Accepted Manuscript

Title: Improving friction stir weldability of Al/Mg alloys via

ultrasonically diminishing pin adhesion

Authors: Xiangchen Meng, Yanye Jin, Shude Ji, Dejun Yan

PII: S1005-0302(18)30045-8
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmst.2018.02.022
Reference: JMST 1204

To appear in:

Received date: 17-10-2017

Revised date: 11-1-2018
Accepted date: 27-1-2018

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Improving friction stir weldability of Al/Mg alloys via
ultrasonically diminishing pin adhesion

Xiangchen Meng a, Yanye Jin b*, Shude Ji a*, Dejun Yan c*

a. Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Shenyang Aerospace University, Shenyang

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110136, China

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b. Department of Industrialization & Informatization, Shenyang North Software

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Institute, Shenyang 110000, China

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c. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding Technology for Ships,
CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding Company Limited, Guangzhou 510715,
China
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*Corresponding authors.
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E-mail addresses: yyjin2018@163.com (Yanye Jin), superjsd@163.com (Shude Ji),
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yandejun_2003@163.com (Dejun Yan).

[Received October 17 2017; revised 11 January 2018; accepted 27 January 2018]
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Graphical abstract
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Highlights

 Pin adhesion during friction stir welded Al/Mg alloys was solved

via ultrasonic.

 Intermetallic compounds around pin were smashed by acoustic

cavitation.

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 The ultrasonic could broaden process window.

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 Tensile strength of joint by ultrasonic was 115 MPa.

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Abstract: Formation of intermetallic compounds (IMCs) during friction stir

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welding (FSW) of aluminum/magnesium (Al/Mg) alloys easily results in the pin
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adhesion and then deteriorates joint formation. The severe pin adhesion transformed
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the tapered-and-screwed pin into a tapered pin at a low welding speed of 30 mm/min.
The pin adhesion problem was solved with the help of ultrasonic. The weldability of
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Al/Mg alloys was significantly improved due to the good material flow induced by
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mechanical vibration and the fragments of the IMCs on the surface of a rotating pin
caused by acoustic streaming, respectively. A sound joint with ultrasonic contained
long Al/Mg interface joining length and complex mixture of Al/Mg alloys in the stir
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zone, thereby achieving perfect metallurgical bonding and mechanical interlocking.

The ultrasonic could broaden process window and then improve tensile properties.
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The tensile strength of the Al/Mg joint with ultrasonic reached 115 MPa.
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Keywords: Friction stir welding; Ultrasonic; Aluminum/magnesium alloys; Pin

adhesion; Intermetallic compounds; Stationary shoulder.

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1. Introduction

Friction stir welding (FSW) can avoid cracks, pores and slag inclusion associated
with fusion welding because of low peak temperature, which has potential to join
dissimilar materials [1-3]. However, for the FSW joint of aluminum/magnesium
(Al/Mg) alloys, the hard and brittle intermetallic compounds (IMCs) inevitably form
in stir zone (SZ), which become the locations of crack initiation and then deteriorate

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tensile properties [4-16]. Sato et al. [5] joined 6 mm thick 1050 Al and AZ31 Mg alloy

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sheets and found that the peak temperature higher than 460 °C in the SZ caused the

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cracks due to the IMCs. Mofid et al. [6, 7] reported that the tensile fracture occurred

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at a location with the continuous IMCs layer. Zhao et al. [8] elaborated that the Al/Mg
joint fractured at a location with the sharpest hardness gradient induced by the brittle

