–342 in which design of experi-
ments methodology using Taguchi approach has been
widely applied to optimize welding process parameters
in FSSW.221,288,289,343 The optimum welding process
parameters can be predicted, and their percentage of
contribution can be estimated through applying the
36 Z. SHEN ET AL.
Figure 22. (a) Fluctuations in the peak temperature output during spot welding using rotational speeds from 2500 and 3000 rpm
and 4-s dwell time. Temperature outputs without fluctuations using 1000 and 1500 rpm are included for comparison purposes,14
b) Influence of rotational speed on Al 6061-T6 stir zone volume and width in plunge tests and on Qapplied and b values (for a
plunge rate of 1 mm s1).112
Signal/Noise (S/N) ratio and analysis of variance using
Taguchi approach.225,343 For example, Campanelli
et al.343 found plunge depth was the greatest influence
on both mean and S/N ratio (around 60% of contri-
bution), followed by rotational speed and dwell time
during refill friction stir spot welded AZ31B-
H24 Mg alloy.
It should be noted that the welding parameters
optimization should be discussed based on the pur-
pose to reduce the cycle time and tool force. These
welding parameters significantly affects the energy
outputs (axial force and torque) when the welding
equipment is under position-control mode. The selec-
tion of welding parameters has a major influence on
heating rate, weld temperature,292 hook geometry,
weld integrity,344 SZ dimension the softened region
when age-strengthened Al-alloy sheet is fabricated.292
3.2.1. Rotational speed
Tool rotation is the most critical parameter for heat
generation,113 since almost all of the energy generated
during FSSW is contributed by tool torque,99,276
which also controls stirring and mixing of material
around the tool. The tool torque also determines the
thermal cycle and heat generation,14 where higher
rotation rates generate higher temperatures and result
in more intense stirring and mixing of the material,
this additional energy input is positively correlated to
the bonded area along with weld strength.113,149,345
As mentioned above, the larger tool shoulder
remains in contact with SZ material for almost the
entire FSW/FSP operation, and thus the rotational
speed ranges from 200 to 1000 rpm.346–358 A critical fea-
ture in conventional FSSW is the fact that the tool
shoulder only contributes vis-a-vis energy generation
after the rotating pin has penetrated into the sheet
material.15,112,114 Meanwhile, a large proportion of the
energy dissipated into the adjoining heat sinks, only a
small percentage of the energy generated is required for
SZ formation, which leads to a low efficiency of energy
utilization. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the tool
rotation speed in order to increase the heat input, and
thus reduce the welding times to compete with those of
RSW, and tool axial force to be compatible with the
capabilities of existing welding robots.13,271,359 Adequate
bond dimensions and mechanical properties can not be
obtained when rotational speeds 750 rpm are
applied.14 As shown in Figure 22a, The solidus tem-
perature of Al 7075-T6 (475  C) is never exceeded using
a rotational speed of 1000 rpm, no matter the dwell
time that is applied. Considering that the width of stir
zone formed is < 100 lm when Al-alloy sheet is spot
welded using a tool rotational speed around 1000 rpm,
it is necessary to increase the rotation speed >1000 rpm
to obtain an acceptable bonding area.112,138 As shown
in Figure 22b, The Qapplied, energy utilization, SZ width
and volume significantly increase with rotational speed
from 1000 to 1500 rpm, which are negligibly affected
when the rotational speed increases from 1500 to
3000 rpm because of local melting of second-phase par-
ticles and tool slippage.14,18
As indicated in Figure 22a, a quasi-equilibrium
state (temperature fluctuations) can be obtained when
rotational speed 2500 rpm should was applied, such
phenomena can be attributed to tool slippage at the
contact interface between the tool periphery and adja-
cent material. The viscous dissipation and heat gener-
ation decreases suddenly, which causes viscosity to
increase, and then the heat generation rate and tem-
perature increase again. This process occurs repeatedly
so that the peak temperature attained during FSSW is
the solidus temperature of the sheet material
involved,113 and leads to oscillations in the tool
temperature.14

3.2.2. Plunge rate
The plunge stage in FSSW process is extremely critical
since the thermomechanical conditions go through a
drastic and sudden change, and the material under-
goes significant transformation due to the high tem-
peratures, heating rates and stresses involved.360 For
instance, the heating rate varies from about 210  C/s
to >400  C/s at the location close to the pin tip, and
as high as 1100  C/s at the location immediately
beneath the tool shoulder during FSSW of Al
alloys.138 So far, the effect of plunge rate has not
received much attention, which determines heating
rate, efficiency of energy utilization and extent of plas-
ticity, and could be the most critical factor in deter-
mining weld quality than plunge depth, dwell time
and tool rotational speed.113,258
The plunge rate significantly affects the efficiency
of energy utilization, and lower plunge rate results in
higher energy.102,112 For example, the efficiency of
utilization of energy increases from 0.24% to 4.03%
for Al 6061-T6, and from 0.66% to 4.37% for Mg alloy
AM50 when the plunge rate increases from 0.1 mm/s
to 10 mm/s.113 As shown in Figure 23, higher plunge
rates resulted in shorter cycle welding times. Clearly,
increasing the plunge rate is a convenient means of
decreasing the time required for joint operation, and
thus can confer a productivity advantage.114 A higher
plunge rate will result in a higher heating rate and the
microstructure is more rapidly affected in the begin-
ning of the weld cycle, which will reduce the soft
region width, which is critical for heat treatable Al
alloy. However, the stir zone width decreases when
the tool penetration rate increases, and this limits the
bonded area.113 Also, higher axial forces were gener-
ated for faster plunge rates, which could have an
adverse effect on tool life.13 In the case of high melt-
ing point material, the plunge rate is particularly low
so as to generate sufficient heat to plasticize the metal
and reduce the axial force.
3.2.3. Plunge depth
The depth of the tool penetration into the contacting
sheets is determined by the sheet thickness and the
pin length,292 which has the greatest influence on the
bond dimensions and weld strenth.13 The weld
macrostructure depends significantly on shoulder
plunge depth. With increasing shoulder plunge depth,
SZ expands and the upward material flow of the lower
sheet occurs markedly.224 The shoulder penetration
depth must be sufficient to ensure a horizontal inter-
face tip and therefore avoid fracture by the interfacial
fracture.361 However, shoulder penetration depth had
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN SOLID STATE AND MATERIALS SCIENCES 37
Figure 23. Role of plunge rate on the tool axial force.13
a bilateral effect on the tensile shear load, excessive
shoulder penetration extrudes a large portion of the
top sheet material, causing an excessive thinning of
the top sheet, which may cause it to bend upwards
and create a gap between the two sheets.62,224,255
Thus, a shoulder penetration of
0.2 mm is often
used in convention FSSW.48,244,250 During pinless
FSSW, the shoulder penetration depth is one of the
two most important factors that determine the weld
formation and mechanical performance, and a tool
penetration depth of
0.2 mm is commonly used
when the workpiece thickness 1 mm.38,52 In some
cases, a deeper shoulder penetration (>0.5 mm) is
required to guarantee the deformation zone from the
shoulder penetrates sufficiently into the bottom sheet
when welding thicker sheet (2 mm).38 In the case of
refill FSSW, the plunge depth is more flexible and
defined as the plunge depth of the plunging element
which can be either the sleeve or pin component.
Pin lengths that do not penetrate the bottom sheet
reduce the spot weld tensile strength, since the key-
hole created by the pin reduces the cross section. The
pin starts to contribute to bond formation and pro-
vides mechanical strength when the tool pin pene-
trates into the bottom sheet. Figure 24a presents the
velocity fields at some linear distance beneath the tool
surface being considered (V’ represents the magnitude
of the three-dimensional velocity field, and V repre-
sents the maximum calculated value). The calculated
velocity field of the material directly beneath the tool
pin is approximately 50% of that beneath the shoul-
der, when the rotational speed is 2000 rpm. It should
be noted that the pin bottom is located at some dis-
tance beneath the shoulder, which significantly enhan-
ces its contribution. As the length of the pin
increases, its relative contribution to the total velocity
38 Z. SHEN ET AL.
Figure 24. (a) Comparison of velocity field at various (normalized) depths (0.02, 0.04, 0.06, and 0.08) created beneath the shoulder
during FSSW, (b) Graphical representation of the observed pin length effect on joint strength. Region “A” represents the velocity
field created by the shoulder. Region “B” represents the velocity field created by two different pin lengths. It can be noted that in
the case of the longer pin length, the total velocity field is increased by the pin bottom’s contribution. Region “C” represents the
resultant velocity field.58
field increases. At a critical length, the pin will
increase the size of the weld zone, and help improve
the strength of the weld joint (see Figure 24b).58
When the pin length extends beyond the zone of
material flow created by the shoulder, strengths may
decrease due to the excessive plunging which extrudes
a portion of the bottom sheet, resulting in a markedly
decreased bottom sheet thickness underneath
the pin.48,205
3.2.4. Dwell time
The heat generation contribution from the tool shoul-
der is rather low during conventional FSSW, unless a
dwell period is applied. During the dwell period, the
shoulder contribution to the material flow and heat
generation is markedly increased such that most of
the energy is generated during the dwell period.58,113
Su et al.112 reported that The dimensions of the
plasticized region immediately beneath the rotating
pin are unchanged as the rotating tool continues to
penetrate into the Al 6061-T6 material, and the add-
itional energy supplied beyond that required for stir
zone formation dissipates in the tool assembly, clamp,
anvil support and in the aluminum sheets being spot
welded. Moreover, dissimilar intermixing can not be
formed in spot welds made using a threaded tool
without the application of a dwell period.149 As shown
in Figure 5, dwell time is a key parameter that pro-
vides the energy input required for the stir zone for-
mation and to form a bonded region between the
upper and lower sheets.10,150 For metals with higher
melting point, a longer dwell time should be applied
to significantly increase the heat input, and thus reach
the desired temperature required for plastic flow.
However, it should be noted that the width of the
softened region produced when heat treatable Al
alloys are spot welded is markedly influenced by the
dwell time.14 Also, the contribution of the dwell time
and the power input significantly decreases when a
quasi-static state is obtained, since the axial force and
torque significantly decrease during the dwell
period.114,362,363 Also, the incorporation of a dwell
period will extend the spot welding cycle and this
may become a critical issue if the target weld comple-
tion time must be less than or equal to that during
RSW.113 In the case of pinless FSSW, the much larger
shoulder directly contacts with the material, and thus
the material flow is enhanced and the temperature sig-
nificantly increased when a short dwell time was
applied.364 Also, such a rapid welding cycle (<1 s)
causes less softening in the HAZ for heat treatable Al
alloys.50,52,55
3.3. Pre and post weld treatment
Generally, pre/post treatment is a common process in
fusion welding and not necessary for FSSW. Usually
such treatment is done to control microstructural evo-
lution, and thus mechanical properties or corrosion
resistance. For the heat treatable Al alloys, the mech-
anical properties are much more influenced by the
volume fraction, size and distribution of strengthening
precipitates rather than by the grain size, and post
heat treatment such as natural aging and artificial
aging has a crucial influence on the hardness.50,206,365
For example, it was found the weld strength of Al
2024 FSSW weld can be increased from 2.4 kN to
3.6 kN because of the reprecipitation of second phase

