Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2015) 77:2181–2195
DOI 10.1007/s00170-014-6617-6
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Effect of backing plate material in friction stir butt and lap
welding of 6063-T4 aluminium alloy
Murshid Imam · Vikranth Racherla · Kajal Biswas
Received: 6 March 2014 / Accepted: 20 November 2014 / Published online: 3 December 2014
© Springer-Verlag London 2014
Abstract 6063-T4 aluminum alloy plates were friction stir
butt and lap welded using three different backing plate
materials: mild steel, stainless steel, and asbestos. Effects
of backing plate material on macrostructure, peak mid-
section temperatures in heat affected and weld nugget
zones, and weld mechanical properties were obtained for
each of the cases. Effect of backing plate material was seen
to be more significant in lap than butt welding. While lap
welds obtained even at a low welding speed, for mild steel
and stainless steel backing plates, contained multiple weld
defects leading to failure in lap shear tests from weld nugget
zone, corresponding welds obtained with asbestos backing
plate were defect free resulting in failure from base metal
region. In butt as well as lap configuration, asbestos backing
plate which had the lowest thermal diffusivity was observed
to provide the largest process window within which defect
free welds could be obtained.
Keywords Macrostructure · Backing plate materials ·
6063-T4 · Sheet positioning · Process window
1 Introduction
Friction stir welding (FSW), which is already in use in rou-
tine as well as critical applications, is an effective solid
state joining technique for aluminium alloys (Cam and Mist-
ikoglu [1]). Presently, commercial applications of this weld-
ing technique have been reported across many industries,
such as shipbuilding, automobile, high speed aluminium
M. Imam · V. Racherla () · K. Biswas
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur 721302, India
e-mail: vikranth.racherla@mech.iitkgp.ernet.in
rail cars, military, and aviation (Threadgill et al. [2]). The
solid-state nature of FSW process avoids problems of hot
cracking, porosity, element loss, etc., which are common to
aluminum fusion welding processes (Mishra and Ma. [3]).
Furthermore, absence of ultraviolet or electromagnetic haz-
ards, high penetration depths, reduced energy requirements,
absence of shielding gas, elimination of consumables such
as rods and grinding pastes are some of the key additional
benefits of the process over traditional fusion welding tech-
niques (Nandan et al. [4]). The presence of an exit hole at
the end of weld from where the probe is withdrawn and large
clamping forces needed to hold the workpiece steady during
the process are crucial demerits of this welding technique.
Process parameters such as welding speed, tool rota-
tional speed, axial (forge axis) force, and tool tilt angle
significantly affect the FSW process as heat generation rate,
resultant temperatures, material flow, dynamic recrystal-
lization, and mechanical integrity of the joint are directly
affected by these parameters. He et al. [5], Hui et al. [6], and
Imam et al. [7] reported that hardness in FSW of 6061-T6
and 6063-T4 aluminum alloys tends to be lower in the heat
affected zone on the retreating side, which then becomes
the location of tensile fracture for transverse weld specimen.
Ren et al. [8] reported that tensile strength increases with
increasing welding speed in friction stir welding of 6061-T6
aluminum alloys. Lim et al. [9] showed that microhard-
ness distribution in weld cross-section changes with welding
speed and tool rotational speed in 6061-T6 aluminum alloy.
They also reported that strength and ductility decrease with
decreasing welding speed and increasing tool rotational
speed. Sato et al. [10] and Heinz et al. [11] reported that,
in 6063-T5 and 6061-T6 aluminium alloys, hardness dis-
tribution across weld cross-sections depends on grain size
distribution and state of precipitates. They also reported
that coarsening/dissolution of strengthening precipitates in
2182
weld zones for these alloys are sensitive to welding thermal
cycles they experience. Recently, Imam et al. [12] reported
that peak temperatures in weld regions could be used as
one of the monitoring parameters to evaluate friction stir
weld joints properties, particularly in heat treatable alloys.
Rajakumar et al. [13] showed that lower weld zone tempera-
tures in FSW can result in weld defects such as voids, worm
holes, cracks, etc., in butt welds. Additionally, as observed
by Yadava et al. [14], cold lap and hook defects can occur
in lap welds at lower weld temperatures. Thus, one needs
to find ways of maintaining required weld zone tempera-
tures to avoid cold weld defects. Even though, choice of the
backing plate material has a direct and significant effect on
resultant temperatures in FSW, relatively few works exist
on quantifying their effect, particularly in lap welding. This
work aims to shed light on this aspect through investigation
of microstructure and mechanical properties of butt and lap
welds of 6063-T4 AA obtained using mild steel, stainless
steel, and asbestos backing plates.
