Materials Science & Engineering A 691 (2017) 168–179

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Materials Science & Engineering A

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

Residual stress analysis in linear friction welded in-service Inconel 718 MARK
superalloy via neutron diffraction and contour method approaches
⁎
M. Smitha, J.-B. Levesqueb, L. Bichlera, , D. Sediakoc, J. Gholipourd, P. Wanjarad
a
University of British Columbia – Okanagan, School of Engineering, 3333 University Way, Kelowna, Canada V1V 1V7
b
Institut de recherche d′Hydro-Québec (IREQ), 1800 Lionel-Boulet Blvd., Varennes, Canada J3X 1S1
c
Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, Building 459, Station 18, Chalk River, Canada K0J 1J0
d
National Research Council of Canada, Aerospace 5145 Decelles Ave., Montreal, Canada H3T 2B2

A R T I C L E I N F O A BS T RAC T

Keywords: In this study, an analysis of elastic residual stress in Inconel® 718 (IN 718) linear friction welds (LFWs) was
Inconel 718 superalloy carried out. In particular, the suitability of LFW for manufacturing and repair of aero engine components was
In-service repair emulated by joining virgin and in-service (extracted from a turbine disk) materials. The evolution in the residual
Residual stress strains and stresses in the heat-affected zone (HAZ), thermomechanically affected zone (TMAZ) and
Neutron diffraction
dynamically recrystallized zone (DRX) of the weld was characterized using the neutron diffraction and contour
Contour method
methods.
The results provided insight into diverse challenges in quantitative analysis of residual stresses in welded IN
718 using diffraction techniques. Specifically, judicious selection of the beam width, height and stress-free
lattice spacing were seen to be crucial to minimize measurement error and increase accuracy. Further, the
contour method – a destructive technique relying on capturing the stress relaxation after electrical discharge
machining – was used to characterize the residual stress distribution on two-dimensional plane sections of the
welds. Both techniques suggested an increasing magnitude of residual stress originating from the base metal
that reached a peak at the weld interface. Both methods indicated that the peak magnitude of residual stresses
were below the yield stress of IN 718.

1. Introduction lithic BLISKs using subtractive processes is expensive, time consuming

Nickel (Ni)-based superalloy components are often relied on in
order to survive the high load, temperature and otherwise harsh
environments commonly found in modern aero engines. Inconel® 718
(IN 718), a commonly used superalloy in compressor or turbine blades,
disks and hot liner cowlings [1,2], is a Ni-Fe-Cr alloy where strength-
ening is achieved by the body centered tetragonal (bct) γ'' (Ni3Nb) and
secondary face centered cubic (fcc) γ' (Ni3(Al,Ti)) precipitates that form
in the fcc γ matrix [1,3]. Some elements, like Co, Fe, Mo and Ta provide
additional strength through solid solution strengthening mechanisms,
while Cr is added primarily to enhance the alloy's oxidation resistance
through the formation of passive oxides (e.g., Cr2O3) at the surface of
the material [3,4].
Recently, IN 718 has been considered for use in BLISK (Blade +
Disk) – where the blade and disks are integrated into a single assembly
[5] – production for jet engine applications, leading to reduced engine
weight, higher aerodynamic efficiency and also a reduced number of
initiation sites for fatigue failure [6]. However, manufacturing mono-
and generates considerable waste of a high cost material. Most
importantly, any extensive damage (in-service or during manufacture)
to the blades results in scrapping of the entire BLISK [6]. Therefore,
there is a dire need to develop and evaluate novel technologies to
facilitate BLISK manufacturing and repair.
Similar to many other superalloys, IN 718 is highly susceptible to
microstructural evolution during elevated temperature exposure.
Therefore, when traditional fusion welding techniques – such as
tungsten arc welding, laser welding and electron beam welding – are
applied, welding defects are often inherently introduced as a result of
microstructural changes caused by interactions between the material
and the high-temperature environment, shielding gas, etc. Despite IN
718's resistance to strain age cracking (post weld heat treatment
cracking) [7,8], defects related to macrosegregation, solidification
cracking and liquation cracking often make fusion welding challenging.
As a result, solid-state welding techniques such as inertia/continuous
drive friction welding, friction-stir welding and linear friction welding
are being considered for the manufacture and repair of IN 718