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IMCs. Yan et al. [9] also indicated that the IMCs were the main reason of the Al/Mg
joint fracture. In addition, pin adhesion caused by the IMCs also affects the joint
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formation of the Al/Mg alloys significantly [10]. Yan et al. [9] proved that the
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adhesion materials on the surface of a rotating pin were featured by IMCs Al3Mg2 and
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Al12Mg17. Mofid et al. [6, 7], Zhao et al. [8] and Ji et al. [10] employed underwater
FSW and stationary shoulder FSW methods to join Al/Mg alloys and then reduced the
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amounts of the IMCs, respectively. Besides, Wu et al. [11-13] and Ji et al. [14, 15]
investigated ultrasonic aided FSW of Al/Mg alloys. Wu et al. [11] firstly pointed out
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that ultrasonic could exert a little preheating effect on the welded workpieces, and
hardly influenced the peak temperature. Afterwards, Ji et al. [15] indicated that the
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fracture propagation path was changed from along the IMCs at Al/Mg interface of a
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conventional joint to across the Mg alloy of an ultrasonic aided friction stir spot
welding joint. Meanwhile, Wu et al. [12] and Ji et al. [14, 16] reported that ultrasonic
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could break the IMCs into small particles due to the acoustic streaming of ultrasonic.
Considering that liquid phase may appear during FSW of Al/Mg alloys, the
acoustic streaming is stronger at a longer duration of high peak temperature induced
by low welding speed, which can break the IMCs on the surface of the rotating pin
into small pieces and dilute into the SZ effectively. In this study, effect of the
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ultrasonic on the pin adhesion was mainly investigated different from the references
reported by Wu et al. [11-13] and Ji et al. [14, 15]. On basis of preliminary studies
[10], the 6061-T6 Al alloy was also placed at retreating side (RS) and AZ31B Mg
alloy was located at advancing side (AS), which could transfer the plasticized Al with
good material flow behavior from RS to AS during FSW, thereby achieving sound
joint. Moreover, joint formation, joining mechanism and tensile properties of the
Al/Mg joint with ultrasonic based on stationary shoulder were analyzed in detail.

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2. Experimental procedure

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3 mm thick 6061-T6 Al and AZ31B Mg alloy sheets were chosen as the base

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materials (BMs), respectively. The chemical compositions of the two BMs are listed
in Table 1. Welding system contains a stationary shoulder, a rotating tool and an

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ultrasonic system. The inside and outside diameters of the stationary shoulder are 11
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mm and 16 mm. The diameters of the shoulder, pin bottom and top of the rotating tool
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are 10 mm, 5 mm and 3 mm, respectively. The rotating pin is featured by right
taper-screw. An ultrasonic generator with a power of 1000 W was 20 mm distance
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away from the welding centerline. A spindle tilting angle with respect to Z-axis was
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2.5°. A rotating velocity of 1000 rpm and a welding speed of 30 mm/min were used.
The rotating tool offset 0.3 mm to AS. The FSW direction was parallel to the rolling
direction of the sheets. Schematic of FSW with ultrasonic is shown in Fig. 1 [16].
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The microstructural and mechanical specimens were cut perpendicular to

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welding direction under an electrical discharge machine. The microstructural

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specimens were etched by two reagents (2 ml HF, 3 ml HCl, 5 ml HNO3 and 190 ml
H2O for the 6061-T6 alloy; 5 ml CH3COOH + 5 g C6H2OH(NO2)3 + 10 ml H2O + 100
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ml C₂ H₅ OH for the AZ31B alloy) and then observed using an optical microscope
(OM). Partial smashed particle was presented under a scanning electron microscope
(SEM) with an energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS). X-ray diffraction (XRD) was
performed to identify the IMCs in the SZ. A Cu target was employed. A voltage and a

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current were respectively 40 kV and 30 mA. Three tensile specimens were prepared
with reference to GB/T 2651-2008 [17], as exhibited in Fig. 2. A tensile test was
performed at a crosshead speed of 3 mm/min. The fracture surface of the tensile
specimen was observed by SEM.

3. Results and discussion

The coarse surface appearance of the joint without ultrasonic is attained and

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there exists obvious shoulder marks based on the stationary shoulder (Fig. 3(a)),

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which are different from the stationary shoulder FSW of similar alloys [19, 20]. This

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is because that the IMCs easily form in the SZ and then adhere to the rotating tool

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during FSW of Al/Mg alloys (Fig. 3(b)), which causes that the surface of the rotating
shoulder is higher than that of the stationary shoulder. Moreover, the adhesion