Figure 25. A typical macrograph showing various microstructural zones of conventional FSSW ZEK100 Mg alloy: (a) Transverse
cross-section, (b) Base metal, (c) Microstructural features in the SZ, TMAZ and HAZ.21
particles of Al2Cu and AlCuMg during aging.226
However, Uematsu et al. found that post heat treat-
ments exhibited little influence on fatigue strength,
but fatigue fracture morphology was dependent on
both load level and post heat treatment.365 In the case
of automotive applications, a common process
involves a paint-bake cycle in the final stage of the
body assembly process,50,366 and so it is desirable to
maintain or improve the weld properties following
this thermal cycle. Chen et al.50 found a paint-bake
cycle can significantly increased the Al 6111-T4 weld
zone hardness, and thus the lap shear strength, but
overheating treatment could reduce weld strength.366
Additives can also be used to improve the weld
performance. For instance, a lubricant is beneficial to
increase the nugget sizes and thus the weld strength
by placing them on the top surface of the work-
piece.367 Silicon carbide (SiC) nanopowders can be
added to the FSSWed steel to provide an in-situ
reinforcement, and enhance the mechanical properties
by suppressing grain growth in the SZ.315,320 It is
interesting to note that Shen et al. found that preheat-
ing the welding tool immediately before the welding
process is beneficial to improve the bonded area,
while the width of the partial metallurgical zone and
the number of the voids reduced. Nevertheless, over-
heating is detrimental to the weld strength due to the
coarsening of the grains.234
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN SOLID STATE AND MATERIALS SCIENCES 39
4. Macro/micro-structure
4.1. Macrostructure
The weld macrostructure depends on the type of pro-
cess variant applied, tool geometry, welding parame-
ters and workpiece material properties such as
thermal conductivity and external cooling conditions.
Figure 25 presents a typical macrostructure of conven-
tional friction stir spot weld. Based on the microstruc-
tural characteristics of grain size and precipitates, it
was found that weld structure is symmetrical with
respect to the tool axis. FSSW produces three distinct
zones i.e. stir zone (SZ) or nugget, thermo-mechanic-
ally affected zone (TMAZ) and heat affected zone
(HAZ), which can be identified in sequence from the
keyhole periphery towards the base material. As
shown in Figure 25a, the weld zone exhibits a basin-
shaped appearance since the welding process mainly
takes place at the top sheet. These micro and macro-
structural features are also commonly identified in
pinless and refill FSSW. It should be noted that an
elliptical weld zone can be formed under some weld-
ing conditions in conventional FSSW. Fujimoto
et al.237 found the cross-sectional microstructure
depended on the threads on the pin surface, i.e. the
elliptical weld zone was formed by the threads. A
large portion of SZ material was extruded out of the
weld for the conventional FSSW, and the keyhole
40 Z. SHEN ET AL.
Figure 26. Optical micrographs illustration the progression of tool penetration during conventional friction stir spot welding of Al
6111 alloy sheets.368
geometry corresponds to the tool dynamic volume.
Also, thinning of the top sheet due to tool shoulder
penetration, and formation of the hook feature can be
distinguished in conventional and pinless FSSW.
4.2. Microstructural evolution
During the tool penetration in friction stir spot welding,
rapid strain rates and heating is imposed by the rotating
tool. In the case of the conventional friction stir spot
welding method, a stir zone structure containing fine
equiaxed grains fully develops near the end of the pene-
tration process when the tool is nearly completely pene-
trated into the sheets. The role of dwell time on
material mixing is shown in Figure 5, while the changes
in the microstructure during the penetration process are
compared in sequence in Figure 26, where optical
cross-sections are compared at increasing plunge depths
from 0.80 to 1.72 mm. It can be noted that at the initial
stages, there is little recrystallized material surrounding
the tool pin, since material displaced by the pin is being
cut away and ejected. Once the tool shoulder is in con-
tact with the material at a depth of 1.55 mm, a recrystal-
lized structure is developed in the stir zone. When the
tool has completely plunged into the sheets, the material
around the pin is displaced upwards, and forms an
annulus of stir zone material that bonds the two sheets
together. The rapid heating and deformation which
occurs will not only refine the grain structure in the stir
zone, but also affect dislocation structures, crystallo-
graphic texture, and the precipitates in heat treat-
able alloys.
The central feature of friction based welding proc-
esses, is that the material does not necessarily melt as

Figure 27. Schematic of geometric dynamic recrystallization mechanism.372
discussed in the prior section, but rather the micro-
structure develops through mechanisms involving hot
deformation. However, in contrast to the majority of
work on high temperature deformation, friction stir
welding involves temperatures near 0.9 of the homolo-
gous melting temperature of the base material, along
with strain rates and total strains that cannot be easily
simulated by torsion testing.369 This leads to some
ambiguity in clearly identifying the mechanisms of
recovery and recrystallization, since identical process-
ing conditions cannot be easily replicated, however
one can gain several insights based on observations of
welds in various similar and dissimilar materials.
4.2.1. Microstructure formation mechanisms in alu-
minum alloys
4.2.1.1. Recovery, recrystallization and grain
growth. Since friction stir spot welding is a solid state
welding process, it bears many similarities to other
friction based processes, the most comparable being
radial or rotary friction welding,370 which involves
comparable temperatures of 550  C, and strain rates as
high as 104/s for the case of aluminum alloys.371 By
maintaining temperatures below the melting point,
the typical cast structure is avoided, and a high tem-
perature deformation structure is developed. The evo-
lution of microstructures under such conditions have
been summarized by Doherty et al.,372 and the mecha-
nisms involved can be generally classified as one of
the following mechanisms: dynamic recovery, conven-
tional dynamic recrystallization, geometric dynamic
recrystallization, and particle stimulated nucleation.
One of the earliest studies of stir zone microstruc-
tures in FSW joints examined Al 6061 alloy welds,373
where it was noted that traditional recrystallization
(via nucleation and growth) could not account for the
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN SOLID STATE AND MATERIALS SCIENCES 41
fine grain sizes observed. It was concluded that the
fine grain structure was a result of dynamic continu-
ous recrystallization. The majority of papers since that
time have also claimed the stir zone is a product of
continuous dynamic recrystallization, and a model for
this mechanism was proposed by Gourdet and
Montheillet.374 However, in recent years, McQueen
and Kassner375 has argued against the feasibility of
this mechanism, suggesting that the results can more
easily be described by geometric dynamic recrystalliza-
tion,376 as shown in Figure 27. This mechanism is
consistent with the observations of Hassan et al.,369
who investigated microstructure development during
torsion testing of Al 7010 alloy at temperatures of 400
to 470  C at von Mises strains of 20, however it
should be noted this testing was limited to strain rates
of 0.005/s, which are well below those anticipated in
friction stir welds.
The role of particle stimulated nucleation in fric-
tion stir spot welds does not appear to be significant,
and few papers discuss this issue as a primary mech-
anism for modifying the grain structure. This appears
to be due to the fact that particle stimulated nucleate
appears to dominate when particles are more than
1 lm in size rates.377 It has been suggested that since
most particles are broken up or begin to dissolve, and
the strain rates are not in the optimum range for par-
ticle stimulated nucleation,18 it does not appear to
play a major role in refining the grain structure in
aluminum alloy welds.
Based on hot deformation theory, the flow stress in
the stir zone r, will be related to the strain rate_e ,
temperature T, the hot deformation activation energy
Q, and the Zener-Hollomon parameter Z according
to:116
Aðsinh arÞn ¼ e_ expðQ=RT Þ ¼ Z (20)
42 Z. SHEN ET AL.
Figure 28. Grain structures produced under the pin in Al 7075 friction stir welds using short plunging times and with acceler-
ated cooling.380
where A, a, n, and R are constants. This relationship
is particularly suited to the high temperatures and
strain rates in the range of > 0.6 Tm, (where Tm is the
melting temperature in degrees Kelvin), and 101 to
103/s respectively. The Z parameter has also been
shown to be related to the grain size during deform-
ation, ds, based on:378
ds ¼ a þ b0 logZ (21)
where a, and b’ are empirical constants. This relation-
ship between grain size and flow stress is similar to
the grain size strengthening observed based on the
Hall-Petch relationship.379
These mechanisms have been used to produce
ultra-fine grained (100 to 400 nm) Al 7075 material by
applying multiple passes and accelerated cooling dur-
ing friction stir processing,380 as shown in Figure 28.
It was noted that the finer grains in this material
(<200 nm) were dislocation-free, and that most grain
boundaries exhibited clear evidence of grain bound-
ary pinning.
Due to the high temperatures involved, the fine
recrystallized structures produced in friction stir seam
welds are susceptible to grain growth if temperatures
area applied for longer times within the stir zone.
Evidence of grain growth in the stir zones of seam
welds have been qualitatively noted in the microstruc-
tural observations by TEM,355 and quantitatively eval-
uated using thermal measurements and isothermal
testing.381,382 However, compared to seam welds, fric-
tion stir spot welds would be expected to have much
higher cooling rates, and possibly lower temperatures.
The final grain structures in friction stir spot welds
can therefore be expected to result from a combin-
ation of the initial grain sizes formed during the high
strain rate deformation during welding, followed by
grain growth during the rapid cooling when the tool
is extracted. These two points have been studied in
detail for conventional friction stir spot welding.
Firstly, the average grain size in the stir zone closely
followed the values predicted by Eq. 21 based on the
calculated Zener-Hollomon parameter, however the
initial base metal grain size D has an influence on this
final size, as shown in Figure 29a. Once the deformed
grain size has been established, the final stir zone
grain size was found to correspond closely to the
standard grain growth model suggested by Sato
et al.383 for friction stir seam welds. Based on the
Zener pinning mechanism, it was suggested that:
 