Rosales et al. [15] studied the effect of backing plate in
friction stir butt welding of 4-mm-thick 6013-T6 and 3.2-
mm-thick 2024-T351 aluminum alloy plates. Three backing
plate materials were considered in their study: steel, cop-
per, and ceramic. While, defect free welds were obtained
with steel backing plate, tunnel defects and excess flash
formation were observed with copper and ceramic backing
plates, respectively. Upadhyay and Reynolds [16] inves-
tigated the effects of forge axis force and backing plate
thermal diffusivity on friction stir butt welding of 4.2-mm-
thick 6056-T451 aluminum alloy plates. Three millimeter
thick aluminum alloy 2099, tool steel, Al6XN (Allegheny
Ludlum super austenitic stainless steel), Ti-6-4, and ceramic
floor tile were used as backing plates. It was found that
peak, mid-section, stir zone temperatures for ceramic back-
ing plate were about 40, 35, and 25o C higher than that
for aluminum, steel, and Al6XN backing plates, respec-
tively. Stir zone temperatures were found to be sensitive
to forge axis force, tool rpm, welding speed, and backing
plate material. While tunnel defects were found for peak,
mid-section, stir zone temperatures of around 360-400o C,
excess flash formation was observed when mid-section tem-
peratures exceeded around 450o C. Recently, Zhang et al.
[17] observed the effect of backing plates on friction stir
butt welding of 3.2-mm-thick 2024-T3 aluminium alloy
sheets at 600 rpm and 200 mm/min welding speed for cop-
per, medium carbon steel, and granite backing plates. Steel
backing plate was seen to give the highest joint efficiency
of about 90 %, while granite and copper backing plates
resulted in significantly lower joint efficiencies. While the
presence of a tunnel defect was responsible for the loss of
weld strength for copper backing plate, softening in HAZ
could be responsible for loss of weld strength for granite
backing plate. Separately, as observed by Soundararajan et
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2015) 77:2181–2195
al. [18], friction stir lap welding does not produce good
quality welds with the same ease as friction stir butt weld-
ing. In addition to factors that influence quality of friction
stir butt welds, clamping arrangement, sheet positioning,
and pin height play an important role in FSW in lap con-
figuration. For example, Buffa et al. [19] show that shorter
pins (significantly smaller than the combined thickness of
the two sheets welded in lap configuration) with sheet place-
ment and clamping as shown in Fig. 1 result in better quality
lap welds. Failure of friction stir lap welds, under mono-
tonic or cyclic loading, is seen to be strongly influenced by
hook and cold lap defects that form at the interface between
stir/thermo-mechanically affected zone and the HAZs. In
this connection, Yazdanian et al. [20] observed that the
height of hook and cold lap defects, which directly influ-
ence the lap shear strength, increased with increasing tool
rotational speed and decreasing welding speed.
In this work, friction stir welds were obtained using
6063-T4 aluminum alloy plates. 6063-T4 is a medium
strength, naturally aged Al-Mg-Si alloy with good post weld
formability characteristics and resistance to stress corrosion
cracking. Edwards et al. [21] reported that age hardening
in this alloy occurs from Mg-Si precipitates appearing in
different forms: GP zones (Si-Mg vacancy clusters), fine
needle-shaped β  , rod-shaped β  , and cube/plate shaped
β-Mg2 Si precipitates. Interestingly, relatively few works
exist on friction stir welding of this alloy in naturally
aged condition as compared to artificially aged condi-
tion, despite the fact that friction stir welded blanks of
artificially aged Al-Mg-Si alloys present difficulties in
post weld forming, e.g., inability to achieve high draw-
ing depths and tight bending radii, etc., in as welded
condition. For this alloy, in naturally aged condition, as
reported, e.g., by Simar et al. [22], while higher heat
affected zone temperatures result in overaging of HAZs,
higher stir zone temperatures result in higher grain sizes
which reduce the amount of hardening occurring from grain
refinement.
Elangovan and Balasubramanian [23] showed that square
pin profile gives better quality welds at least among tapered
cylindrical, threaded cylindrical, triangular, and square pin
profiles. Additionally, Imam et al. [24] showed that square
pin profile gives better quality welds than tapered square
and tapered cylindrical pin profiles. Thus, in this work,
friction stir welds were obtained using stainless steel tools
with square tool pin profile. Asbestos is chosen as one of
the backing plate materials for its low thermal diffusivity,
moderate toughness, and availability. Marble and granite
were also tried as alternate backing plate materials but dis-
carded due to occurrence of fracture during the tests. Results
obtained with asbestos are also expected to hold true for
any other backing plate with low thermal diffusivity, mod-
erate rigidity and toughness, and melting point much above
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2015) 77:2181–2195 2183

