Vol . 15 　№. 6 　　　 　　　　　 Trans. Nonferrous Met. Soc. China 　　　　　　 　　Dec.

2005
Article ID : 1003 6326 ( 2005 ) 06 1248 05

Tensile properties and mechanical heterogeneity of

①
friction stir welded joints of 2014 aluminum alloy
ZHAO Yan2hua ( 赵衍华) , L IN San2bao ( 林三宝) ,
WU Lin ( 吴 　林) , QU Fu2xing ( 曲福兴)
( State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding Pro ductio n Technology ,
Harbin Instit ute of Technology , Harbin 150001 , China )

Abstract : 2014 Al alloy of 8 mm in t hickness was successf ully welded by f rictio n stir welding met hod. The experi2
mental result s show t hat t he tensile p roperties of t he joint s are significantly affected by t he welding parameters.
When t he weld pitch is 0. 25 mm/ r correspo nding to t he rotation speed of 400 r/ min and t he welding speed of 100
mm/ min , t he maximum ultimate st rengt h of t he joint s is 78 % t hat of t he base material. Fo r a certain weld joint ,
different part s po ssess different mechanical p roperties. In t he t hree part s of t he joint , t he upper part is st ro ngest and
t he middle part is poorest in mechanical p roperties. The mechanical p roperties and f ract ure locations of t he joint s are
dependent on t he micro st ruct ure variatio n and micro2hardness dist ributions of t he joint s , which att ributes to t he dif 2
ferent t hermo2mechanical actions on t he different part s of t he joint s.
Key words : 2014 Al alloy ; f riction stir welding ; mechanical p roperties ; f ract ure ; heterogeneity
CLC number : T G453 Document code : A

1 　INTROD UCTION of 2014 Al FSW joint s and to disclo se t he mechani2

Frictio n stir welding ( FSW ) is a new and
p ro mising welding p rocess t hat can p roduce low2
co st and high2qualit y joint s of many alloys [ 1 7 ]
because it does not need co nsumable filler material s
and can eliminate so me welding defect s such as
crack and poro sit y. In t he FSW p rocess , t he
welding temperat ure is lower t han t hat in t he
f usio n welding , and t he metal is in t he plastic
state , so many f usio n welding defect s can be avoi2
ded. At p resent , more and more researches have
been focused o n t he FSW p rocess , and t he FSW
has beco me o ne of t he pop ular hot spot s of t he
welding [ 8 10 ] . So me st udies have involved t he
effect s of welding p rocess parameter s o n t he micro 2
st ruct ures and mechanical p roperties of t he
joint s [ 11 14 ] . However , for 2014 aluminum alloy ,
few literat ures abo ut t he relatio nship between
welding parameter s and mechanical p roperties of
t he joint s have been fo und [ 15 ] . Mo reover , t he FSW
joint can be co nsidered to be co mpo sed of finite
t hin2layers in t he directio n of t hickness , and each
t hin2layer is different f ro m t he ot her in mechanical
p roperties because it experiences different t hermo2
mechanical actio ns during f rictio n stir welding.
However , t he research o n t he difference in me2
chanical p roperties bet ween t hinner2layers is still
very lit tle [ 16 ] .
This paper aims to demo nst rate t he influence
of welding parameter s o n t he mechanical p roperties
cal hetero geneit y of t he joint s so as to o btain usef ul
info rmatio n for imp roving t he mechanical p roper2
ties of t he joint s.
2 　EXPERIMENTAL
The base material used in t his st udy is a 2014
aluminum alloy plate of 8 mm in t hickness , who se
chemical co mpo sitio n and mechanical p roperties are
listed in Table 1. The plate was cut and machined
into rectangular welding samples of 250 mm ×100
mm , and t he samples were lo ngit udinally but t2
welded using an FSW machine. The designed
welding tool size and welding parameters are listed
in Table 2.
Af ter welding , t he joint s were cro ss2sectio ned
perpendicularly to t he welding directio n for metal2
lograp hic analyses and tensile test s using an
elect rical2discharge cut ting machine. The cro ss2
sectio ns of t he metallograp hic specimens were
etched wit h mixed acid reagent ( 95 mL water ,
2. 5 mL nit ric acid , 1. 5 mL hydrochloric acid and
1 mL hydrofluoric acid ) for abo ut 10 s , and o b2
served by optical micro scope. The co nfiguratio n
and size of t he t ransver se tensile specimens were
co nt rolled wit h reference to GB 2649 —89. In order
to examine t he mechanical heterogeneit y of t he
joint s , t he tensile specimen wit h t he highest
st rengt h was cut perpendicularly to t he directio n of
t hickness into t hree tensile specimens of 1. 9 mm in