Q
df  d0 ¼ Aexp
2 2
t (22)
RT
where df is the final grain size, d0 is the initial grain
size, Q is the activation energy for grain growth, T is
temperature in Kelvin, t is time, and A is an empirical
constant. It was found that when the when the actual
cooling curve was measured for Al 6061 friction stir
spot welds, and Eq. 22 is evaluated for the non-iso-
thermal cooling condition in a piece-wise fashion,
grain growth is predicted and the final grain size
matched closely with that observed in the spot weld,
see Figure 29b.
It is worth noting that the grain growth predicted
in Figure 29 is not universally expected for aluminum
alloys. Since the grain growth is dependent on Zener
pinning, the final grain size will be affected by distri-
bution of final particles in the stir zone. The particle
distribution in the alloy is influenced by the alloying
content and stable phases. For example, in Al 5754
alloys, the stir zone does not experience significant
grain growth, since the fine and stable dispersoid par-
ticles pin grain boundaries do not dissolve in the stir
zone and the high Mg content in the alloy will slow
down grain boundary migration. This allows fine
grain sizes of 1.51 lm to be achieved in the stir zone
even when high tool rotation speeds are applied, as
noted by Gerlich et al.,345 see Figure 30a. It should be
noted that even when rapid quenching is used with

Figure 29. a) Relationship between the deformed grain size d, the initial base material grain size D0, and the Zener–Hollomon par-
ameter Z in Al 6060 (Pettersen et al.384) and Al 6061 (Van Geertruyden et al.385) alloys, and b) stir zone grain sizes calculated dur-
ing cooling in Al 6061 spot welds based on a non-isothermal grain growth model.345
methanol and liquid nitrogen at 80  C immediately
after the weld, the Al 5754 grain structure had nearly
identical grain size of 1.49 lm. However, when Al 6061
is spot welded under the same conditions, the majority
of precipitate particles in this alloy dissolve, and the
grain size reaches 4.14 lm, as shown in Figure 30b, and
well predicted by the calculation in Figure 29b. The
grain growth in this alloy was also verified by quench-
ing to 80  C, where the rapidly cooled stir zone grain
size was reduced to 2.09 lm. This section reveals that
the final grain size of the stir zone is controlled by the
combined influences of high temperature deformation
followed by static grain growth during the cooling
phase. The grain size is also influenced by the chemistry
and microstructures of the base material since these fac-
tors also control the kinetics of recrystallization and
growth mechanisms.
It should be noted that the use of so-called sub-
merged friction welding under a welding environment
such as water or other rapid-cooling media to control
precipitate transformations has not been evaluated.
Although this technique has been shown to be prom-
ising to suppress the HAZ deterioration in linear FSW
joints,386 it is extremely challenging to implement
such local cooling using liquid media in a spot weld-
ing process.
In the thermo-mechanically affected zone, the most
significant changes involve the transformation of pre-
cipitates, since the strains are not sufficient to cause
recrystallization of the grains. However, the strains in
the thermo-mechanically affected zones are sufficient
to lead to some static recovery based and partial static
recrystallization when the base metal grain sizes are
fine. Evidence of this partial recrystallization of some
new fine grains can be observed in Figure 31.363 In
terms of the impact on mechanical properties, these
changes in grain structure in the thermo-mechanically
affect zone are outweighed by changes in the precipi-
tate transformations.
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN SOLID STATE AND MATERIALS SCIENCES 43
In refill friction stir spot welds, the grain sizes within
the stir zone are also determined by the temperature
and strain rates imposed, as well as the material param-
eters that control grain coarsening in the alloy. In con-
trast to conventional friction stir spot welding, the refill
friction stir spot welding method produces a large stir
zone with no keyhole. When the grain size distribution
across the stir zone is measured by optical microscopy,
two features can be noted in these welds. Firstly, when
a work hardened (not heat treatable) alloy such as Al
5754 is welded, there are is a reduction in the grain size
at the edge of the stir zone at þ/- 4.5 mm form the stir
zone center, see Figure 32a.387 This location corre-
sponds to the outer sleeve boundary of the 9 mm diam-
eter tool, suggesting that enhanced strain and strain
rates lead to increased grain refinement at this fine
region. In comparison, when the grain size distribution
is measured across the stir zone of a Al 7075 alloy refill
friction stir spot weld, the average grain size is much
finer that in the Al 5754 alloy (5.7 lm, cf. 17 lm), as
shown in Figure 32b. This reveals that a combination of
the enhanced capacity for grain refinement during high
temperature deformation, and reduced susceptibility to
grain growth leads to reduced grain sizes.
4.2.1.2. Precipitate transformations. The friction stir
spot welding process generates sufficient temperatures
to cause changes in the precipitate distribution of heat
treatable aluminum alloys, such as the Al 2000, 6000,
and 7000 series alloys, and most of the literature has
studied this since it largely determines the hardness
distributions. The changes in the precipitate distribu-
tions are particularly important for spot welds, since
they are likely to determine the mechanical properties
of the material adjacent to notch around the sheet
interface, thus controlling overall fracture load during
mechanical testing.
One of the most comprehensive studies of the
microstructures in friction stir spot welds which
44 Z. SHEN ET AL.
Figure 30. a) Electron backscattered diffraction grain maps of the stir zones in air-cooled friction stir spot welds produced using a
tool rotation speed of 3000 RPM in a) Al 5754 and b) Al 6061 alloys.345
Figure 31. Evidence of partial recrystallization of fine grains between deformed grains at the thermo-mechanically affected zone
of a friction stir spot weld produced in Al7075.363
included precipitate analysis was done by Fujimoto
et al.43 on Al 6061 alloy. It was shown that the temper-
atures measured outside the stir zone reached 430  C,
and so it can be assumed that the stir zone exceed this
value in their work. The main strengthening precipitate
in Al 6061 is metastable Mg2Si phase, and in the peak
aged T6 temper this alloy contains a high density of
needlelike Mg2Si particles, as shown in Figure 33a. As
the material is heated to above the solvus temperature
of Mg2Si, these needlelike precipitates will begin to dis-
solve, and larger rod-shaped precipitates are favored,
resulting in a decrease in precipitate density as observed
in Figure 33b. The lowest hardness was observed in the
HAZ approximately 6 to 7 mm way from the weld cen-
ter, which contained a microstructure as shown in
Figure 33c, with mainly the coarser rod-like precipitates
remaining. The stir zone material near the keyhole
experienced complete dissolution of the Mg2Si precipi-
tates, as shown in Figure 33d, where only some disloca-
tions are observed.
Since the temperatures during friction stir spot
welding will readily exceed the solvus temperature of
the primary precipitates in heat treatable aluminum
alloys, it is almost inevitable that some coarsening or
partial dissolution of these precipitates will occur in
the HAZ of spot welds. In the case of the stir zone, if
sufficient time is permitted for the dissolution of the
precipitates, then a supersaturated solution will be
formed, which can then undergo natural aging, which
was noted by formation of GP zones.43 The kinetics
of the particle dissolution process have been described
from a thermodynamic stand point for various alloys.
Once the phase has been determined, the rate of par-
ticle dissolution at high temperature can be calculated
based on the method proposed by Whelan et al.:388
 2
R kD
¼1 2 t (23)
Ro Ro
where R is the particle radius, R0 is the initial particle
radius, D is the diffusion rate, t is time, and k is an
experimentally determined constant that is dependent
on the chemistry of the alloy.
This relationship used to predict the rate of second
phase particle dissolution within the stir zone by
Gerlich et al.,18 which is shown in Figure 34a. This
figure indicates the maximum particle size that can be
fully dissolved in the stir zone at the temperatures
measured by the tool pin during friction stir spot
welding of Al 2024, indicating that particles with a
radius of slightly more than 100 nm will be fully dis-
solved. This will lead to the formation of a super satu-
rated solid solution in the stir zone. Furthermore, the
 CRITICAL REVIEWS IN SOLID STATE AND MATERIALS SCIENCES 45

Figure 32. Grain size and hardness distribution across the stir zone of a refill friction stir spot weld produced in a) Al 5754 alloy
and b) Al 7075 alloy.387 Horizontal position at the origin corresponds to the center of the stir zone, and þ/- 4.5 mm is the outer
sleeve radius of the rotating tool.

Figure 33. TEM images observed in Al 6061 friction stir spot weld in the (a) base material, (b) HAZ, (c) minimum hardness zone,
and (d) in the stir zone around the pin (keyhole).43

temperatures in the stir zone reach a sufficient value
to promote further dissolution during the cooling
period of the weld. This was also evaluated by devel-
oping a non-isothermal scheme for evaluating Eq. 23,
and the calculated reduction in radius of particles
with an initial size of 25 mm is shown in Figure 34b,
when applying the measured cooling rate shown. The
influence of post-weld rapid quenching has so far
only considering the role on grain size,345 however it
would be expected the HAZ degradation would also
be suppressed with rapid quenching, with a potential
for increasing joint strength.
Although these metallurgical principles can poten-
tially be used for predicting second phase stability in
the thermo-mechanical affected zone, and correspond-
ing hardness values, this has not been developed.
However, in the case of friction stir seam welds,
Kamp et al. have used a combination of thermal mod-
eling, microstructure modeling, and strength modeling
have been used to predict the strength and
46 Z. SHEN ET AL.
Figure 34. Calculated dissolution rate of Al2CuMg particles in the stir zone of Al 2024 spot welds during (a) the welding cycle up
to 4 seconds, and (b) during the weld cooling period.18
microhardness distribution within joints.389 It is con-
ceivable that similar approaches may be applied to
friction stir spot welds, however the conditions during
spot welding are far more transient in nature, thus
introducing additional challenges.
4.2.1.3. Texture and Grain Boundary Characteristics.
The novel refine grain structures produced by recrys-
tallization in friction stir welds have motivated studies
of the crystallographic texture and grain boundary
structure in order to better understand the origin of
this structure. In friction stir seam welds of Al 5754
and Al 5182 base metals, the stir zones were not heav-
ily textured. The strongest texture components that
were detected in the stir zone were ð118Þ½62̄ 1 at
5.16%, and ð00̄ 1Þ½120 at 3.51%, both of these occur-
ring near the top region of the stir weld.390 This data
was observed using electron back-scattered diffraction
(EBSD), which provides high spatial resolution for
resolving the crystal orientation (down to a 0.05 lm
spacing) and allows “micro-textures” to be compared,
for example between two regions of the same weld.
One of the earliest studies of crystallographic tex-
ture in friction stir spot welds255 indicated that there
was a drastic difference in the textures produced at
different locations within the weld. It was shown that
the dominant crystal produced under the shoulder
was a < 101> orientation, while under the tool pin
the grains had a dominant <001> orientation. Since
the EBSD method allows a quantitative comparison to
be made based on the statistical distribution of meas-
urements, which revealed that the overall intensity of
the textures was not overly strong, indicating the
observed texture components only dominated between
3.30 to 8.00 times above the random average orienta-
tion. These are only slight increases compared to the
base metal which had a weak texture only 1.586 times
above the average, while a highly textured sheet may
exhibit textures over 20 times higher than the average
random orientations.
The use of EBSD characterization was extensively
employed by Gerlich et al. mainly to conduct grain
size quantification in Al 5754, Al 6061, Al 2024, and
Al 7075.14,18,345 However the textures were mainly
studied in Al 2024 using pole figures,18 and it was
observed that textures within the stir zone are also
weak, and vary slightly with tool rotation speed, as
shown in Figure 35. These pole figures indicate that
the maximum intensity of the textures only reach 2.26
times higher than an average crystal orientation distri-
bution, and a weak <110> texture develops.280 It
should be noted that torsional textures are not usually
preserved under large torsional strains.391 It is also
interesting that the textures in Al 2024 spot welds are
quite different from those reported in friction stir
seam welds of this alloy, where strong <111> textures
parallel to the tool axis have been found.392,393 The
textures in friction stir seam welds may different since
the process results in a slower cooling rate, where
grain growth contributes more to the texture rather
than mainly shear strains.377,383
4.2.2. Unique features in specific welded materials
4.2.2.1. Single crystal metals. In order to remove the
influence of the base metal texture from the analysis
of crystallographic orientations, Shibayanagi et al.,155
studied the texture development in a 99.99% purity
single crystal aluminum sheet following friction stir
spot welding. This material represents an idealized
model material for examining the changes in crystal
orientation caused by the tool deformation. Using
pole figures, this work showed that stir zone textures
remained weak, with coarser grains aligned with the
f110g planes perpendicular the normal direction
(along the tool axis), while regions with finer grains
had their f111g planes perpendicular the normal dir-
ection. The crystal orientations in the thermo-mech-
anically affected zones transitioned from a f110g
plane to a f100g plane perpendicular to the normal
direction as the distance to the stir zone boundary