Fig. 1 a schematic of the tool

used in welding. h denotes the
pin height. All dimensions are in Shank
millimeter, b and c sheet
positioning and clamping 44 Tool
19 shoulder
arrangement used in lap Adv
anc
welding, d geometry of lap weld ing
side
specimen used in shear tests, The
r
and e geometry of butt weld coup mo-
specimen, prepared according to les
24 20 Ret
r
ASTM:E8M-11 guidelines, used Welding side eating
in uniaxial tensile tests. While 3 direction
and 6 mm sheets were used in
h
butt welding, only 3 mm sheets
were used in lap welding
60
Base metal (BM)

(a) (b)

Clamping force
Air gap
Support plates

Base metal (BM)

(c)
Backing plate

130

(d)
18

Transverse Specimen AS

Crown R 12.5

100

12.5
Thermocouple
50 Rolling direction

RS
20
(e)
2184
that of material being welded. Thermal diffusivity of stain-
less steel lies in between that of mild steel and asbestos
backing plate. Thus, to see if weld temperatures and weld
properties varied monotonically with thermal diffusivity of
backing plate material, welds were obtained for mild steel,
stainless steel, and asbestos backing plate materials. In addi-
tion, there is a greater chance of getting cold weld defects
when welding thinner aluminium sheets as compared to
thicker ones due to lower weld temperatures for smaller
sheet thicknesses (Imam et al. [12]). On the other hand,
full penetration can sometimes be an issue for higher thick-
ness plates. Consequently, to show the effectiveness of using
lower diffusivity backing plate, butt welds were obtained for
3 as well as 6-mm-thick plates. It has been shown in the lit-
erature that lap welds result in different set of defects and
are in general more difficult to successfully obtain than butt
welds. Thus, in addition to butt welds, lap welds were also
obtained for different backing plate materials. The main aim
of this work is to experimentally investigate the effect of
backing plate material on friction stir butt and lap welds. To
this end, microstructural and mechanical characterization is
carried out for welds obtained with different backing plates
and sheet thicknesses.
2 Experimental procedure
6063-T4 aluminium alloy plates of 100 x 100 mm sourced
from Hindalco Industries Ltd, India, were friction stir
welded at process parameters shown in Table 1. The weld-
ing speeds were chosen through initial trails such that defect
free welds could be obtained with all three backing plates
at the lowest speed and such that defect free welds could be
obtained, even at the highest welding speed considered, for
low diffusivity backing plate. To highlight that weld defects
can occur even at a low welding speed, butt welds were also
obtained at two tool rotational speeds. The tool rpm levels
were chosen based on options available on the machine used
for this work. Further, while 3 mm sheets were used in lap
welding, butt welding was done for 3 and 6 mm plates. In
each case, welding was carried out using three backing plate
materials: mild steel, stainless steel, and asbestos. Thermo-
physical properties of different backing plate materials are
given in Table 2. It may be noted that the thermal conductiv-
ity of stainless steel lies in between mild steel and asbestos
backing plate material. Schematics of the SS 316 tool used,
sheet positioning and clamping arrangement for lap welds,
and specimen used in lap shear tests and tensile tests are
shown in Fig 1. Chemical composition of the plates obtained
from energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, done using a
scanning electron microscope with Oxford EDS detector, is
given in Table 3. Weldings were done on a 7.5 HP, Hin-
dustan ltd. make, vertical milling machine using a specially
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2015) 77:2181–2195
designed fixture for rigidly holding the sheets/plates to the
backing and support/clamping plates. For lap welds, tem-