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: lukas.bichler@ubc.ca (L. Bichler).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2017.03.038
Received 10 February 2017; Accepted 9 March 2017
Available online 10 March 2017
0921-5093/ Crown Copyright © 2017 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
M. Smith et al.
components. Due to the critical nature of such components, however,
characterization of material performance and properties is critical for
further development and process/product certification [8–16]. The
present authors reported on in-depth study of microstructure evolution
during LFW of virgin and in-service IN 718 [17], as well as comple-
mentary understanding of the microstructure of in-service IN 718 [18].
The inhomogeneous microstructure in the weld region may facilitate
crack initiation and propagation relative to the surrounding base
material; thus, a quantitative analysis of the residual stresses attribu-
table to the welding process is essential for engineering component
design and development.
The present paper focuses on the quantitative measurement of the
elastic residual stresses in LFWed virgin-to-in-service (V-IS) and
virgin-to-virgin (V-V) IN 718 materials. First, neutron diffraction
(ND) was used to measure the residual stresses and strains in the
welds, due to the technique's penetration ability, resolution and
accuracy. This approach provided a volume-averaged stress-state
measurement. Second, the contour method was used to independently
validate the elastic residual stresses and also to provide an in-depth
and detailed analysis of strain levels in discreet weld regions. A critical
discussion of the results obtained from each technique is presented.
The results of this work, for the first time, provide holistic insight into
the magnitude and trends in LFWed IN 718 virgin and in-service
materials.
2. Experimental procedure
2.1. Materials
A commercially available rolled slab of virgin IN 718 material was
obtained from Rolled Alloys, (Edmonton, Alberta) in the solution
annealed state (i.e., 1 h solution heat treatment at 968 °C, followed by
water quenching to room temperature) with the following composition
(in wt%): 54.01 Ni – 18.57 Cr – 17.09 Fe – 5.21 Nb – 2.87 Mo – 0.96 Ti
– 0.58 Al – 0.24 Cu – 0.17 Co – 0.1 Si – 0.08 Mn – 0.03 C – 0.009 P
– 0.003 Ta – 0.002 B – 0.0004 S [19]. Using a water jet, coupons for the
LFW trials were extracted from the virgin IN 718 with dimensions of
34 mm in length (x) x 12.5 mm in width (y) x 9 mm in height (z).
In addition to the virgin IN 718 material, a forged IN 718 aero-
engine turbine disk (Fig. 1a), removed from service prior to end-of-life
(or time expiration) limit was used to help emulate disk repair using
the LFW process. It was assumed that the forged disk underwent a
standard manufacturing process consisting of casting and forging,
followed by solution annealing and direct ageing heat treatments prior
to service. The exact manufacturing details of the in-service forged disk
prior to service, its in-service operating conditions and the total
number of cycles are proprietary. However, the in-service disk was
expected to operate at temperatures close to the peak temperature of
IN 718 of ~650 °C. After removal from service, the turbine disk was
heat treated following industry standards (i.e., solution annealing at
954 °C for 1 h in vacuum, followed by cooling to 538 °C at a rate of
16 °C/min in an argon (Ar) atmosphere, and then rapid cooled in Ar to
room temperature) to prepare it for repair processes by increasing its
workability and decreasing hardness. Coupons for the LFW experi-
ments were sectioned from the virgin and in-service materials using
electrical discharge machining (EDM) with the following dimensions:
34 mm length (x), 12.5 mm width (y) and 9 mm height (z).
2.2. Welding
Prior to starting the LFW experiments, the contact surfaces to be
welded were ground with an 800-grit SiC abrasive paper and cleaned
with acetone to remove any surface contaminants. The cleaned
coupons were then placed in the clamping fixture of the LFW system
located at the Aerospace Structures, Materials and Manufacturing
facility of the National Research Council Canada (Montreal, Quebec).
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Materials Science & Engineering A 691 (2017) 168–179
The LFW apparatus consisted of two actuators: i) the in-plane actuator
that oscillated the lower coupon in the horizontal direction and ii) the
forge actuator that applied a downward pressure on the top stationary
coupon [9]. The oscillation during welding was applied in the direction
parallel to the width of the coupons (y-direction). In order to emulate a
BLISK repair, LFW proprietary process parameters were used to weld
one virgin coupon to one in-service coupon to create a V-IS welded
sample. Identical process parameters were also used to create a V-V
sample, representing an “as-welded” virgin material condition (i.e.
prior to service). It is noteworthy that the in-service material was
extracted from the disk and welded with the radial,1 hoop and axial
coordinates corresponding to the x, y and z-directions, as shown in
Fig. 1. Welding of the coupons was performed under ambient condi-
tions (i.e., without shielding gas).
2.3. Microstructural characterization
Microstructural examination and electron back scattered diffraction
(EBSD) analyses were performed using a Tescan Mira3 XMU field
emission gun scanning electron microscope (FEG-SEM) operating at
an accelerating voltage of 20 kV. Metallographic preparation proce-
dures were used to grind and polish the as-welded samples to a 3 µm
surface finish following the principles described in ASTM Standard E3
– 01 [20]. To reveal the γ grain boundaries in the virgin and in-service
IN 718, the samples were electro-etched (with a voltage of 8 V for 25 s
using a stainless steel cathode and a pure nickel anode) in 10 g oxalic
acid dissolved in 100 ml deionized water.
Final polishing of the metallographic sample surfaces used for
EBSD analysis was carried out by electropolishing in a solution of 80%
methanol and 20% H2SO4 with a voltage of 25 V for 20 s using a
stainless steel anode and cathode. The EBSD characterization was
performed at an accelerating voltage of 20 kV using FEG-SEM
equipped with an HKNordlysis Max EBSD detector and Oxford
AZtecHKL EBSD acquisition system. EBSD patterns were post-pro-
cessed using Oxford Channel 5 HKL software. EBSD characterization
was performed across the weld interface starting on the virgin base
material side (at x=−1.5 mm from the weld interface). The total
number to grains indexed ranged from 22 to 815, depending on the
location within the weld (i.e., DRX, TMAZ, HAZ or base material).
2.4. Neutron diffraction
Non-destructive measurement of the elastic residual strain in the
welded samples was performed using neutron diffraction at the
Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) (Chalk River, Ontario). A
monochromatic beam of neutrons with a wavelength of 1.5704 Å was