Figure 35. f111g and f100g pole figures for the stir zones of Al 2024 spot welds made using tool rotational speeds from 750
to 3000 RPM.18
decreases, due to the combined effect of compressive
and shear deformation. The contributions of the
deformation were further correlated to dominant
stress orientations of the deformation along the
boundary of the stir zone, as shown in Figure 36,
which indicates the that primary compressive stress
axis is perpendicular to the stir zone boundary. This
provides a potential method for analyzing the stresses
produced by material flow during the welding process.
4.2.2.2. Mg alloys. The weldability of magnesium
alloys is usually hampered by solidification cracking
or liquation in the fusion zone, and grain growth in
the HAZ.394,395 This has motivated interest in the
application of friction stir spot welding for magne-
sium alloys. The earliest work examined AZ31 and
AZ91 alloys in terms of the tool penetration process,15
which indicated that temperatures at the pin reached
0.99 of the melting point in AZ91. The tool energy
contributions were later examined in more detail in
AM50 magnesium alloy, and it was found that tool
shoulder contributes 65% of the total energy input
during a 4 second dwell time in friction stir spot
weld.113 However, of the total energy generated by the
tool, only some 4% is transferred into the deformation
and weld generation, the remaining is dissipated into
the surrounding base metal, tooling, anvil assembly,
and surrounding atmosphere.
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN SOLID STATE AND MATERIALS SCIENCES 47
The strength of the magnesium friction stir spot
welds increase with energy input during welding.114
This was explained by a correlation with an increase
in bonded area, since the stir zone expands with
increased energy input. The overlap shear strength is
also influenced by the heat dissipation into the sheets.
In AZ31 magnesium alloy, it was noted that a W-
shaped hardness profile is formed, such that a min-
imum occurs in the thermo-mechanically affected
zone.396 These softened zones can provide an easy
path for fracture propagation in overlap shear tests.
The role of tool geometry was also evaluated dur-
ing friction stir spot welding of AZ31 magnesium
alloy.235 This work showed that the pin diameter has
a strong influence on the geometry of the unbonded
ligament or “hook” inside of the stir zone, see Figure
37. This work that although increasing the pin diam-
eter from 3.0 to 4.5 mm, the overlap shear force
increases only marginally increases from 1.40 to
1.56 kN, since the height of the hook region also dra-
matically increases, providing an easier fracture path
and reducing the effective ligament length. Yin
et al.397 described the geometry of this hood in terms
of height and angle, and related both to weld strength.
It was also noted that the hook geometry varies
between AZ31 and AM60 magnesium alloys, and
when threaded versus three-flat shaped tool are used.
Sun et al.398 also observed that the bonded with and
48 Z. SHEN ET AL.

Figure 36. Textures in different locations in TMAZ region close to the stir-zone extremity, in different through-thickness locations
in a friction stir spot weld made in single-crystal aluminum sheet. (a) (110) pole figures for locations A, B, C, and D in TMAZ region
close to the stir-zone extremity. Traces of one of f110g planes and the deviation angle relative to the horizontal direction at each
location are indicated. (b) Schematic showing the directions of compressive loading as the stir zone grows in size during the dwell
period in spot welding.155

hook height vary considerably with friction stir spot
welding parameters, however the fracture load and
bonded with reach a threshold value after a 1 second
welding time.242 For longer welding times than
1 second, the benefit of an increase in bonded area is
offset by the detrimental increase in hook height
which provides an easy fracture path in overlap shear
tests. The fatigue performance of AZ31 friction stir
spot welds was also examined,399 and found to be
mainly determined by hook geometry and the shoul-
der plunging depth, since this affected the degree of
thinning in the upper sheet. Fatigue crack modeling
has been done to help explain how this geometry con-
trols the fatigue performance during cyclic overlap
shear testing
One of the other major issues related to friction
stir spot welding of magnesium alloys is the tendency
for liquation crack formation, as noted by Yamamoto
et al.,400 and this will be discussed in a later section
focusing this mechanism. To-date, only limited studies
have considered refill friction stir spot welding of
magnesium alloys343 in order to optimize their bond
strengths using Taguchi method to select the best
processing parameters. Refill friction stir spot welds in
AZ31 also exhibit a strong dependence between weld
strength and hook morphology,401 and the peak
strength are achieved when intermixing of the sheets
is maximized while the hook height is controlled. This
issue will be discussed in more detail in a
later section.
4.2.2.3. Copper alloys. The weldability of copper
sheets has only been considered so far as a copper/
brass dissimilar alloy joint. Barlas has shown that joint
strengths of 5.1 kN could be achieved with a tool uti-
lizing a 15 mm shoulder.402 Temperatures measured at
the sheet interface indicated a peak of 545  C, when a
tool rotation speed of 1500 RPM is applied. The
microstructures within the stir zone exhibited an
increase in hardness due to grain refinement. The
findings indicate that friction stir spot welding may be
particularly viable for copper alloys, in order to avoid
the issues these normally present for resistance spot
welding (such as electrode overheating and sticking).
4.2.2.4. Steels. The development of advanced tool
materials for frictions stir welding has made it pos-
sible to apply friction stir spot welding to thin sheet
steels as well. The feasibility of this was first examined
by Feng et al.,328 in polycrystalline boron nitride tool
was used to spot weld M190 martensitic steel and
DP600 dual phase steel. This report indicated that
over one hundred spot welds could be made with this
tool without noticeable degradation or wear. The weld
times required between 2 to 3 seconds, and produced
microstructures in the stir zone as shown in Figure

Figure 37. Profile of hook regions of AZ31 magnesium friction stir spot welded joints at different pin diameters of a) 3.0 mm, b)
3.5 mm, c) 4.0 mm, and d) 4.5 mm.235
38. It can be noted that a rather narrow bonded liga-
ment is produced, however the peak overlap shear
loads for both alloys exceeded 10 kN. The rapid cool-
ing involved in the process resulted in drastically dif-
ferent microstructures for these two alloys due to
their varying chemistry and hardenability. The stir
zone produced in the M190 steel produced a fully
martensitic structure (similar to the base material), as
shown in Figure 38b. However, the DP600 spot weld
contained a mixture of acicular ferrite and bainite as
shown in Figure 38c, which results in softening com-
pared to the base material which contained a mixture
of ferrite and martensite. Another issue that was
noted in zinc-coated TRIP 800 steel spot welds was
the formation of a zinc fissure due to penetration of
liquid zinc into the stir zone from the interface.330
Further work also demonstrated the feasibility of
spot welding DP780, DP 980, and DP1200 dual phase
steels.403,404 These studies showed that the hardness
values could be reduced to values less than those in
comparable resistance spot welds, offering a potential
method to prove the impact resistance of the joints.
The newer generation of hot stamped boron steels
have also been considered in terms of friction stir
spot welding,20 and it was found that the polycrystal-
line boron nitride tools could also be used without
drastic tool wear, though little information was
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN SOLID STATE AND MATERIALS SCIENCES 49
initially available regarding overall tool life. Another
issue encountered was the formation of a narrow
band of ferrite formed along what appeared to be the
prior interface boundary, and this became a preferred
crack propagation path.
Recent work by Ohashi et al. has also examined the
use of a Si3N4 ceramic tool for welding DP590 dual
phase steels,310 and it was noted that oxygen contam-
ination was introduced into the stir zone from the
atmosphere due to the high temperatures involved. It
was found that shielding using Ar gas could suppress
this contamination, otherwise the oxygen and nitrogen
will influence the phase transformations and micro-
structure development.405 This group also noted that
silicon and nitrogen will migrate into the stir zone as
a result of diffusion from the tool surface,307 and this
would lead to increased hardness values due to the
enhanced hardenability. They noted that the use of
TiC and TiN coating applied to the tool surface by
chemical vapor deposition could effectively suppress
this diffusion and reduce the hardness.
The grain size of polycrystalline boron nitride can
be refined in higher grades, and this refinement was
found to drastically increase the tool life from 100 to
900 welds,284 however all of boron nitride exhibited
degradation, fracture, and adhesion of the steel to the
tool. In order to help avoid the sudden fracture
50 Z. SHEN ET AL.
Figure 38. Friction stir spot weld microstructures in steel, showing optical micrograph of a) M190 martensitic steel joint, b) M190
joint stir zone and c) DP600 joint stir zone.328
during spot welding with polycrystalline boron nitride
tools, this ceramic was used to also produce metal
matrix composite tools and mixed with 30 to 40% W-
Re alloy.294 This tool could endure more than 1000
welds without significant wear or decline in joint
strength, however the cost of W-Re is also high, and
so the overall cost of the tooling is still quite high
compared to tools for aluminum alloys.
Other materials such as WC-Co have also been
examined for spot welding of mild steels,299 where an
unconventional geometry using an extremely wide pin
(with a 10 mm diameter) with a short length (of
1 mm) was used on a 15 mm diameter shoulder tool.
Interestingly, it was found that over repeated use of
up to 500 welds, the wear pattern on the tool evolved
to a new geometry with a new small diameter pin
emerging after some 100 welds, resulting in only a
modest decrease in overlap shear strength. This tool
material represents one of the lowest cost materials
which can be successfully used for friction stir spot
welding. A cost analysis has suggested that to compete
with resistance spot welding of steels, it would be
necessary to reduce the tool cost to less than $100
USD, and strive for a durability of at least 26,000
welds per tool.264 Currently, no tool materials have
demonstrated these economics in terms of cost per
weld, however there may be scenarios such as dissimi-
lar welding where resistance spot welding is not feas-
ible and friction stir spot welding is the preferred
process despite the added cost.
Khan et al. has made a direct comparison between
the strengths and microstructures of friction stir spot
welds and resistance spot welds,324 specifically for
DP600 dual phase steel. This work revealed that in
the case of both processes, the failure load increased
linearly with bonded area and energy input during
welding, however the maximum bonded areas and
fracture loads were limited in friction stir spot weld-
ing due to the formation of the keyhole and narrow
bonded ligament lengths caused by the hook feature
around the stir zone. Considering the importance of
energy and temperature on stir zone formation, lim-
ited work has been done to measure and model the
temperatures during spot welding of steels,123 however
the spot welding process appears involve such rapid
transients that the measured temperatures are consid-
erably lower than the >700  C measured during fric-
tion stir seam welding of steels.406