peratures in heat affected zones (HAZs) and weld nugget
zone (WNZ) were measured using K-type thermocouples
inserted in 2 mm deep, 1.5 mm diameter blind holes drilled
from top, at a distance of 14 and 0 mm from the weld
line, respectively. For butt welds, temperatures were mea-
sured in WNZ and in HAZ on the retreating side. Once
again, K-type thermocouples inserted in 1.5-mm-diameter
blind holes drilled from top were used to measure the tem-
peratures. While the holes used for inserting thermocouples
were 3 mm deep for 6 mm plates, they were 2 mm deep
for 3 mm sheets. It may be noted that temperature varies
relatively sharply in weld nugget zone. Consequently, peak
temperature measured by the thermocouple in WNZ is only
the peak temperature at sheet mid-section along the weld
line. There would be regions within the WNZ that experi-
ence lower as well as higher peak temperatures than that
measured by the thermocouple. Separately, thermocouples
in HAZs are placed close to WNZ and gradient in temper-
ature field in this zone is relatively moderate. Thus, peak
temperatures measured by thermocouples in HAZs can be
thought of as peak temperatures in these zones.
To prepare specimen for microstructural analysis and
hardness testing, weld cross sections of specimen cut out
from welded plates were polished on a disc polishing
machine, using different grades of emery paper and a dia-
mond compound. Microhardness measurements on polished
weld cross sections were taken using a Vicker’s microhard-
ness tester at 50 gf and 15 s dwell time. The polished
specimen was etched with Kellers reagent (150 ml H2 O,
3 ml HNO3 , 6 ml HF, and 6 ml HCL), for approximately
30 s, to reveal the underlying microstructure. Morpholo-
gies of weld cross sections were studied using a stereozoom
Leica microscope. Shape, size, and distribution of precip-
itates in different weld regions were investigated using a
FEI-TECNAI transmission electron microscope operating
at 200 kV. Samples for transmission electron microscope
(TEM) study were polished until their thickness reduced to
about 50 microns. A disc-punch machine was then used to
cut 3-mm-diameter specimen which were electro-polished,
in 30 % HNO3 , 70 % CH3 OH mixture at -30o C and 40 V,
using a Struers Tenupol-2 twin-jet electro-polisher, before
being analyzed using TEM. Microstructural and mechani-
cal characterization was typically carried out within 2 weeks
of preparation of the welds. Shear strength of lap welds
was determined using tensile tests on specimen of the form
shown in Fig. 1d. On the other hand, mechanical response
of butt welds in transverse loading was characterized using
tensile tests on specimen prepared as per ASTM: E8-M11
guidelines (see Fig. 1e). Tensile tests were conducted on
a computer controlled universal tensile testing machine
INSTRON 8862 at a crosshead speed of 2 mm/min.
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2015) 77:2181–2195
Table 1 Process parameters used in this work
Tool pin profile Rotational Welding
speed (rpm) speed (mm/min)
Square 450, 635 18, 38, 64
3 Results and discussion
3.1 Butt welds
Cross-sectional macrographs of butt welds for 3 mm sheets,
obtained at three different welding speeds, for mild steel,
stainless steel, and asbestos backing plates, are shown
in Fig 2. Also shown in the figure are the underlying
microstructures in some of the weld regions. Note from the
figure that asbestos backing plate gives defect free welds
at all welding speeds considered. On the other hand, tun-
nel defects can be seen at 64 mm/min welding speed for
stainless steel and at 32 and 64 mm/min welding speeds
for mild steel backing plates. Note from Fig. 3 that tunnel
defects appear when peak temperature at sheet mid-section
in WNZ goes below 400o C. Average grain size in WNZ is
seen to be smallest for mild steel and largest for asbestos
backing plates. This is on anticipated lines, as asbestos and