used to record strain from the {311} reflections. The geometry of the
as-welded and stress free samples are shown in Fig. 1b and c,
respectively. Locations of the scan sites with respect to the x-direction
are indicated in Fig. 1d.
Initially, the neutron beam was shaped (using a collimator) to a
width and height of 0.5 mm and 4.6 mm, respectively. However,
microscopic analysis of the weld regions revealed that a beam of
0.5 mm width may have large overlap with adjacent HAZ, TMAZ and
DRX regions. As a result, a subsequent high-resolution neutron
diffraction scan was performed with a beam width of 0.3 mm and
height of 4.6 mm in order to accurately measure the magnitude of
lattice strain in the respective weld regions.
Based on microstructural characterization of the weld region, large
gradients in the phase constituents and grain structure were observed
up to a distance of ± 1.5 mm from the weld interface. Thus, far field
residual stress measurements were obtained at a distance of ± 5 mm
from the weld interface.
1
The radial axis was aligned with the disk diameter/radius.
M. Smith et al.
Fig. 1. a) Actual in-service disk showing locations of cut coupons. b) Two coupons welded together (as-welded sample geometry). c) Stress free (d0) sample taken from center of the as-
welded sample. d) Side view of welded sample showing the scan locations of interest along x-direction (marked as red dots). (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure
legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
The neutron diffraction residual strain mapping sequence involved
the following steps: First, a measurement of the residual strain in the
virgin material at x=−5 mm away from the weld interface was obtained.
Then, detailed measurements following a line path from x=−1.5 mm to
x=1.5 mm were carried out. In the case of the low-resolution scans,
steps in 0.5 mm increments were performed, while for the high-
resolution scans, steps in 0.3 mm increments were performed.
Finally, as indicated in Fig. 1d, the last measurement was acquired at
x=5 mm in the in-service or virgin material, for V-IS and V-V welds,
respectively.
At every location of measurement, the elastic residual strain was
measured in three orthogonal directions (x, y and z) to enable the
calculation of the elastic residual stress. To facilitate the strain and
subsequent stress calculation, residual strain in a “stress-free” match-
stick sample was also measured. The matchstick sample originated
from a welded specimen, and was extracted from the LFWed sample's
core using wire-EDM. The stress free sample inter-planar spacing (d0)
for the {311} reflections was then used in Eq. (1) in calculating the
strain in LFWed V-V and V-IS samples via the peak-shift method:
d − d0
ϵ=
d0
where d was the measured inter-planar spacing in the welded sample.
The residual stress at each scan location in the x, y and z directions
in the as-welded samples was calculated using a generalized Hooke's
law (Eq. (2)):
Ehkl
σX = [(1 − νhkl ) ∈X +νhkl (∈Y +∈Z )]
(1+νhkl )(1 − 2νhkl )
where the E and υ values of Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio were
Materials Science & Engineering A 691 (2017) 168–179
194 GPa and 0.310 for the {311} reflection, respectively [21,22]. More
details on the neutron diffraction experimental setup has been reported
by the authors in [23].
2.5. Contour method
In addition to neutron diffraction, the contour method was used to
estimate the residual stresses in the welded samples. This destructive
technique, developed by Prime [24], has the unique capability among
other measurement techniques to evaluate the normal component of
the residual stress over an entire surface. As per Bueckner's principle
[25], the method assumes that the energy released in a body following a
crack extension is equal to the strain energy of the difference in stress
fields before and after the crack extension [25]. Therefore, if no
external forces are applied to the boundaries of a body affected by
internal stresses, the deformation of a new straight cut plane is directly
related to the stress state prior to the cut. The three major steps of the
contour method consist of: i) cutting the specimen, ii) measuring the
displacements over the newly cut surfaces and iii) calculating the
residual stress using numerical methods.
(1) The welded samples were securely clamped in a Fanuc Robotcut
alpha-liA wire EDM machine using fixtures placed immediately
adjacent to the cutting path. A Tecfil Thermo Brass 900 (63% copper
and 37% zinc) wire with a diameter of 250 µm was used for all cutting
operations. The welded samples were sectioned along the weld center-
line parallel to the x-direction in order to create cut planes normal to
the y- and z-direction (shown in Fig. 3a and b, respectively). The
creation of these new surfaces enabled the residual stresses to relax,
(2)
with an associated deformation of the cut planes. Sectioned samples
were cleaned with alcohol in an ultrasonic bath and a confocal white
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M. Smith et al.
Fig. 2. a) Example of the mesh used for the contour method. b) Zoomed view of highlighted (red box) region in (a) of the weld region mesh. (For interpretation of the references to color
in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
Fig. 3. Characterization surface used to calculate the contour residual stresses in the V-V
and V-IS samples along the a) Y-direction. b) Z-direction.
light profilometer was used to measure the displacement over the cut
surface with 0.05 mm grid spacing (with a resolution of 0.060 µm for
the altitude and 2 µm on the lateral displacements). Cubic spline piece-
wise interpolation was used on the raw data followed by filtering before
importing into a finite element mesh. The cubic spline spacing was set
to 0.625 mm following an uncertainty study of the dependence spacing
on the measured stress field in the samples. Linear 8 node hexahedral
elements with 0.25 mm side length were used to mesh half the welded
samples with respect to the final geometry of the cut plane perimeter.
Fig. 2 shows the applied mesh, consisting of 238,176 elements.
Calculation of the elastic residual stresses was made with an in-house
finite element method program based on elastic stress relaxation of the
material on the cut surface. Based on room temperature tensile tests on
the as-received material, Young moduli were set to 160 GPa and
220 GPa for the virgin and in-service IN 718, respectively. The
Poisson's ratio was assumed to be 0.29 for both sample conditions [26].
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Weld microstructure
In order to determine the width of the HAZ, TMAZ and DRX
regions and the resulting necessary neutron gauge volume for the ND
experiments, microstructural analysis of the as-welded V-V and V-IS
samples was performed. Representative micrographs in Fig. 4 show the
microstructure across the weld affected region of the V-IS as-welded
sample.
While the MN-type nitrides and MC-type carbides remained stable,