Figure 39. Cross-section macrographs of friction stir spot welds between Al 2017 and Al 5052 produced using a tool rotational
speed of 2000 rpm) and plunge depth of (a) 1.2 mm, (b) 1.4 mm, (c) 1.6 mm and (d) 1.8 mm.228
A study of joining dissimilar dual phase and intersti-
tial-free steels was completed in order to determine the
influence of sheet order.331 The dissimilar joint strength
was mainly limited by the weaker alloy (interstitial-free
steel), however the joints were marginally stronger
when the dual phase alloy was positioned as the top
sheet, since this increased the fraction of dual phase
material chemistry in the stir zone joint. However, the
dissimilar joints always had strengths drastically lower
than the similar dual phase joints considering the alloy
offers much higher strength.
The feasibility of welding with a no-pin (only
shoulder) tool has also been considered in order to
avoid the severe wear observed on the tool pin. Aota
and Ikeuchi found that a 3.6 mm cylindrical tool
made from sialon (silicon aluminum oxynitride) cer-
amic rotating at 18,000 RPM could be used to partially
penetrate through the top sheet of two pieces of low
carbon steel.55 Although the welding time was quick
(1 to 2 seconds), the peak overlap shear fracture loads
only reached between 1.5 to 2 kN. An alternative to
friction stir spot welding method has been proposed
and referred to as the “assembly-embedded rod” tool
has been demonstrated,319 which is essentially a modi-
fication of the radial friction welding process. This
process generates a bonded interface through the heat
generated by a rotating friction of a non-consumable
rod, and could achieve overlap shear fracture loads of
34 kN in steel sheets up to 3 mm, however the welding
time involved was 100 seconds.
4.2.2.5. Dissimilar materials. By maintaining temper-
atures below the melting point, many material combi-
nations can be joined by friction stir spot welding
which would otherwise result in cracking due to inter-
metallic formation. The earliest report of a similar
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN SOLID STATE AND MATERIALS SCIENCES 51
process being used for dissimilar welding is the work
of Polinovski and Yan’shin,407 who used two counter
rotating radial friction welding machines to apply
pressure to aluminum and copper sheets sandwiched
between two steel rods, to produce a spot weld
between the sheets. This process shares many com-
mon features with friction stir spot welding, and they
found that the joint strengths could exceed that of
resistance spot welds.
Friction stir spot welding of dissimilar materials
can be categorized as either involving different alloys
(of the same metal), or different metals, or even dif-
ferent material classes (ie: metal to non-metal). The
first category was first explored in the literature, since
this is the most convenient and least challenging to
address.228 This study by Tozaki et al. involved Al
2017-T6 and Al5052 aluminum alloy sheets with
1 mm thickness, and produced clearly delineated
regions of intermixing following optical microscopy,
due to the drastic difference in etching rates, see
Figure 39. The mixed zone tended to increase with
processing time, however the optimal joint strength
between this dissimilar alloy sheet was found to be
between 3 to 5 sec, since longer welding times would
cause excessive shoulder penetration, and reduce the
thickness of the upper sheet, promoting easy fracture
propagation upon loading. Dissimilar Al-alloy joining
was also examined in terms of static strength,
microstructures.205,228,232,408
The enhanced etching tendency of dissimilar alloy
welds is a convenient tool to reveal the subtle details
of intermixing caused by the tool. This was used by
Su et al.149 to validate the modeling of the material
flow in Al 5754 and Al 6111 sheets by comparing
flow patterns of the intermixed region to calculated
tracer paths in a fluid dynamics model of the friction
52 Z. SHEN ET AL.
Figure 40. (a) calculated tracer paths based on numerical modeling, and (b) intermingled lamellae observed in Al 5754 and Al
6111 alloy sheet friction stir spot weld.149
stir spot welding process with a simple helical
threaded tool pin. The results shown in Figure 40
indicate that the movement of material downwards
via the pin threads, which would establish a recirculat-
ing flow and produce intermingled lamellae in the dis-
similar alloy stir zone. Other materials such as WC
powder, and stainless or molybdenum wires have also
been used as tracer particle to assess the mater-
ial flow.167
Since bulk melting is not achieved during friction
stir welding, this has led to many dissimilar metal or
dissimilar material combinations to be considered. For
example, a major issue in the automotive industries is
the joining of dissimilar metals such as various combi-
nations of aluminum, magnesium, steel, and polymer,
and only a few other alternatives to resistance spot
welding are available, with self-piercing riveting being
the most popular in industry. Spot welding of Al/steel
and Mg/steel (designated here as top/bottom sheet
combinations) has been evaluated first using a con-
ventional friction stir spot welding tool, in,303 see
Figure 41. These examples show that the bonding is
mainly contributed by the mechanical interlocking of
steel extruded into the upper sheet, however metallur-
gical bonding and intermetallic formation was noted
at the interface of the two metals in this inter-
locked region.
Since the conventional friction stir spot welding
process that involves penetrating into the lower sheet
will demand exotic tool materials, much effort has
focused on joining dissimilar metal combinations
involving steels using methods which do not involve
penetrating into the steel, but rather by producing a
bond via high pressure diffusion or brazing mecha-
nisms. For example, Gendo et al.409 used a conven-
tional tool which was partially penetrated into an
upper sheet of Al 6000 series alloy on top of mild
steel, see Figure 42. The formation of a diffusion bond
at the interface, along with brazing in the periphery of
the weld via melting of the zinc coating provided a
metallurgical bond. This was enhanced by selection of
a coating with a suppressed melting point with a com-
position of Zn-11Al-3Mg, and this provided overlap
shear strengths of more than 3.5 kN for the Al/steel
joints. This process was used in production of the
Mazda MX-5 automobile for components in the rear
deck lid for Al/steel joints.
Several works subsequently evaluated the bonding
mechanisms and formation of intermetallic between
aluminum and steel during the partial penetration
method. The depth of penetration into the top alumi-
num sheet has a vital role on the time and tempera-
ture, and excessive penetration depths would lead to
reduced strength due to the formation of defects on
the surface of the weld.301 In the case of Al/steel
joints, the interfacial intermetallics include FeAl3,
Fe2Al5, and FeAl2.326 Although the intermetallics are
necessary to promote bonding, if they grow to exces-
sive thickness the bond strengths will deteriorate.
Joining of Al/steel using a pinless tool is also feasible,
and has been shown to exhibit fatigue strengths
approach that of the similar Al/Al fatigue perform-
ance.61,410 This pinless tool approach is also feasible
for Mg/steel joints.265
Friction stir spot welding also holds great potential
for producing Al/Mg joints. In this case, the bonding
between these metals requires careful control of the
intermixing and thickness of intermetallic compounds,
mainly Mg17Al12 and Al3Mg2.396,411 These intermetal-
lics are particularly brittle and will grow requite read-
ily to large sizes since the temperature at the interface
can exceed their eutectic melting point and there is a
large supply of material to form these phases. This
demands that welding times are carefully controlled,