① Received date : 2005 03 24 ; Accepted date : 2005 06 20

Correspondence : L IN San2bao , PhD ; Tel : + 862451286418895 ; E2mail : sblin @hit . edu. cn
Vol1 15 　№1 6 　　　　　　　　　Frictio n stir welded joint s of 2014 Al alloy ・1249 ・

Table 1 　Chemical co mpo sitio n and mechanical p roperties of 2014 Al alloy

Chemical compo sitio n ( mass f raction) / % Mechanical p roperties

Cu Mg Si Mn σb / MPa δ/ %

3. 9 4. 8 0. 4 0. 8 0. 6 1. 2 0. 4 1. 0 461 9. 48

Table 2 　Tool size and welding parameters used in t his experiment

Tool size Welding parameters

Shoulder diameter/ Pin diameter/ Pin lengt h/ Tool tilt/ Rotatio n speed/ Welding speed/ Weld pitch/
mm mm mm (°) (r ・min - 1 ) (mm ・min - 1 ) (mm ・r - 1 )

24 7 7. 6 2. 5 300 600 50 250 0. 125 0. 625

t hickness , and t hey were marked by upper , middle

and lower part s of t he joint .
Af ter t he metallograp hic analyses , t he Vick2
er s hardness p rofiles acro ss t he welding nugget ,
t hermo2mechanically affected zo ne ( TMA Z) , heat
affected zo ne ( HA Z) and partial base material were
measured under t he load of 0. 98 N for 15 s alo ng
t he centerlines of t he cro ss2sectio ns wit h a spacing
of 0. 5 mm using an auto matic micro2hardness test 2
er . The tensile test s were carried o ut at roo m tem2
perat ure at a cro sshead speed of 1 mm/ min using a
co mp uter2co nt rolled testing machine.