the δ phase morphology, size and volume fraction varied across the
different weld regions. Specifically, a progressive dissolution of the δ
phase was detected at the onset of the TMAZ in both the virgin and in-
service sides of the weld. The partially dissolved δ phase had a ribbon-
like morphology (as seen in Fig. 4c and e) rather than isolated
individual particles, which were seen in the base materials. In the
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Materials Science & Engineering A 691 (2017) 168–179
TMAZ adjacent to the DRX region, the δ phase was completely
dissolved. Hence the DRX region at the weld interface consisted of
relatively fine γ grains, completely denuded of the δ phase. Finally, no
defects (e.g., porosity, cracks, liquation) were observed within any weld
region. The as-welded V-V sample exhibited trends similar to those
observed on the virgin side of the V-IS weld, as shown in Fig. 4a – d.
Fig. 5 shows the results of the EBSD grain size analysis across the
weld interface for the as-welded V-V and V-IS samples. Close exam-
ination and relation of the SEM images (Fig. 4) with the EBSD data
enabled the identification of the distinct regions in the weldment along
with their relative size and distance from the weld interface. In Fig. 5,
these regions are labeled as DRX, TMAZ, HAZ and base material (BM).
The position of the coupon during welding – in the top or bottom
fixture – is also indicated in Fig. 5.
The EBSD analysis revealed a significant variation in the grain size
across the weld interface. The grain size within the virgin base material
at x=−1.5 mm from the weld interface was ~15 µm, which corre-
sponded to the grain size of the virgin material prior to welding. The
average grain size then decreased from that in the virgin base material
towards the HAZ and TMAZ, reaching a minimum of ~5 µm in the
DRX region. Interestingly, the average grain size remained relatively
constant at ~8 µm from the HAZ to the TMAZ on the virgin material
side of the V-V and V-IS welds. By contrast, on the IS side minor grain
growth was apparent in the TMAZ and HAZ (~5 µm) relative to the
finer (~ 4 µm) average grain size of the in-service base material [17].
The results of the microstructural and grain size analyses indicate
that considerable changes in the phase constituents and γ grain
structure occur within a narrow region of less than ± 1.5 mm from
the weld interface of the LFWed IN 718 samples. Fig. 5 also indicated
that the different regions within the weld zone were approximately
0.33 mm in width.
3.2. Neutron diffraction evaluation
The magnitude of the elastic residual strain across the weld is
plotted in Fig. 6 for the as-welded V-IS and the V-V samples. These
figures also include comparison of the low- and high-resolution scans.
Corresponding calculated residual stresses are plotted in Fig. 7 for the
as-welded V-IS and the V-V samples.
3.3. Residual strain measurement
Fig. 6 reveals that the maximum measured residual strain (high
resolution scan) was recorded in the y-direction in the immediate
vicinity the weld interface. In contrast, tensile strains were observed in
the x-direction within the weld interface, while compressive strains
developed across most of the sample (except at the weld interface) in
the z-direction, as seen in Fig. 6a and c for the as-welded V-IS sample
M. Smith et al.
Fig. 4. Representative SEM backscatter electron micrographs for the as-welded V-IS sample. a) V-BM. b) V-HAZ. c) V-TMAZ. d) DRX. e) IS-TMAZ. f) IS-HAZ. g) IS-BM.
and Fig. 6d and f for the as-welded V-V sample, respectively. It is of
interest to note, that the magnitude of residual strain from the high-
and low-resolution scans followed a similar profile, but the absolute
value of the strain significantly varied at some locations.
The far field magnitude of strain for the y- and z-directions
approached zero (Fig. 6b and c for the as-welded V-IS sample and
Fig. 6e and f for the as-welded V-V samples), while for the x-direction
the residual strain remained tensile at all locations measured (Fig. 6a
and e). The high residual strain along the x-direction may be attributed
to the inherent feature of the LFW process. In particular, during LFW,
the x-direction corresponded to the direction of compressive loading.
However, during cooling the hydraulic rams were retracted while still
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Materials Science & Engineering A 691 (2017) 168–179
holding the sample clamped within the jaws of the welding fixture; this
may have resulted in an applied tensile load that imparted tensile
residual strain in the x-direction.
Interestingly, for both the as-welded V-IS and V-V samples, the y-
direction experienced the largest residual strain at the weld interface,
as shown in Fig. 6b and e, respectively. This direction corresponded to
the axis parallel to the direction of oscillation during LFW. Therefore,
due to the large plastic deformation imposed in this direction, a large
amount of elastic residual strain was retained in the samples, which
also agrees with the results reported in [27] for LFW of a Ti-alloy.
Furthermore, along the y- and z-directions, a localized peak residual
tensile strain developed at the weld interface, which may be the result
M. Smith et al.
Fig. 5. EBSD grain size measurements across the weld interface. Virgin and in-service base material average grain size plus 95% C.I. is shown as shaded regions. Error bars show 95%
C.I [17].
of the large plastic deformation and ensuing flash extrusion along these
directions during LFW.
3.4. Residual stress measurement
Prior to LFW of the virgin or in-service coupons, the magnitude of
residual strain and stress in the as-received (pre-weld) condition was
determined. Table 1 summarizes the average residual strain and
stresses in the three directions for the pre-weld condition of the virgin
and in-service material coupons. The measurement uncertainty indi-
cates a range of possible stresses and strains based on diffracted peak
position.
The residual stress recorded in the virgin rolled slab likely
originated from the forming process of the bar stock during its
manufacture. Similarly, for the in-service IN 718, the residual stress
may be a remnant of the disk forging/forming process, service or
during post service handling. Since both as-received materials were
solution heat treated prior to sectioning of the coupons for LFW, it is
likely that the temperature or duration of the heat treatment was
insufficient to completely remove the residual stresses. However,
relative comparison of the magnitude of the residual stress between
the pre-weld and welded materials suggests that the values reported in
Fig. 7 mainly originated from the LFW process, even though the pre-
weld materials were not stress free.
Unlike the strain values, the residual stresses within the scanned
sections of the samples were tensile in all directions, and reached a
peak at the weld interface for the as-welded V-IS sample. It is of
importance to note, that although the observed residual stress was