Figure 41. Optical micrographs of friction stir spot welds in a) Al 6111/low carbon steel, and b) AM60/DP600 steel.303
since the stir zone may for sufficient intermetallic to
produce a crack upon cooling. Alternatively, refill fric-
tion stir spot welding can also be applied to Al/Mg
joining to better control the degree of material mixing
and distribution of intermetallics.64,158 Similar issues
control Al/Ti alloy welding, and so refill friction stir
spot welding may also be used for this application,
which has been shown to achieve rather high overlap
shear strengths of up to 6449 N.289
In order to join Mg to steel, the refill friction stir
spot welding method is convenient to also avoid
employing exotic tool materials, however metallurgical
bonding in the Mg/steel interface is hampered by the
limited solubility of magnesium and iron. This has
been shown to be overcome by the presence of a zinc
coating, which provides an interlayer joining mater-
ial.32 However, interestingly the primary intermetallic
accommodating the bond between magnesium alloy
and zinc coated DP600 steel was actually found to be
FeAl2, which actually originated from an alloying add-
ition in the zinc plating.
Another particularly challenging material for weld-
ing is bulk metallic glasses, since these are often
incompatible with most other engineering alloys and
are prone to crystallization upon heating. Shin et al.
has examined friction stir spot welding of aluminum
and magnesium alloys with Zr-based bulk metallic
glasses,412–414 where the bulk metallic glass was posi-
tioned as the lower sheet. Interestingly, it was found
that acceptable joint strengths could be achieved, and
that negligible crystallization of the metallic glass
occurred during joining.
Perhaps one of the most challenging dissimilar
welding combinations involves metallic to nonmetallic
joining. This has been considered both in the case of
Mg alloy to glass fiber or carbon fiber reinforced poly-
mers,31 and in the case of Al 6181 alloy to carbon
fiber reinforced polymer.415 In both of these cases, the
refill friction spot welding variant was used and the
polymer was a thermoplastic (polyphenylene sulfide),
and it appears that the process is not feasible for
thermoset polymers. However, measurements of the
overlap shear joint area following fracture testing indi-
cated that shear strengths between 20 to 28 MPa for
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN SOLID STATE AND MATERIALS SCIENCES 53
the case of Mg/polymer composite, suggesting that
secondary bonding and mechanical interlocking facili-
tated joining.
4.2.2.6. Metal matrix composites. Limited work has
been conducted on the joining of metal matrix com-
posites, however one study has involved using the
friction stir spot welding process to form a metal
matrix composite in-situ during welding.29 This was
done by introducing a graphite/water colloid between
the tool shoulder and the upper sheet of two Al 5052
sheets. This lead to the formation of an Al 5052 metal
matrix composite reinforced with graphite within the
stir zone. The resulting strength, hardness and tough-
ness of the composite stir zone was subsequently
increased compared to the similar Al 5052 welds. This
provides a potential for in-situ alloying or consumable
development which promotes the formation of com-
posite structures within the joint. This may allow one
to tailor particular joints to achieve higher strengths
as needed based on design requirements.
4.2.2.7. Polymers. Joining of polymer materials nor-
mally requires the use of fasteners or adhesives.
However, conventional friction stir spot welding pro-
cess offers a fast and convenient alternative to these
methods, and so it has been examined for joining of
high density polyethylene,416 polypropylene,24 and dis-
similar polymethyl methacroylate to acrolonitrile buta-
diene sheets.417 More recently, refill friction stir spot
welding has also been applied for joining of poly-
methyl-methacrylate plates,69 and the strengths
achieved are comparable to that which can be
achieved with a similar adhesively bonded area or
ultrasonic welding.
4.3. Weld imperfections
4.3.1. Hook formation and sheet thinning
Given the nature of the spot welding process lends
itself most readily to lap welding, the most common
issue that has been highlighted in the literature is the
formation of an unbonded ligament which is deflected
upwards to the surface of the upper sheet. As already
54 Z. SHEN ET AL.
Figure 42. Optical micrograph of dissimilar Al/steel friction stir spot weld.409
discussed in prior sections, this has a severely detri-
mental affect on the overlap shear strength, since this
will shorten the effective bonded ligament length, and
shorten the fracture path between the unboned inter-
face and the top surface. This has often been referred
to as a “hook” feature was documented by
Badarinarayan et al.16 and Buffa et al.418 The geom-
etry of the hook has been described in terms of length
and height by Yin et al.,242 in terms of a curvature
and hook height, as illustrated in Figure 43. It can be
clearly observed that as the rate of shoulder penetra-
tion depth increases, and the hook height increases,
the remaining bonded ligament will decrease and
hamper overlap and cross-tension strengths. It has
been shown that measuring these parameters explains
the variations in strength when the strengths are com-
pared to the welding parameters.
Based on these observations, controlling the material
flow which determines the hook feature and controlling
defects is critical to achieving hight joint strengths, and
studies have evaluated the role of tool geometry and
processing parameters. It has been shown that for both
aluminum,16 and magnesium alloy welds,397 the use of
tools with a pin with three flats provides a more con-
trolled hook curvature to maintain a greater bonded
ligament between the sheets. Both of these works shows
that using a simple threaded tool tended to align the
hook geometry so that the fracture path was shortened,
limiting strength. The use of a concave shoulder geom-
etry was also shown to further increase this length and
improve strength.16 The application of a dwell time
which can provide sufficient shoulder penetration is
also recommended,397 since this promotes increased
flow of the lower sheet material outwards, thus control-
ling the hook angle to increase the bonded ligament
and weld strength.
4.3.2. Local melting and liquation cracking
The formation of liquid during friction stir spot weld-
ing was first studied by Gerlich et al.,14 in which Al
7075 base material was found to be prone to the for-
mation of local melted films at the grain boundaries
when the tool rotation speed exceeded a critical value.
Evidence of these local melted films was presented in
that work as the apparent reduction in measured
strain rates in the stir zone when the tool rotation
speed exceeded 1500 RPM, and the stir zone tempera-
tures exceeded 475  C. However, the evidence of
cracking in aluminum alloy friction stir spot welds
was later observed in both Al 7075 and Al 2024,
which were both prone to local melting of intermetal-
lic particles present at the grain boundaries of the
base material.363 The observation of a crack under the
tool pin after welding is shown in Figure 44. Evidence
of such cracking was also noted in Al7075 refill fric-
tion stir spot welds, as reported by Chan et al.387
Later work by Yang et al. also noted the formation of
a shiny surface on friction stir spot welds that was a
tell-tale indicator of liquid film formation and indica-
tion the combination of material and welding parame-
ters may be prone to constitutional liquation and
cracking.419,420
When the other aluminum alloy systems are con-
sidered, one can predict when there is a potential to
form a local melted film based on the presence of
second phase particles in the base material which have
melting points less than the bulk solidus of the alloy,
and this is summarized for some commercial alloys in
Figure 45. Based on this it is clear that Al 2024 and
Al 7075 alloys will be susceptible to local melting and
liquation cracking, but alloys such as Al 5754 and Al
6061 do not exhibit any susceptibility to this issue.
One of the most susceptible materials to liquation
cracking during friction stir spot welding is magnesium
alloys which contain significant alloying content of alu-
minum, since this will provide an opportunity to firm
Mg þ Mg17Al12 eutectic at 437  C. This was found to
lead to local melting, mainly when the alloy compos-
ition contained more than 5% aluminum (such as
AM60, and AZ91 alloys). When this occurs, the melting
often led to liquid penetration induced cracking in these
alloys as shown in Figure 46, which indicates partial
removal of the stir zone material occurred.
The work of Yamamoto et al. found this was a
rather common problem issue during friction stir spot
welding of various Mg alloys422,423 such as AM50,
AM60, and particularly AZ91 which could often result
in the entire stir zone volume being removed.424 This

Figure 43. (a) Schematic representations showing how the stir zone and bonded width values, and shoulder penetration depths
are measured in an AZ31 spot weld. (b) The method used to determine the height and the curvature of a hook region in an AZ31
spot weld.242
removal of material occurred after the crack propa-
gated through the stir zone or TMAZ material, and
the adhesion of the stir zone material resulted in it
being withdrawn along with the tool at the end of the
weld. This issue does not occur when AZ31 magne-
sium is spot welded, since there is not sufficient alu-
minum content to form the Mg17Al12 phase to result
in melted films which facilitate cracking. Since the
aluminum content is a major contributor to the melt-
ing, it was also found that such cracks and defects
could be easily formed when the friction stir tool
alternates from spot welding of aluminum and mag-
nesium alloys,114 since the contamination on the tool
surface causes formation of Mg17Al12.
5. Mechanical properties
5.1. Hardness, bonded area, and weld geometry
When friction stir spot welding is used to join over-
lapping sheets, the strength of the joint will depend
on a combination of the material properties and the
joint geometry. Since the welding parameters influ-
ence both the material properties and the joint geom-
etry that determines the bonded area, it is necessary
to consider all of these factors on mechanical per-
formance. To measure the material properties, the
majority of researchers have focused on microhard-
ness measurements. Although hardness profiles are
routinely measured in resistance spot welds in stand-
ard locations such as along the diagonal of the trans-
verse weld section, there are no standards for
hardness evaluation in friction stir spot welds, making
it somewhat difficult to compare between processing
parameters, materials, and tool designs.
In the case of linear FSW, the microhardness distribu-
tion has been modeled using thermodynamics and diffu-
sion theory for the non-isothermal transients that occur
during this process. Modeling and prediction of the
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN SOLID STATE AND MATERIALS SCIENCES 55
hardness is complicated by the process which involves
rapid thermal transients, and so it is necessary to gather
rather accurate kinetic information regarding the particle
precipitation process.389,425,426 Currently, such non-iso-
thermal models for predicting hardness have not been
applied to the friction stir spot welding process.
The hardness distribution in friction stir spot
welds, is highly dependent on the alloy and initial
treatment state being welded since the significant dif-
ference in welding metallurgy and strengthening
mechanism for heat-treatable and non-heat-treatable
Al alloys. The Al alloys can be divided into non-heat-
treatable (solid-solution-hardened) and heat-treatable
(precipitation-hardened) alloys. In the case of the heat
treatable (precipitation-hardened) Al alloys such as Al
2000, 6000, 7000 and 8000 series Al alloys will be sen-
sitive to heat generation by the tool. The hardness of
such Al alloys was are much more influenced by the
phase, size and distribution of strengthening precipi-
tates rather than by the grain size. It is well known
that the FSW/FSSW will produce a softened weld
zone due to coarsening or dissolution of strengthening
precipitates during the welding thermal cycle, leading
to loss of strength in the weld area. This softening is
more severe when the higher tool rotation speed or
longer welding time is applied.278,381,427 In the case of
most heat treatable aluminum alloys, room tempera-
ture aging my also occur in the stir zone. However,
this natural aging will only be significant when suffi-
cient time and temperature has been applied during
welding to dissolve the aging precipitates and form a
super saturated solution in the completed weld.
A typical hardness profile across the midsection-
thickness a FSSW joint in Al 6061-T6 is shown in
Figure 47a. The wide weld region including stir zone
was softened compared to the base material, and the
difference in hardness distribution between upper and
lower was small. The minimum hardness was located
under the shoulder edge. The hardness of Al 6000
56 Z. SHEN ET AL.

Figure 44. a) optical micrograph of location, which exhibits cracking (in location beneath tip of rotating pin in rapidly quenched
Al 7075 spot weld produced using plunge rate of 10 mm s21 and dwell time of 0.05 s, b) optical micrograph of crack location and
c) SEM image of crack in detail: EDX analysis at location B was 73.1 wt-%Al, 20.2 wt-%Zn, 6.6 wt-%Cu.421

Figure 45. Comparison of the melting points of intermetallic in various commercial aluminum alloys and their solidus tempera-
tures, indicating that Al 2024 and Al 7075 are candidates to exhibit local melting.138

series is mainly determined by the density of needle
shaped precipitates rather than grain size.381,428 As
shown in Figure 33a, a high density of needle shaped
precipitates can be observed in the base material, the
HAZ contained a high density of rod shaped precipi-
tates (see Figure 33b), along with a low density of
needle shaped precipitates, thus HAZ exhibited lower
hardness (
80HV) compared to the base material
(103HV). As shown in Figure 33c, only a low density
of rod shaped precipitates and no needle shaped pre-
cipitates were observed in the minimum hard-
ness region.