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phenomenon of the rotating tool results in the loss of plasticized materials in the SZ,
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thereby causing a cavity defect (Fig. 4(a)). The smooth surface without the flashes
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and shoulder marks is achieved using FSW with ultrasonic compared with
conventional FSW without ultrasonic (Fig. 3(c)). In Fig. 3(d), the adhesion materials
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on the surface of the rotating tool are reduced or even eliminated, which are attributed
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to the acoustic streaming and the vibration induced by the ultrasonic. The acoustic
streaming of the ultrasonic can break the amounts of the continuous IMCs on the
surface of the rotating pin into small pieces or particles. The vibration of the
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ultrasonic can make the smashed IMCs dispersedly distribute in the SZ. Kou et al. [19]
expounded that ultrasonic stirring in a liquid metal caused acoustic streaming, which
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involved the formation, growth, pulsation and collapse of the tiny bubbles in the
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partial liquid metal. When the pressure impulse (compression) reached a certain
extent, the collapse of the bubbles produced the hydraulic shock waves [21]. Shu et al.
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[22] stated that the violent collapse of the bubbles created the local shock waves to
shatter dendrites into small pieces in a few tens of milliseconds. It was measured that
the welding peak temperature was higher than 437 °C at a welding speed of 30
mm/min in the pre-experiment, which exceeded the eutectic temperatures of Al/Mg

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alloys. Sato et al. [5] also found that the peak temperature was higher than the eutectic
temperatures in the SZ during FSW of Al/Mg alloys. Therefore, it is postulated that
the acoustic streaming occurs around the rotating tool, which breaks the IMCs
adhered to the rotating tool into small pieces and then eliminates the pin adhesion.
Therefore, sound joint without the cavity defect and thickness reduction is achieved
with the help of ultrasonic, as displayed in Fig. 4(b). Complex intercalated Al/Mg
structures form at the SZ, which improve mechanical interlocking and then enhance

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tensile properties. In addition, the longer interface joining length of the joint with

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ultrasonic is achieved compared to the joint without ultrasonic, thereby promoting the

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area of metallurgical bonding. In Fig. 5, the Al/Mg interfaces at different positions do

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not present the micro-crack induced by the IMCs. The small white IMCs pieces or
particles dispersedly distribute at the SZ due to the synergistic effect caused by

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ultrasonic. In addition, the white bands with the thickness of about 3 μm appear at the
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Al/Mg interface (Fig. 5(f)), which has been validated to be the IMCs layer [6, 8, 11,
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14]. The EDS results also correspond to the IMCs. Moreover, XRD pattern indicates
that the IMCs Al12Mg17 form at the white bands of the joint besides the Al and Mg
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solid solutions (Fig. 6).

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Figs. 7 and 8 display the tensile results of the joints using both welding processes
and comparison with the published papers [13, 14]. The ultimate tensile strength of
the joint with ultrasonic reaches 115 MPa, which is far higher than that of the
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conventional joint. Meanwhile, the toughness of joint is calculated by the area

underneath stress-strain curve to evaluate the ability to absorb mechanical energy of
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material in its unit volume up to failure [14, 23]. The average values of the toughness
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for the joints with and without ultrasonic are respectively 0.39 J m-3 and 0.75 J m-3,
meaning the enhancement of the toughness with the help of ultrasonic, as depicted in
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Fig. 8(a). Meanwhile, the joint strength is comparable to the references [13, 14] with
low heat input (Fig. 8(b)), which indicates the availability of ultrasonic in high heat
input. For conventional FSW joint, the cavity defect at the SZ easily causes the
decrease of loading area. The crack firstly initiates at this defect and propagates along

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the Al/Mg interface, as shown in Fig. 9(a). Meanwhile, the short interface joining
length bears the low tensile load, thereby resulting in the low tensile properties. In
contrast, the eliminations of the cavity defect and the thickness reduction for the joint
with ultrasonic attribute to the improvement of tensile properties. The long interface
joining length of the joint with ultrasonic is also beneficial to delaying the initiation
and propagation of the crack during the tensile test in contrast to the joint without
ultrasonic. However, the brittle and hard IMCs at the Al/Mg joining interface easily

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lead to the stress concentration and the micro crack during the big load [24, 25], thus

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resulting in the joint fracture at the Al/Mg interface (Fig. 9(b)).