tensile, a compressive stress must have evolved in regions not examined
by the neutron beam in order to maintain equilibrium (as discussed in
Section 3.6). Nonetheless, the overall residual stress trends observed
for the as-welded V-V and V-IS samples were in agreement with
reported information for various superalloys and Ti-alloys that have
been welded using solid state welding techniques [28,27,29].
The maximum stress across the as-welded V-IS weld region was
~530 MPa for the x-direction, ~630 MPa for the y-direction and
~400 MPa for the z-direction, as shown in Fig. 7a – c. However, the
peak stress for the as-welded V-V sample was slightly offset from the
weld interface into the bottom (oscillating) coupon. The maximum
stress across the V-V weld regions was ~375 MPa for the x-direction,
~470 MPa for the y-direction and ~270 MPa for the z-direction, as
shown in Fig. 7d – f). The magnitude of these stresses was compared to
the room temperature mechanical properties of the IN 718 for both
virgin and in-service conditions.
The tensile yield strength of the virgin and in-service base materials
was 415 MPa and 670 MPa, respectively, as measured via room
temperature tensile tests. Comparing the residual stresses from the
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Materials Science & Engineering A 691 (2017) 168–179
high resolution scans to the yield strength of the V and IS materials, the
residual stresses remained below the yield strength at all measured
locations (within the margin of uncertainty for the measured value of
residual stress). As previously discussed, the microstructure across the
weld interface changed, which can in turn result in changes to the base
material mechanical properties. For instance, Preuss et al. reported
variation in mechanical properties across inertia friction welded
RR1000 alloy, where a 10 – 15% increase in the yield strength was
observed across the weld region [28–30]. Since it was not possible in
the present study to directly measure the YS and UTS of the material in
the distinct weld zones, quantitative estimation of the mechanical
properties across the weld was undertaken by plotting the Vicker's
microhardness across the weld. These measurements were then
compared to published data for predicting UTS based on microhard-
ness, as reproduced in Fig. 8 from [19].
In the present study, determination of the local yield strength was
based on classical room temperature tensile tests of each material (i.e.,
virgin and in-service). Tensile testing revealed that the YS of the pre-
weld virgin material was 48% lower than the UTS, while it was 62%
lower in the case of the pre-weld in-service material. Thus, with these
relations between microhardness, UTS and YS, estimates of the local
UTS and YS across the weld were calculated. Fig. 9 shows the
relationship between measured residual stress (from the high resolu-
tion scans) and the estimated YS and UTS for the as-welded V-IS and
V-V samples along the x, y and z-directions.
As seen in Fig. 9d – f, in the case of the as-welded V-V sample, the
estimated YS and UTS across the weld interface increased by ~17% and
~19%, respectively, when compared to the YS and UTS values obtained
from tensile testing of the base material in the pre-weld condition.
These results are similar to those reported by Preuss et al. [28,30]. The
V-V estimated mechanical properties (estimated YS and estimated
UTS) observed across the weld region in the current work illustrate
how microstructure evolution may alter the mechanical properties
within the weld-affected region. Consequently, because the microstruc-
tural changes at the weld interface resulted in an increase in the
mechanical properties, the high residual stresses found at the weld
interface are likely lower than the locally estimated YS at the interface,
shown in Fig. 9.
The offset in the peak residual stress towards the bottom coupon in
the as-welded V-V sample (shown in Fig. 7d – f) may be related to two
possible effects. First, the offset may indicate a slight misalignment
(within approximately ± 0.1 mm) in locating the exact weld interface in
the stress free sample (d0) and stressed sample (d) (i.e., x=0 may not
have exactly correlated with the center of the weld interface). Secondly,
the offset observed in the as-welded V-V sample may also be attributed
to the LFW fixture and positioning of the weld coupons in the machine
during processing (i.e., the top coupon was subjected to a compressive
M. Smith et al.
Fig. 6. Residual strain measurements for as-welded V-IS and V-V using low resolution (0.5 mm×4.6 mm beam size) and high resolution (0.3×4.6 mm beam size) scans. V-IS samples a)
X-direction. b) Y-direction. c) Z-direction. V-V samples d) X-direction. e) Y-direction. f) Z-direction. Error bars show uncertainty. Coupon placement during welding labeled as top and
bottom.
force, while the bottom coupon was oscillated during the pre-con-
ditioning and burn-off stages of welding). Any variation in the
alignment and movement during LFW may shift the actual location
of the weld regions. Since the neutron beam experiments were aligned
with the weld interface, any shift in each of the weld regions (DRX,
TMAZ, HAZ) from the weld centerline may result in an offset of
measured residual stresses. The existence of the offset as a metallurgi-
cal phenomena (rather than associated with experimental error), is
further supported by the visible microstructural shift seen in Fig. 5,
where the DRX region was observed to shift towards the bottom
coupon from the weld centerline. The lack of offset observed in the V-IS
weld residual stresses may be related to the fact that two materials with
significantly different initial microstructures and mechanical properties
were joined. Therefore, each material's unique elastic and plastic
response may have influenced the weld interface positioning.
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Materials Science & Engineering A 691 (2017) 168–179
It is also of interest to note that the magnitude of measurement
uncertainty was not uniform along the line scan direction. In the
present study, the high resolution neutron beam width of 0.3 mm was
selected in order to fit within each of the distinct weld regions.
However, the width of the weld regions was not uniform across the
height of the welded samples, since the weld regions had a lens-shaped
profile. For example, Vickers hardness mapping across the full weld
cross-section revealed that due to the change in the local microstruc-
ture, the hardness varied in the vertical direction at ± 2.5 mm from the
vertical centerline (e.g., vertical centerline shown in Fig. 12 as z=0)
[17]. This variation in the microstructure would also influence the
uniformity of the measured d and d0 values along the specimen. Any
variation may contribute to the observed residual stress offset towards
the bottom weld coupon and also the error associated with the
measured residual strain. Additionally, even though the neutron beam
M. Smith et al. Materials Science & Engineering A 691 (2017) 168–179