3 　RESUL TS AND D ISCUSSION

Fig. 1 show s t he tensile p roperties of t he joint s

welded wit h different welding pitches. It can be
seen t hat t he tensile p roperties of joint s are all low2
er t han t ho se of t he base metal . When t he welding
pitch is smaller t han 0. 25 mm/ r , t he tensile
st rengt h increases slightly wit h t he weld pitch.
The maximum tensile st rengt h , 360 M Pa , is o b2
tained at t he weld pitch of 0. 25 mm/ r , equivalent
to 78 % t hat of t he base metal . When t he weld
pitch is greater t han 0. 25 mm/ r , t he tensile
st rengt h decreases to a lower level . The change
tendency of elo ngatio n is similar to t hat of t he ten2
sile st rengt h. The maximum elo ngatio n is o btained
at t he weld pitch of 0. 268 mm/ r .
These result s indicate t hat a sof tening effect
occurs in t he 2014 aluminum alloy. The sof tened
levels or tensile p roperties of t he joint s are signifi2
cantly affected by t he welding parameter s. The op 2
timum welding parameters can be determined f ro m
t he relatio nship bet ween t he tensile p roperties and
t he welding parameter s. In t his paper , t he rotatio n
speed of 400 r/ min and t he welding speed of 100
mm/ min are t he optimum welding parameter s fo r
FSW joint s of 2014 aluminum alloy. In t his case ,
t he maximum st rengt h of t he joint is equivalent to
78 % t hat of t he base material.
In order to examine t he heterogeneit y of t he
Fig. 1 　Tensile p roperties of joint s
mechanical p roperties of t he joint , t he joint wit h
t he highest st rengt h , which is welded wit h t he ro2
tatio n speed of 400 r/ min and welding speed of 100
mm/ min , is cho sen to cut into t hree part s in t he
t hickness directio n. Every specimen fo r tensile test
examinatio n is 1. 9 mm in t hickness and t he dimen2
sio ns of t he specimens are shown in Fig. 2.
Fig. 2 　Dimensio n of specimens for tensile test s
Fig. 3 show s t he tensile test result s of t he dif 2
ferent part s of t he joint s. The st rengt h of t he up 2
per part of t he same joint is t he highest , while t hat
of t he lower and middle part is smaller t han t hat of
t he upper o ne. These result s clearly indicate t hat
t he different part s of t he joint po ssess different
mechanical p roperties. Amo ng t he t hree part s of
 ・1250 ・ Trans. No nferro us Met . Soc. China 　　　　　　　　　Dec. 2005
Fig. 3 　Tensile p roperties of
different part s of joint s
t he joint , t he upper part is t he st ro ngest , and t he
tensile st rengt h can reach 380 M Pa , which is larger
t han t hat of t he integral joint ( 360 M Pa ) . The
middle part of t he joint is weaker t han t he integral
joint and t his part of t he joint is t he weakest o ne
amo ng t he t hree co mpo nent part s.
The f ract ure locatio n of joint s is a directio n of
t he weakest part of t he joint . St udying t he f ract ure
locatio n of t he joint is quite important to under2
stand and imp rove t he mechanical p roperties of t he
joint . Fig. 4 show s t he f ract ure locatio ns of differ2
ent part s of t he joint . Fro m Fig. 4 , t he f ract ure lo 2
catio n of t he joint s is exp ressed by t he distance be2
t ween t he weld center and t he point of f ract ure. In
t he t hree part s of t he same joint , t he f ract ure loca2
tio ns of t he middle and upper part are far f ro m t he
weld center , while t hat of t he lower part is clo se to
t he weld center. Moreover , t he middle part is f ra2
Fig. 4 　Fract ure locatio ns of
different part s of joint
ct ured at t he locatio n of 10. 3 10. 6 mm away f ro m
t he weld center , which is t he interface between
HA Z and base metal . The lower part is f ract ured
near t he interface bet ween weld nugget and
TMA Z.
These result s indicate t hat t he f ract ure loca2
tio ns of t he different part s of t he same joint are dif 2
ferent . Moreover , it sho uld be noted t hat so me
part s of t he joint f ract ure eit her o n t he advancing
side o r o n t he ret reating side , which is not t he
same as t he integral joint in tensile test . The inte2
gral joint always f ract ures o n t he advancing side. It
is believed t hat even if t he lower part of t he joint
f ract ures o n t he ret reating side , t he distinctio n of
t he tensile st rengt h bet ween t he two sides is not
very much. But t he mechanical p roperties in t he
advancing side of t he middle part are lower t han
t he ret reating side , and t he f ract ure always occur s
o n t he advancing side. For t he integral joint , t he
middle part act s as a more important role in t he
tensile p roperties. A s a whole , t he f ract ure always
occur s in t he advancing side of t he joint .
The mechanical p roperties and f ract ure loca2
tio ns of t he different part s of t he joint are depend2
ent o n t he hardness dist ributio ns of t he joint if t he
joint is f ree of defect s. Fig. 5 shows t he t ypical
cro ss2sectio nal micro2hardness dist ributio ns of t he