Figure 46. Liquid penetration and cracking in the stir zone at the location close to its extremity in an AZ91 Mg-alloy spot weld.400
These results show a good correlation between the
hardness distribution and the density of needle shaped
precipitates in different regions of friction stir spot
weld. It is interesting to note that all of precipitates
were dissolved in the stir zone in the vicinity of the
pin (see Figure 33d), but the hardness in the stir zone
was higher than that in HAZ, which possibly can be
attributed to the formation of GP zones during nat-
ural aging after the solution treatment.43 In the case
of most heat treatable aluminum alloys, room tem-
perature aging may also occur in the stir zone.
However, this natural aging will only be significant
when sufficient time and temperature has been
applied during welding to dissolve the aging precipi-
tates and form a super saturated solution in the com-
pleted weld. As it is the case in the solid-solution
hardened Al alloys, the FSSW does not lead to the
loss of strength in the joint area in these age-harden-
able alloys are welded in the annealed condition.
Non-heat-treatable Al alloys, such as Al 1000, 3000
and 5000 series, are strengthened through solid solu-
tion hardening and cold work hardening mechanisms,
in which the hardening mechanisms are relatively dif-
ferent compared to precipitation strengthened Al
alloys. The hardness of non-heat-treatable alloys is
mainly determined by work hardening, and some
grain size according to Hall-Petch relationship.
Therefore, FSSW could not lead to much loss of
strength in the SZ and TMAZ in those alloys, but
instead can lead to higher strength compared to the
base materials because of formation of highly
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN SOLID STATE AND MATERIALS SCIENCES 57
deformed fine recrystallized grains.429,430 Also, the
effect of the thermal cycle on the HAZ is not signifi-
cant due the absence lack of many strengthening pre-
cipitates to dissolve, therefore, the microhardness near
the weld is much more uniform (see Figure 47b).
However, there is still a variation in hardness near the
stir zone, and the exact value will depend on the
parameters applied. The only significant difference
between these hardness values, is the minor increased
softening observed for the samples produced using a
longer dwell time, which contributed to minor stress
relieving in base material surrounding the specimen.
The slight increase in hardness near the keyhole sur-
face within the stir zone (at distances <1 mm in
Figure 47b), stems from the enhanced grain refine-
ment and work hardening achieved while the welding
temperatures were lower, since the stir zone tempera-
ture is continually increasing from 1 to 4 seconds.15,134
In many work hardening Al alloys, such as Al
5083-O many small particles are still present including
Al6(Mn,Fe) particles, and therefore Orowan harden-
ing, and the mechanical attrition during stirring can
refine their size and increase hardness.431 It also
should be noted that FSSW can lead to a reduction in
hardness when solid-solution-hardened Al alloys are
welded due to the loss of cold work hardening.219
5.2. Lap shear strength
The majority of work evaluating the mechanical prop-
erties of spot welds has focused on evaluations based
58 Z. SHEN ET AL.
Figure 47. Hardness profile in midsections of (a) Al 6061-T6 stir zones of upper and lower sheets,43 and (b) Influence of dwell
time on the width of the softened region produced during friction stir spot welding of Al 5754-O base material using a plunge
rate of 2.5 mm/s and a tool rotational speed of 3000 RPM.292
on either overlap shear or cross-tension testing. These
test methods are frequently a quality requirement for
automotive applications in order to ensure sufficient
joint, particularly for resistance spot welds.432 Based
on this standard, some guidelines have been developed
to ensure sufficient joint strength, for example, the
requirement that a resistance spot weld nugget diam-
eter d, is at least 4冑t, where t is the thickness of the
material. However, there is currently no specific
standard for friction stir spot welds, which have quite
a different geometry than that of a resistance spot
weld. In the case of conventional friction stir spot
welds, the large keyhole introduces a drastic difference
in load bearing capacity, however resistance spot
welds may also contain porosity and still meet specific
strength requirements. Considering that spot welds in
overlapping sheets contain an inherent notch at the
interface, this has been given a great deal of attention,
with detailed analytical models for the stress concen-
trations around the notch already available for ideal-
ized resistance spot weld geometry.433
The mechanical performance of the friction stir
spot weld is highly dependent on the base material
properties and the macroscopic features such as the
hook geometry,207,244,245 effective bond
207,245,276,361
width and upper sheet thick-
ness.16,21,114,205,255 It is difficult to make general
assessments and comparisons between different var-
iants of FSSW and RSW by per spot weld strength,
since different tools or welding parameters were used
in these research. Figure 48 presents the weld nominal
stress versus workpiece thickness for conventional,
pinless and refill FSSW, as well as RSW of heat treat-
able Al alloys. All of the RSW data meet the require-
ment that the nugget diameter 4冑t, and the nominal
stress defined as F/Beffective (MPa), where F is the lap
shear failure load, and Beffective is the effective bond
area. Based on the literature, regardless of
conventional,255 pinless52 and refill FSSW,206 a lack of
interfacial contact and formation of a hook structure
(also known as kissing bond or partial metallurgical
bond) exist in the weld and thus decreases the effect-
ive bond area. In some case, there is a lack of inter-
facial contact at the periphery or outer boundary of
the weld.278 However, the effective bond area for
FSSW joints has often been defined as 65% of the tool
print according to some literature.48,52,206
In the case of conventional FSSW, a bond area
equal to the tool pin was subtracted from the 65%
tool print. As shown in Figure 48, conventional FSSW
produces comparable weld nominal stress as RSW,
since the top sheet thinning and hook involved, and
the resistance spot welds may contain defects such as
porosity. Conventional and pinless FSSW produce
similar weld nominal stress when the workpiece thick-
ness is <1 mm, because the same tool should penetra-
tion (～0.2 mm) was applied in this case, and pinless
FSSW obtains the maximum capability when the
workpiece thickness is ～ 1 mm. However, the effect-
iveness of pinless FSSW significantly declines when
the workpiece thickness increases, since excessive tool
penetration (>0.5 mm) should be applied to obtain
the interfacial bonding, which causes excessive thin-
ning of the top sheet.38
Conventional FSSW produces comparable weld
nominal stress regardless of the workpiece thickness,
since a thick workpiece does contribute to the effect-
ive top sheet thickness, and cannot improve the weld
interface integrity when fractures propagate by inter-
facial fracture mode rather than nugget pull out.12,245
Refill FSSW always produces higher weld nominal
stress than other variants of FSSW and RSW, and the
nominal stress significantly increases with the increas-
ing of workpiece thickness, which can be attributed to
its excellent weld integrity and avoiding top
sheet thinning.

Figure 48. Nominal stress versus workpiece thickness.12,13,17,38,48,50–52,56,58,65,71,201,206,215,224,227,229,230,237,240,244,
45,248,255–258,265,278,279,285,286,288,434–444
5.3. Fatigue behavior
Automotive applications which rely on spot welding
involve quite demanding cyclic loading. This has
placed high requirements on the fatigue performance
of friction stir spot welds. The cyclic loading response
has been studied for conventional friction stir spot
welding of both aluminum and dissimilar metal joints,
and for Mg-alloy spot welds in order to ensure that
the performance is suitable considering the inherent
notch is present at the sheet interface. Since the spot
weld provides a natural crack or notch along the cir-
cumference of the weld nugget, fracture mechanics
has been adopted to investigate the fatigue lives of
spot welds in various types of specimens based on the
stress intensity factor solutions at the critical locations
of spot welds.445,446
5.3.1. S-N curve
So far no standard fatigue life test methods have been
available for FSSW joints. Engineers and researchers
have employed curves of stress versus cycles to fatigue
failure, which are often called S-N curves. Although
now supplemented and sometimes replaced by more
sophisticated approaches, the stress or load-based
approach continues to serve as a very popular and
useful tool for FSSW joints.
For a given sheet metal thickness, the correct selec-
tion of weld size is critical. A subsized spot weld may
present inadequate strength in overload or crash scen-
arios and reduced fatigue life under normal operation
of the vehicle. An oversized nugget is of higher cost
to fabricate. The spot welds diameter is selected based
on experience usually with the range of 1 <
d < 10 mm. However, tests revealed that the spot
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN SOLID STATE AND MATERIALS SCIENCES 59
welds diameter is proportional to the weld strength
approximately, which can be selected according to the
thickness and size of the component strength require-
ments, the empirical equation is:447
d ¼ 2d þ 3mm
where d- spot welds diameter; d-Thickness of weld-
ments. There are various industry standards for sizing
a spot weld for a given sheet metal thickness. For
instance, the American Welding Society (AWS),
Society of Automotive Engineering (SAE), and the
American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
together recommend a p weld
ffiffi nugget diameter for
steels448 given by d ¼ 4 t , where d and t are the
weld nugget diameter and sheet thickness, respectively
in millimeters. This recommended formula is empir-
ical in nature obtained through extensive experiments.
5.3.2. Fatigue failure mechanisms
The fatigue life of an FSSW joint results from a com-
bination of crack initiation and propagation stages
which are followed by the fast failure stage.
Measurement and assessment of fatigue life of resist-
ance spot-weld joints have been studied.449 The FSSW
fatigue cracking initiation and propagation seems to
have a similar analysis method to resistance spot
welds. Failure modes of spot friction welds made by a
flat tool in lap-shear specimens of aluminum 6111-T4
sheets are investigated by Lin et al.256 The failure
modes of the welds made by the flat tool are more
complex than those made by a concave tool. Under
cyclic loading conditions for the flat tool, the experi-
mental results indicate three types of fatigue cracks: 1)
the first type initiates and grows near the boundary of
60 Z. SHEN ET AL.
the stir zone close to the upper sheet surface inside
the weld as that under quasi-static loading conditions,
2) the second type initiates and grows into the lower
sheet outside the stir zone, 3) the third type initiates
from the bend surface of the upper sheet outside the
weld. The failure modes of the welds made by the
concave tool are quite different from those of the
welds made by the flat tool.256 The fatigue lives of
friction stir spot welds in Al 6061-T6 lap-shear speci-
mens under cyclic loading conditions are investigated
by Wang and Chen.450 The experimental observations
suggest that under cyclic loading conditions, the
fatigue crack is initiated near the possible original
notch tip in the stir zone and propagates along the
circumference of the nugget, then through the sheet
thickness and finally grows in the width direction to
cause final fracture.
Lap-shear and cross-tension specimens are com-
monly used to investigate the mechanical properties of
spot friction welds under shear and opening dominant
loading conditions, respectively. However, most of the
literature only focuses on the fatigue behavior of spot
friction welds in lap-shear specimens. Failure modes of
friction spot welds in cross-tension specimens of Al
6061-T6 sheets have been first studied by Lin et al.236
Their study shows that the dominant fatigue cracks
under low-cycle loading conditions are the kinked
cracks growing into the upper sheet from the crack tips;
consequently, the upper nugget pullout failure mode
can be seen. The dominant fatigue cracks under high-
cycle loading conditions are kinked cracks growing into
the lower sheet from the crack tips; hence, the lower
nugget pullout failure mode can be seen.
5.3.3. Analytical models
To gain a better understanding of the stress intensity
factor near the notch and now it compares to resist-
ance spot welding, Tran et al.451 developed analytical
models which could allow one to compare the stress
distribution in the weld for different weld geometries
and loading situations. The J-integral (or energy
release rate) solutions were also developed along with
stress intensity factors, and validated using finite
element modeling, since the geometry is rather com-
plicated for a spot weld. This provided a convenient
method to estimate stress intensity factors for different
sheet thicknesses and locations in the weld.
The overlap as well as cross-tension shear fatigue
performance of dissimilar Al 7075/Al 5754 aluminum
alloy performance was also investigated by Tran
et al.452 It was found that their kinked-crack growth
model was able to provide reasonable predictions of
stress intensity factor and fatigue life when either the
Al 5754 or Al 7075 alloy was used as the top sheet.
This orientation difference is a contributor to fatigue
life since the cracks tended to propagate around the
circumference of the weld through the upper sheet,
and so better results are obtained with the Al 7075
alloy on the top surface. As also observed in resistance
spot welds, the fatigue performance of overlap shear
loaded specimens were better than that of cross-ten-
sion specimens due to a more concentrated stress
intensity and shorter path for crack propagation.
The performance of conventional friction stir welded
Al 7075 alloy was also analyzed by Ahamdi et al.,453
and found to follow a predictable life based on
Morrow’s damage equation, with fatigue lives exceeding
106 cycles when 5 MPa stress amplitudes are applied.
However, this stress amplitude is difficult to apply pre-
cisely, since the bonded area and stress state is difficult
to determine exactly. A comparison of conventional
friction stir spot weld fatigue life for various aluminum
and Mg-alloys are also provided in Figure 49, which
indicates that fatigue performance between these alloys
are fairly similar when a similar tool and processing
parameters are used. It was observed by Jordan et al.
that the fatigue fractures predominantly originated from
the unbonded hook feature.446
Dissimilar spot welding between light alloys and
steel is required in the manufacturing sector in order
to achieve hybrid structures, and the weldability of
those dissimilar alloy sheets had been widely investi-
gated. The application of FSSW to Al or Mg/steel dis-
similar welding had also been reported. It is very
Figure 49. Fatigue S-N data for various Al and Mg-alloy con-
ventional friction stir spot welds.446