Fig. 7. Residual stress measurements for as-welded V-IS and V-V using low resolution (0.5 mm×4.6 mm beam size) and high resolution (0.3×4.6 mm beam size) scans. V-IS samples a)
X-direction. b) Y-direction. c) Z-direction. V-V samples d) X-direction. e) Y-direction. f) Z-direction. Error bars show uncertainty. Coupon placement during welding labeled as top and
bottom.

Table 1
Summary of the average residual strain and residual stress in the IN 718 coupons in their
pre-weld condition with measurement uncertainty.

X-Direction Y-Direction Z-Direction

−6
Material Strain (10 )
Virgin 152 ± 110 194 ± 128 98 ± 128
In-Service 54 ± 80 333 ± 146 79 ± 111
Stress (MPa)
Virgin 76 ± 61 82 ± 63 68 ± 63
In-Service 16 ± 53 74 ± 62 12 ± 57
Fig. 8. Vickers hardness versus UTS for Inconel 718. Based on data taken from [19].

was collimated to have a specific width, the actual size of the neutron between 25 and 35 mm from the collimator, which may have resulted
beam that interacted with the sample may have been slightly larger due in an overlap with adjacent regions between 0.112 and 0.217 mm on
to beam divergences after the collimator. The neutron beam divergence either side of the scan location. This divergence may have resulted in
for the current work was estimated at 0.6°, with a sample placement additional variation of the measured data.