mild steel backing plates are expected to give the highest
and lowest WNZ temperatures, respectively, and as aver-
age grain size in weld nugget zone is expected to be higher
for higher peak WNZ temperatures. Interestingly, average
grain size in HAZ on RS for asbestos backing plate is much
larger than mean grain size for the base metal. Further, peak
temperatures in WNZ are about 50o C higher for asbestos
than that for mild steel backing plate. Peak temperatures
in HAZs on retreating side are shown in Fig. 3d. It is evi-
dent that higher HAZ temperatures for asbestos backing
plate are responsible for larger grain sizes in these regions.
It may be further noted from Fig. 3 that peak mid-section
temperatures along the weld center line are higher in 6
than 3 mm sheets by about 40o C. Smaller heat capacity
of 3 mm sheets is believed to be the underlying cause for
this. Since conduction heat loss to backing plate primar-
ily depends on temperatures reached at sheet-backing plate
interface, it would be nearly unaffected by the sheet thick-
ness. However, as 3 mm sheets have a smaller heat capacity,
Table 2 Thermo-physical properties of different backing plate mate-
rials used in this work (Kumzerov et al. [25], Kusiorowski et al. [26],
and Charde et al. [27])
Properties Mild steel Stainless steel Asbestos
Density (g/cm3 ) 7.85 8.0 2.6
Thermal conductivity (W/mK) 54 16.2 2.5
Specific heat (J/gK) 0.620 0.530 0.024
2185
Pin Plunge Tool
height (mm) depth (mm) tilt angle (o )
2.65, 4.85, 5.65 2.7, 4.9, 5.7 0
fraction of heat generated during welding, lost to backing
plate would be higher for 3 mm sheets. Thereby, peak tem-
peratures for 3 mm sheets would be smaller. Note that this
observation is in line with the observation made by Imam et
al. [12]. Effect of peak mid-section temperature along weld
center line on mean grain size in this region for 3 and 6 mm
sheets, for different backing plates, is shown in Fig. 4a.
The following observations can be made from the figure:
(i) in line with earlier works, e.g., Sato et al. [28], aver-
age grain size in WNZ increases exponentially with peak
temperature in this region, (ii) different static grain growth
relations are obtained for 3 and 6 mm sheets. For a given
peak temperature, faster cooling rates for 3 mm sheets result
in smaller grain sizes for 3 than 6 mm sheets, (iii) aver-
age grain size is largest for asbestos and smallest for mild
steel backing plates, and (iv) for a given set of process con-
ditions and tool profile, average grain size is smaller in 3
than 6 mm sheets as WNZ temperatures are lower in 3 mm
sheets. Figure 4b shows relation between average micro-
hardness and average grain size in WNZs. It can be seen that
microhardness increases with decreasing grain size as per
Hall-Petch relation, implying that for this alloy hardening in
WNZ in as welded condition is predominantly from grain
refinement.
Cross-sectional micrographs of butt welds obtained for
3 and 6 mm sheets, at a lower tool rotational speed of
450 rpm, are shown in Fig. 5. It can be seen from this figure
that a tunnel defect appears for mild steel backing plate
for 3 mm sheets welded at 450 rpm, even at a low weld-
ing speed of 18 mm/min, whereas all welds obtained at this
welding speed are defect free for tool rotational speed of
635 rpm. It is evident from Fig. 6 that peak mid-section weld
nugget zone much below 400o C, for the case where 3 mm
sheets are welded with mild steel backing plate at 450 rpm
and 18 mm/min, is responsible for the formation of tunnel
defect. For the aluminum alloy used in this work, Imam et al.
[12] show that softening from overaging is expected to occur
Table 3 Chemical composition of 6063-T4 aluminium alloy sheets
used in this work
Element Si Mg Cu Fe Zn Cr Al
Weight % 0.72 0.57 0.13 0.61 0.02 0.09 97.88
Atomic % 0.69 0.63 0.05 0.29 0.01 0.04 98.26
2186 Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2015) 77:2181–2195