important to understand fatigue properties to use
FSSW joints for structural components.265,410
Galvanized steel sheets for ensuring the safety and
corrosion protection in the mechanical structures has
been widely used. Fatigue performance for dissimilar
Al or Mg alloys and galvanized steel sheets have been
studied for potential automotive applications.268,281
Limited work has been conducted on the fatigue
performance of Al/steel dissimilar fiction stir spot
welds, in which the short pin does not penetrate into
the lower steel sheet.452 It was observed that the fail-
ure path was consistently through the interfacial Al/Fe
reaction layer at the interface, and that stress intensity
factors could be derived and used to explain the
fatigue crack growth patterns of the welds. Finally,
some work has also considered the fatigue perform-
ance of refill frictions stir spot welded Al 7050
alloy,437 in which Effertz et al. showed that fatigue
failure life could only reach the targeted life at 10% of
the maximum load, suggesting the material would not
be suitable for high cycle fatigue conditions. However,
the refill joints did exhibit the desirable nugget pull-
out failure mode when lower loads are applied. Other
work by Shen et al.281 showed that fatigue lives of dis-
similar Mg/steel refill FSSW joints was significantly
enhanced by the contribution of brazing around the
periphery of the joint interface which was derived
from the Zn coating on the steel surface. This signifi-
cantly increased the cycle life to values occasionally
higher than the comparable Mg/Mg refill FSSW joints.
Further work is clearly needed to optimize process
parameters for fatigue performance.
5.4. Residual stress
Only a few studies have measured the residual stresses
in friction stir spot welds. Neutron diffraction was
used to reveal that residual stresses in Mg-alloy spot
welds depend closely on the grain size, and welding
parameters applied.454 The in-plane stresses were
found to be as high as 114 MPa in tension, with a
rather uniform value across the weld region, decreas-
ing to zero about 5 mm outside of the weld zone. The
use of heat treatment can also be used to remove the
residual stresses in Mg-alloy spot welds, which also
results in a slight amount of grain growth.455
5.5. Corrosion behavior
Aside from fatigue, corrosion performance is another
important consideration for various applications, par-
ticularly in the transportation sector. This issue is even
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN SOLID STATE AND MATERIALS SCIENCES 61
more critical in the case of Mg,456 since it can lead to
accelerated mass loss. One of the main problems that
has been highlighted in the case of Mg-alloy welds is
the fact that regions with fine grain size in the stir zone
near the shoulder are made more noble compare to sur-
rounding AZ31 alloy base material.457 This was deter-
mined using novel micro capillary test which was
developed to map the noble versus anodic regions in
the cross-section of the Mg alloy spot weld,458 where it
was found that accelerated corrosion and preferential
mass loss occurs at the interface between these two
regions. This localized form of corrosion was driven by
the galvanic difference between these regions and also
accelerated in dissimilar AZ31/AZ80 alloy spot welds.459
Further work has shown that residual stress and grain
size variations in friction stir spot welds have little influ-
ence on corrosion performance.455
In order to deal with the accelerated corrosion
caused by microstructure heterogeneity and galvanic
coupling of different microstructures, the application
of post-weld surface treatment use plasma electrolytic
oxidation was examined.460 It was shown that this can
be successfully applied to the irregular surface (includ-
ing the keyhole depression) of a conventional friction
stir spot weld, and that increased coating thickness
enhances protection. It is expected that conventional
electrophoretic painting will provide further protec-
tion, however no studies have assessed the perform-
ance of this process in protecting Mg or Al-alloy
friction stir spot welds made using any other process
variant. In contrast, a study of corrosion in copper
friction stir spot welds showed that the corrosion
resistance was actually improved compared to that of
the pure copper base material.461 However, it was
noted that fragments of the tool were embedded into
the copper weld, and these regions suffered from
localized attack during potentiodynamic corrosion
testing in a NaCl solution.
6. Summary and outlook
Over the past fifteen years, there has been an excep-
tional degree of progress in developing the friction
stir spot welding process and distinguishing it further
from the traditional friction stir seam welding techni-
ques. It has evolved into multiple variants, including
pinless, refill, and short traverse which each have their
own advantages and limitations. This has led to the
process becoming a major competitor to resistance
spot welding, especially for non-ferrous applications
such as aluminum. This particular application has
found the greatest academic interest and industrial
62 Z. SHEN ET AL.
adoption with several automobile models utilizing
conventional friction stir spot welding to deal with
joining thin aluminum sheet, in order to avoid the
issues of accelerated tool wear when resistance spot
welding aluminum.
The research on friction stir spot welding has heav-
ily focused on a few particular issues, which include
improving joint strengths, reducing cycle time, and
joining of dissimilar materials. The strategy for achiev-
ing these points has involved multiple approaches,
including detailed numerical modeling using both 2 D
axisymmetric and full 3 D schemes. This has generated
a large number of insights regarding the fundamental
aspects of the process, such as the heat generation
mechanisms, energy efficiency, material flow, and
their relationship with processing parameters such as
the tool geometry and rotation speed. However, truly
predictive models are not available, partly since the
numerical models rely on accurate constitutive laws
which are not necessarily accurate near the melting
point. Also, the boundary conditions which describe
the contact conditions at the tool/material are not
fully understood, particularly at temperatures of
>0.9 Tm, which have been measured experimentally
for a wide range of aluminum and magnesium alloys.
Some success has been made in revealing the role of
some features in terms of tool geometry, as the par-
ticle flow models have been validated experimentally
using tracer particles embedded in the material to
show that tool threads on the pin will transfer mater-
ial via within the threads and promote intermixing.
There remains potential in the application of model to
optimize joint strength, dissimilar metal joining, and
welding time by using novel tool geometries.
Experimental studies have also made great strides
in developing efficient tooling designs and revealing
the role of particular geometrical features during spot
welding. It is surprising to find that a wide range of
tool pin and shoulder diameters which have been
used to join sheets with a range of thickness from 1
to 3 mm, however there is no clear correlation
between ideal or required tool diameters and base
material thickness. Likewise, there are no clear design
rules or trends that have emerged between pin length
and sheet thickness, though most tool pin lengths
penetrate to an average of about 60% of the lower
sheet thickness.
In terms of microstructures, the friction stir spot
welding process exhibits a few differences compared
to conventional friction stir seam welding. The mech-
anisms of grain refinement via recrystallization are
quite similar and dominate the stir zone region
microstructures. However, spot welding is a much
more transient process which has faster heating and
cooling rates compared to seam welding, and this has
been shown to lead to finer grain microstructures,
and reduced particle dissolution. The use of texture
analysis and particle tracers have been effective in
explaining many of the features of material flow dur-
ing spot welding. However the microstructures pro-
duced in dissimilar material joints are still not
completely explained or consistent between studies,
particularly in terms of which phases and microstruc-
tures control bonding in Al to Mg alloy, non-ferrous
to ferrous, and metal to polymer joints.
A significant amount of effort has been made in
evaluating the mechanical properties of spot welds
produced using all friction stir spot welding variants.
It has been generally shown that strengths can be
achieved with comparable values to resistance spot
welding. As the thickness of the sheet material
increases, the refill friction stir spot welding is capable
of achieving the highest apparent joint stress across
the bonded area. In general the joining of dissimilar
alloys and classes of materials remains the greatest
challenge in terms of achieving suitable joint strength
for industrial applications. Further work could also be
useful to provide direct comparisons between the
fatigue and corrosion performance of the various fric-
tion stir spot welding techniques to each other and
versus resistance spot welding.
It would also be useful to develop some guidelines
regarding standardized tooling for various applica-
tions, along with guidelines for target acceptable
strength values for various base material strengths and
thicknesses. Much of prior literature relies on compar-
isons to existing resistance spot welding standards,
which may be a suitable reference for target strength
values considering that is the main competing process.
However, much of the basic quality control and
acceptance criteria are still lacking such target values
of weld diameter, or bonded areas necessary for a
given sheet combination. Overall the friction stir spot
welding process remains a growing area of academic
and industrial study. Ongoing work in these areas will
help to promote innovations for joining more materi-
als, and accelerate wider adoption for commercial
applications.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by
the authors.

Funding
This work has been supported by the National Natural
Science Foundation of China (No. 51975479), the
Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
(No. 3102019QD0404), Natural Sciences and Engineering
Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Foundation
for Innovation.
ORCID
Adrian P. Gerlich http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0270-7475
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