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Fig. 9(c-h) shows the fracture surface morphologies of the typical joints with and

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without ultrasonic. For the conventional FSW joint, the welding defect forms at the
joint, which leads to the rapid propagation of the crack and then presents smooth

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fracture surfaces (Fig. 9(d) and (e)). Moreover, the fracture surface morphologies
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featured by the cleavage-like feature indicate a typical brittle fracture due to the
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occurrence of the IMCs (Fig. 9(f), (g) and (h)), which are consistent with the fracture
location of the joint as mentioned above.
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4. Conclusion
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To reduce or even eliminate the pin adhesion during dissimilar FSW of Al/Mg
alloys and then improve joint formation and tensile properties, acoustic streaming and
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vibration of the ultrasonic were introduced. The acoustic streaming of ultrasonic could
break the amounts of continuous IMCs on the surface of the rotating pin into small
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pieces or particles. The vibration of ultrasonic could make the smashed IMCs
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dispersedly distribute in the SZ. The synergy effects of ultrasonic transformed the
taper pin induced by the pin adhesion into the tapered-and-screwed pin, thereby
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improving the tool’s ability to drive the plasticized materials. The sound joint with
smooth joint surface was achieved using FSW with ultrasonic, broadening process
window compared with conventional FSW. Moreover, the long interface joining
length and the complex mixture of Al/Mg alloys at the SZ of the joint with ultrasonic,

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enhancing the metallurgical bonding and mechanical interlocking. The maximum
tensile strength of the Al/Mg joint with ultrasonic was 115 MPa higher than that of the
joint without ultrasonic.

Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.
51204111), the Program for Liaoning Excellent Talents in University (No.

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LJQ2015084), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2016M590821),

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Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding Technology for Ships

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(No. 2017B030302010).

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Fig. 1 Schematic of FSW with ultrasonic [16].

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Weld

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25

37

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25 75 25
Unit: mm

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Fig. 2 Schematic of the tensile specimen of the Al/Mg joint.
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Fig. 3 Surface appearances and tool surfaces of the joints after the both welding processes: (a)

coarse surface with the obvious shoulder marks and (b) severe tool adhesion for conventional
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FSW; (c) smooth surface and (d) no obvious tool adhesion for ultrasonic aided FSW.

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Fig. 4 Macrostructures of the Al/Mg joints: (a) conventional FSW and (b) ultrasonic aided FSW.

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Fig. 5 Microstructures at different positions in Fig. 4(b) at the SZ of joint with ultrasonic: (a)

Position a, (b) Position b, (c) Position c, (d) Position d, (e) and (f) partial enlarged picture of
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Al/Mg interfaces.
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Fig. 6 XRD pattern of the Al/Mg joint with ultrasonic.

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120
Engineering stress (MPa)

100

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80

60
Conventional FSW
40

20
Ultrasonic aided FSW
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0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
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Engineering strain (%)

Fig. 7 Engineering stress-strain curves of the typical joints.

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(a) 120 1.0 (b)

Tensile strength 120
Average tensile strength (MPa)
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100 Elongation 0.8

Tensile strength (MPa)

100
Elongation (%)

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0.6 80
60
60
0.4
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40 40
0.2
20 20

0 0.0 0
Traditional FSW Ultrasonic aided FSW
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This study Lv et al. [13] Ji et al. [14]

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Fig. 8 (a) Tensile properties of joints with and without ultrasonic and (b) comparison with the

published papers [13, 14].

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Fig. 9 Fracture locations of joints: (a) conventional FSW and (b) ultrasonic aided FSW; Fracture
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surface morphologies of joints: (c) macro fracture surface, (d) and (e) micro fracture surface
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marked by d and e in Fig. 9c of joint with ultrasonic; (f) macro fracture surface, (g) and (h) micro

fracture surface marked by g and h in Fig. 9(f) of joint without ultrasonic.

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 Table 1 Chemical compositions of 6061-T6 and AZ31B alloys (mass fraction, %)
Material Mg Ni Si Fe Cu Mn Cr Zn Ti Al
6061-T6 0.9 0.65 0.7 0.2 0.15 0.1 0.25 0.15 Bal.
AZ31B Bal. 0.0005 0.11 0.0027 0.0015 0.48 0.88 3.1

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