100 µm WNZ 100 µm

WNZ

MS v = 18 mm/min SS v = 18 mm/min

v = 38 mm/min v = 38 mm/min
Tunnel Defect

3000 µm
3000 µm
v = 64 mm/min v = 64 mm/min

(a) Tunnel Defect Tunnel Defect (b)

WNZ HAZ BM

100 µm 100 µm 100 µm

AS RS

ASB v = 18 mm/min

v = 38 mm/min

3000 µm
v = 64 mm/min

(c)
Fig. 2 Optical macrographs and WNZ microstructures for butt welds obtained at 635 rpm for 3 mm sheets with a mild steel, b stainless steel, and
c asbestos backing plates

when heat affected zone temperatures go above 410o C.
Thus, it is expected that for welds obtained at 450 rpm and
18 mm/min, except for 6 mm sheets welded using asbestos
backing plate, where the peak heat affected zone tempera-
ture on retreating side is around 425o C, overaging will not
occur in any other case.
Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image taken
from the base metal region along with selected area diffrac-
tion pattern (SADP) for this region is shown in Fig. 7a
and b. TEM images for the base metal are conspicu-
ous by the absence of grain boundaries, pile ups, or
precipitates. SADP for the BM confirms the absence of
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2015) 77:2181–2195 2187

550 550
t = 3 mm
ASB t = 6 mm

Peak Temperature ( O C)
Peak Temperature ( C)
500 A S B WNZ 500 ASB WNZ
SS

O
MS
SS ASB
450 SS
MS ASB 450 MS
ASB SS
SS MS
400 MS
400
SS
350 MS 350

300 300

250 250
18 64 18 38 64
38
Welding Speed (mm/min) Welding Speed (mm/min)
(a) (b)

500 500
t = 3 mm t = 6 mm
Welding

Peak temperature ( O C)
Peak temperature ( O C)

direction HAZ RS HAZ RS

ASB
450 450
30 mm SS
ASB Thermocouple
ASB
400 ASB 400 SS
SS ASB MS
ASB
MS SS MS
350 350 SS
MS MS
SS
MS
300 300
18 38 64 18 38 64
Welding Speed (mm/min) Welding Speed (mm/min)
(c) (d)
Fig. 3 Peak temperatures at thermocouple locations in WNZ and three different backing plate materials: asbestos (ASB), stainless steel
HAZ on RS, in friction stir butt welding of a and c 3 and b and d 6- (SS), and mild steel (MS). Note that tool rotational speed is 635 rpm
mm-thick 6063-T4 AA plates obtained at different welding speeds, for