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M. Smith et al.
Fig. 9. V-IS high resolution residual stresses compared to the actual YS and UTS of pre-weld virgin and in-service as-received materials from tensile testing (solid trend lines) along with
estimations of the YS and UTS based on hardness data (trend lines with markers). V-IS samples a) X-direction. b) Y-direction. c) Z-direction. V-V samples d) X-direction. e) Y-direction.
f) Z-direction. Error bars show uncertainty.
The development of residual tensile stresses along the y-direction
and z-direction for both the V-IS and V-V samples agrees with
published literature, where extensive plastic flow during high tempera-
ture processing during friction welding resulted in large flash produc-
tion and tensile residual stresses upon cooling [27,29,30].
The high residual tensile stress in the x-directions for both samples
in the current work may be related to the attributes of the LFW process.
After bonding was achieved, the hydraulic rams holding the welded
samples were moved away from each other while still gripping the
sample fixed in the jaws during the cooling stageto emulate industrial
practice. As a result, a tensile force was applied to the welded sample.
Depending on the distance the jaws moved while the sample was still at
elevated temperatures during the initial stages of cooling, the com-
pressive stress that evolved during the forging stage was reduced, with
a possibility to revert to a tensile stress with continued cooling. It is
therefore important to consider the exact procedure and timing of
when the applied forging force is removed after LFW.
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Materials Science & Engineering A 691 (2017) 168–179
3.5. High and low resolution scan comparison
By comparing the high and low resolution stresses presented in
Fig. 7, several features of interest were noted. The high resolution
stress profile was more symmetrical in the weld region for the as-
welded V-IS sample (x=−1.5 mm to x=1.5 mm) compared to the as-
welded V-V sample. In addition, the far field measurements were
observed to have almost zero stress in the y- and z-directions for both
the as-welded V-IS and V-V samples, which is in agreement with the
stress measurements of the virgin and in-service base materials in the
pre-weld condition.
Fig. 7a – c show a distinct difference in the magnitude of stresses
between the high and low resolution scans for the as-welded V-IS
sample, while the difference was relatively small for the as-welded V-V
sample (as seen in Fig. 7d – f). For the low resolution scans with a
beam width of 0.5 mm, the measured d-spacing was influenced by
multiple adjacent weld regions (DRX, TMAZ, HAZ and BM) due to the
beam overlapping with these regions. As a result, the low-resolution
measurements possibly carried a greater error in the calculated stress
M. Smith et al.
values. In the case of the high resolution scans, the extent of overlap
was reduced, thus yielding a more accurate stress measurement.
These results elucidate that beam width selection must be done in
conjunction with analysis of the weld microstructure and the size of
each weld region. This information is not generally discussed in the
published literature, where large beam sizes (typically 1.5 mm×1.5 mm
or 2 mm×2 mm), are reported without mention of the size of the weld
regions being studied [27–29]. Although larger beam sizes improve
counting statistics, the large sampling volume deteriorates the spatial
resolution for each weld region, resulting in erroneous calculated
residual stresses if the distinct weld regions are smaller than the beam
size [29].
In addition to considering beam overlap between adjacent weld
regions, the variation in d0-spacing across the weld interface is also
important. During welding, a large thermal gradient is created between
the weld interface and the base material. As a result, various elements
may diffuse in and out of substitutional sites within the crystal lattice
structure. This results in expansion or contraction of the stress free
lattice across the weld region. In reported literature [21,27] on the
measurement of residual stresses in solid-state welded materials by
neutron diffraction, far field d0-spacing is often used in the peak-shift
method and subsequent quantitative analysis of the residual stresses
and strains. As a result, the measured d-spacing is often inevitably
compared to an incorrect reference d0-spacing value. The effect of the
d0-spacing on the magnitude of the final residual stress was explored
by Preuss et al. [28,30] when welding RR1000 superalloy. It was
reported by Preuss et al. that a 600 MPa over estimation of the stress at
the weld interface were observed when far field d0-spacing was used
rather than correctly accounting for variation in d0-spacing across the
weld [28,30]. For this reason, analysis of the weld region size and
judicious measurement of the d0-spacing within each of the weld
regions was performed in the current study in order to correctly
quantify the magnitude of the residual stress across the weld region.
3.6. Contour method versus neutron diffraction residual stress
comparison
The residual stresses along the y- and z-direction were also
determined using the contour method. The contour residual stress
maps for the V-V y- and z-directions are shown in Fig. 10, while the
contour residual stress maps for the V-IS y- and z-directions are shown
in Fig. 11. Through inspection of the contour maps, the highest
residual stress was observed at the weld interface in both the y- and
z-directions, with the peak residual stress occurring along the y-
Fig. 10. Contour map showing residual stress for the V-V sample for the a) y-direction.
b) z-direction residual stress.
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Materials Science & Engineering A 691 (2017) 168–179
Fig. 11. Contour map showing residual stress for the V-IS sample a) y-direction. b) z-
direction.
direction in both the V-V and V-IS welds, which is in agreement with
the neutron diffraction results. Also, examining the through-thickness
residual stresses in the V-V and V-IS welds for the y- and z-directions
indicated that the stresses in the interior were slightly greater than the
stresses near the surfaces.
In an effort to more closely compare the contour residual stresses to
those collected by neutron diffraction, the contour residual stresses
were averaged along the x-direction (in 0.25 mm increments) within ±
2 mm from the vertical centerline, as shown in Fig. 12. To minimize
edge effects occurring at the ends of the samples, the average residual
stresses within the center of the sample were carried out at x= ± 30 mm
from the weld interface, shown in Fig. 12. The resulting average
residual stresses from the contour method compared to the neutron
diffraction results along the y- and z-direction are shown in Fig. 13a –
b) and Fig. 13c – d), for the V-V and V-IS welds, respectively.
Fig. 13 reveals that the residual stresses from both methods were in
a good agreement. For example, at a distance of ± 5 mm from the weld
interface, both ND and contour residual stresses transitioned from
tensile to compressive state in the y- and z-directions for the V-V and
V-IS samples. Also, the contour method revealed that at a distance of ~
± 10 mm from the weld interface, the residual stresses reached
approximately zero net stress and remained at this level with increasing
distance from the weld interface. This result highlights the unique
complementary nature of the multiple analysis performed in this work.
For example, during neutron diffraction experiments, a “far-field”
measurement was performed at ± 5 mm with the assumption that at
this location the stress levels in the material were not affected by the
welding process and the stress level was representative of the base
material (this assumption was based on microstructure analysis at ±
5 mm). However, the contour plots revealed that at a distance of ±
5 mm from the weld interface, a transition zone from the tensile to the
compressive residual stress state has evolved. Thus, in order to perform
reliable analysis of residual stresses of a welded sample, it is necessary
Fig. 12. Setup showing how the localized residual stresses from the contour method
were averaged along the x-direction (yellow box). (For interpretation of the references to
color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
M. Smith et al. Materials Science & Engineering A 691 (2017) 168–179

Fig. 13. Comparison between residual stress from contour method and neutron diffraction for the V-IS samples a) Y-direction. b) Z-direction. V-V samples c) Y-direction. d) Z-
direction.. Error bars show the 95% C. I.