joint . Co mparing t he f ract ure locatio n and t he mi2
cro2hardness dist ributio n , we can find t hat t he
t hree different part s of t he joint always f ract ure at
t he place where t he hardness is t he lowest o r at t he
place where t he hardness varies sharply.
Fig. 5 　Hardness dist ributio ns at
different part s of joint
In general , t he hetero geneit y of t he mechani2
cal p roperties of joint s at t ributes to t he different
t hermo2mechanical actio ns o n t he different part s of
t he joint s. In t he t hree part s of t he same joint , t he
upper part is f rictio nized and stirred not o nly by
t he tool pin , but al so by t he tool sho ulder , t here2
Vol1 15 　№1 6 　　　　　　　　　Frictio n stir welded joint s of 2014 Al alloy
fore it is different f ro m t he middle and lower part s
in micro st ruct ure. For t he joint used in t his st udy ,
t here are heat inp ut and up set force to ensure t he
weld metal to flow f reely in t he upper part , and at
t he additio nal stirring actio n of t he sho ulder ,
micro st ruct ure in upper part is characterized by
very fine grains who se hardness is always very
high. Fro m t he micro2hardness dist ributio n , we
can see that the area of the decreased hardness in the
upper part is smaller than that of the other two part s.
The middle part is similar to t he upper o ne ,
but it is f rictio nized and stirred o nly by t he pin ,
t herefore t he heat inp ut to t he middle part is less
t han t hat to t he upper part . However , t he heat
o utp ut f ro m t he middle part is less t han t hat f ro m
t he upper or t he lower part , and t hen t here is suf 2
ficient heat inp ut to ensure t he weld metal flow .
The effective heat absorbed by t he middle part may
be larger t han t hat absorbed by t he upper part o r
t he lower part , t hus t he middle part is serio usly
sof tened and t he micro2hardness is lower t han t hat
of t he ot her t wo part s. In t he upper and middle
part of t he joint , t here is sufficient heat inp ut and
stirring actio ns in t he welding p rocess , and t he
variatio n of t he micro st ruct ure bet ween t he sho ul2
der2affected zo ne and t he TMA Z or bet ween t he
nugget and t he TMA Z , is not very sharp . The
weak zo ne is t he HA Z , which is characterized by
coar se lat h2shaped st ruct ure.
The lower part of t he joint is f rictio nized o nly
by t he pin , and due to t he taper geo meter of t he
pin , t he heat inp ut in t he lower part is t he smallest
amo ng t he t hree part s , but t he heat o utp ut is t he
highest because of t he heat t ransfer to t he back
fasten bar . The smallest heat inp ut but high o ut 2
p ut will result in less sof tening of t he material in
t he lower part of t he joint , and t he plastic material
can not flow as f reely as t hat in t he middle part . So
t he pin can o nly stir t he material wit hin t he diame2
ter dimensio n. Out of t he pin diameter , t he mate2
rial flow speed decreases sharply , which result s in
t he abrup t variatio n of micro st ruct ure between
weld nugget and TMA Z. So t he zo ne bet ween weld
nugget and TMA Z always is o ne of t he weak part s
in t he joint . Wit h imp roving t he heat inp ut , t he
f ract ure locatio n of t he lower part will be far f ro m
t he weld center . In fact , t he lower part f ract ures
at t he locatio n of 6. 4 mm away f ro m t he weld cen2
ter in t he ret reating side when t he weld pitch of
0. 125 mm/ r is used. On t he ot her hand , more heat
inp ut will al so bring so me defect o n t he upper part
in t he joint , such as tiny crack ( as shown in Fig.
6) , which can decrease t he tensile st rengt h of t he
integral joint . To determine t he optimum welding
parameter s , all part s of t he joint must be co nsi2
dered. In t his paper , t he weld pitch of 0. 25 mm/ r
is t he best welding parameter .
・1251 ・
Fig. 6 　Cro ss sectio nal morp holo gy of
joint welded at weld pitch of 0. 125 mm/ r
4 　CONCL USIONS
A softened regio n clearly occurs in t he
f rictio n2stir2welded joint s of t he 2014 aluminum
alloy , t hus t he tensile p roperties of t he joint s are
lower t han t ho se of t he base material . The welding
parameter s have significant effect s o n t he tensile
p roperties of t he joint s. U nder t he weld pitch of
0. 25 mm/ r , t he tensile st rengt h of t he integral
joint can reach 360 M Pa , equivalent to 78 % t hat of
t he base material . Moreover , t he different part s of
t he joint po ssess different mechanical p roperties.
The tensile st rengt h and t he f ract ure locatio n of
t he different part s of t he joint are dependent o n t he
micro st ruct ure and micro2hardness dist ributio ns of
t he joint . Essentially , t he heterogeneit y of
mechanical p roperties of t he joint at t ributes to t he
different t hermo2mechanical actio ns o n t he differ2
ent part s of t he joint .
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( Edited by YANG Bing)