precipitates in this region. Similar observations were also from Fig. 7c that for this case HAZ on RS is free of pre-
made by Heinz and Skrotzki [11] for 6013-T4 aluminum cipitates. Figure 7d shows that dynamic recrystallization in
alloy. TEM images taken in HAZ on RS and WNZ for WNZ results in the formation of sub-grains. The WNZ too
6 mm sheets butt welded using stainless steel backing plate appears to be free of precipitates. TEM images for 6 mm
at 450 rpm tool rotational speed and 18 mm/min welding sheets butt welded using asbestos backing plate at 450 rpm
speed are shown in Fig. 7c and d, respectively. It is evident and 18 mm/min are shown in Fig. 8. Note from Fig. 6 that

Fig. 4 a Effect of peak 25 80

temperatures in WNZ on mean Red 3 mm ASB SS MS
6 mm
grain size and b Effect of mean 3 mm Green 6 mm
Mean Grain Size (µm)

grain size on average hardness 20 ASB 70

Hardness (Hv)

of WNZ for friction stir welds SS

15 MS
obtained at 635 rpm for 3 and
6 mm sheets by using three 60
backing plate materials: 10 -1/2
Hv = 48 + 46.6 d
Asbestos, stainless steel, and
mild steel, respectively 50
5 f = 635 rpm f = 635 rpm
v = 18 mm/min v = 18 mm/min
0 40
400 425 450 475 500
525 550 0.2 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40
o
Peak WNZ Temperature ( C) -1/2
d (µm -1/2 )
(a) (b)
2188 Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2015) 77:2181–2195

Fig. 5 Optical macrographs of AS RS

weld cross-sections obtained AS RS
ASB
with different backing plates for ASB
friction stir butt welding of (a) 3
5 mm
and (b) 6 mm sheets. Note that 5 mm
tool rotational and welding
speeds are 450 rpm and 18
mm/min, respectively SS SS

MS
MS

Tunnel Defect
(a) (b)

peak temperatures in WNZ and HAZ on RS for this case
are around 475 and 420o C, respectively. Rod shaped precip-
itates indicating overaged condition can be seen in HAZ on
RS in Fig. 8b and c. This is in line with works of Sato et al.
[28] and Zhang et al. [31] who too observed significantly
overaged precipitates in HAZs when peak temperatures in
HAZ reach around 420o C. Figure 8d–f shows that the WNZ
contains a range of features (Su et al. [29]). Greater peak
WNZ temperatures in the case of asbestos backing plate
result in greater recovery and lower dislocation densities.
Solute depletion caused by preferential grain boundary pre-
cipitation results in precipitate free zone (PFZ) near to grain
boundaries (Shastry and Judd [32]). As seen from Fig. 8 f,
needle-shaped precipitates aligned with < 100 > directions