Table 2 different (~27% lower for the contour method). The difference in
Peak residual stresses found by the contour method. residual stress magnitude between these two methods may be related
to the contour method procedure, which does not capture the micro-
Sample Y-direction Stress (MPa) Z-direction Stress (MPa)
structural changes (phase changes), the metallurgical state of the
V-V 460 186 material across the multiple weld regions (DRX, TMAZ, HAZ), or the
V-IS 458 203 local material properties (which were affected by the welding process).
The difference between the magnitude in the neutron and the
contour residual stresses may also be attributable to the geometry of
Table 3 the samples, which would influence the accuracy of the contour
Percent difference of the peak residual stress found by the contour method with respect
measurements to a greater extent than in the neutron diffraction
to the neutron diffraction technique.
method. Specifically, the contour method required the samples to be
Sample Y-direction Z-direction sectioned in half. Since the samples in the present work were relatively
(%) (%) small in the y- and z-directions, stress relaxation possibly occurred in
the entire volume of the material (rather than the desired stress
V-V −2.3 −30.8
V-IS −26.7 −50.6 relaxation occurring on the cut surface only).
In summary, the results of this work highlight the need for multi-
approach analysis in order to gain a more holistic understanding of the
to perform multi-approach analysis to fully capture the residual stress complex state of residual stresses in a LFWed part. The neutron
trends. diffraction technique was able to accurately capture the variation of
Although the general residual stress trends between the contour residual stresses by considering the changes in the microstructure via
method and the neutron diffraction data were in agreement, the an accurate measurement of the d0-spacing. However, the neutron
magnitude of the peak stresses were observed to vary. Table 2 diffraction technique provided information only at discrete points of
summarizes the peak residual stresses measured by the contour measurement. In contrast, the contour method provided a macro-level
method, while Table 3 summarizes the percent difference between overview of the residual stress evolution in the weld region, as well as
the peak residual stresses found from the contour method with respect the remainder of the bulk sample. Further, the contour method
to the neutron diffraction technique. The peak residual stresses found provided a finer step-size of measurement, thus capturing the residual
by the contour method were ~5.5% and ~17.5% lower than the stress reversal from the tensile to the compressive state outside of the
estimated YS at the weld interface of the V-V and V-IS material, DRX, TMAZ and HAZ regions. Despite the vastly different approach to
respectively. quantify the residual stress levels in the virgin and in-service samples,
Table 3 shows that the peak residual stresses at the weld interface in the final results show a very good level of agreement and demonstrated
the z-direction found by the contour method were ~30% – 50% lower the complementary nature of employing the two techniques. Such
than those found by neutron diffraction. In the case of the y-direction, results are particularly relevant to the aerospace industry's mainte-
only the V-IS sample had peak residual stress magnitude significantly nance, repair and overhaul (MRO) organizations, seeking to develop

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efficient and accurate methods to capture the state of repaired
components and their future in-service performance.
4. Conclusions
For the first time, simulation of BLISK repair by linear friction
welding (LFW) was characterized by neutron diffraction and the
contour method. The major findings of this work are summarized as
follows:
1. With the neutron diffraction method, reference lattice parameters
and beam width were carefully selected in this work based on
microstructural observations. A large tensile stress gradient was
present at the centerline of the V-V and V-IS welds. The magnitude
of residual stress was observed to be below the yield stress of IN 718
within the measured uncertainty.
2. The contour method 2D map of the residual stresses over the entire
cross-section captured the steep residual stress gradients that
occurred within the narrow weld affected zone of the LFWed IN
718. The magnitudes of the peak tensile stresses were ~5.5% and
~17.5% lower than the estimated YS at the weld interface of the V-V
and V-IS material, respectively.
3. The contour method was able to capture the development of residual
stresses across the entire sample. Residual stresses were observed to
be at near zero values for x > ± 10 mm from the weld interface,
compressive between x=−10 mm to x=−5 mm and x=5 mm to
x=10 mm from the weld interface and tensile between x=−5 mm
to x=5 mm from the weld interface. The fully captured residual
stresses in the material highlighted the inability of determining the
size of the weld affected region solely by microstructural examina-
tion.
4. Overall, the correlation between the residual stresses from the
neutron diffraction and contour techniques was good. However,
the neutron data showed slightly higher peak tensile stresses in the
vicinity of the weld interface, possibly capturing the heavy localized
plasticity effects leading to variation in the microstructural and
mechanical response of the material.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support of
National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada
(NSERC) Engage Program and (A1-006617) under the Aeronautics
for 21st Century Program of the National Research Council of Canada
(NRC). Further, the authors are thankful to the Canadian Nuclear
Laboratories for expert assistance and use of the neutron diffraction
facilities.
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