Fig. 6 Peak temperatures at

thermocouple locations in a and
b WNZ and c and d HAZ on RS,
in friction stir butt welding of 3
and 6 mm sheets at 18 mm/min
welding speed for two different
tool rotational speeds
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2015) 77:2181–2195
Fig. 7 a Transmission electron
microscopy (TEM) image of
base metal, b Selected area
diffraction pattern of base metal,
c and d TEM images taken of
HAZ on RS and WNZ,
respectively, for 6-mm-thick
6063-T4 AA plates welded at
18 mm/min and 450 rpm using
stainless steel backing plate
200 nm
(a)
Dislocation tangle
200 nm
form in WNZ. Note from the fact that stable Mg2 Si precip-
itates dissolve in Al matrix above 520o C and from Figs. 6,
7, 8 that WNZ is precipitate free only when peak temper-
atures are below 450 or above 520o C. Precipitates form in
WNZ, in as welded condition, only in a narrow temperature
window around 475o C.
Vicker’s microhardness contours at approximately weld
mid-sections for 3 and 6 mm sheets welded at 450 rpm and
18 mm/min are shown in Fig. 9. Three millimeter sheets
welded with mild steel backing plate contain a big tunnel
defect and consequently hardness contour has not been
obtained for this case. Note from Fig. 8c that HAZs for
6 mm sheets welded with asbestos backing plate, which
experience peak temperatures of around 420o C, are softer
than BM by about 10 Hv. Further, the average hardness of
WNZ for this case is slightly less than that for stainless
steel backing plate. It may be noted that hardening in stir
zone in as welded condition is believed to be from dynamic
recrystallization induced grain refinement and from for-
mation of dislocation cells. Lower hardeness in SZ in
the case of asbestos backing plate is believed to be from
lower dislocation densities from higher recovery and grain
coarsening. These observations are in line with that made
in literature, e.g., Sato et al. [28]. Separately, softening
in HAZs in this case is from the formation of overaged
2189
BM BM
(b)
HAZ RS WNZ
Sub grain
boundary
200 nm
(c) (d)
β  precipitates, lower dislocation densities from enhanced
recovery, and grain coarsening. These results are in line with
works of Heinz and Skrotzki [11], Zhang et al. [31], and Lee
et al. [32] who reported loss of hardness in HAZs, experi-
encing peak temperatures of around 420o C, from formation
of overaged β  Mg2 Si precipitates. The absence of softening
in HAZs for 3 mm sheets or 6 mm sheets welded with stain-
less steel and mild steel backing plate indicates that peak
temperatures of about 385o C or less in HAZs do not result
in overaging of these regions for this alloy.
Magnitudes of joint efficiency, yield strength, and per-
centage elongation (at load maximum) of welds in trans-
verse loadings are shown in Fig. 10. Note that the ultimate
tensile strength, yield strength, and percentage elongation at
load maximum for base metal, not shown in the figure, are
140 MPa, 88 MPa, and 20 %, respectively. The following
are evident from the Fig. 10: (i) In nearly all cases, maxi-
mum percentage elongation is achieved for welds obtained
with asbestos backing plate. Percentage uniform elongation
of transverse weld specimen is significantly lower (about
60 % or smaller) than that for corresponding base metal
specimen. It may be noted that loss of ductility is due to
non-uniform weld zone properties. More specifically, higher
hardness of WNZ and lower hardness of HAZs result in
strain localization in HAZs leading to reduced elongation
2190 Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2015) 77:2181–2195

HAZ RS HAZ RS HAZ RS

ASB ASB ASB

Dislocation Rod Rod

tangle
Dislocation
tangle

200 nm 200 nm 200 nm

(a) (b) (c)

Dislocation WNZ WNZ [010] WNZ

line ASB ASB ASB
Dislocation
network
[100]

Precipitate
Sub grain free zone
boundary
200 nm 200 nm 100 nm

(d) (e) (f)

Fig. 8 Transmission electron microscopy images taken in a–c HAZ on RS and d-f WNZ, for 6-mm-thick 6063-T4 AA plates welded at 18 mm/min
and 450 rpm using Asbestos (ASB) backing plate

at load maximum for transverse weld specimen, (ii) Joint
efficiencies of about 100 % or more are typically achieved
when there is no softening in HAZs and when there are
no tunnel defects in WNZ, (iii) For 3 mm sheets welded
at 450 rpm, asbestos backing plate gives the best joint effi-
ciency, yield strength, and percentage uniform elongation.
Note that for this case, temperatures in HAZ and WNZ are
about 380 and 430o C, respectively, and that there is no soft-
ening in HAZ and no weld defects in WNZ, and (iv) Effect
of backing plate, particularly on percentage elongation and
joint efficiency, is highest at the lower tool rpm and lower
sheet thickness.
3.2 Lap welds
Cross-sectional optical macrographs of lap welds obtained
with different backing plates are shown in Fig. 11. Note
from the figure that while tunnel defects appear in lap welds,
for mild steel and stainless steel backing plates, even at a
low welding speed of 18 mm/min, defect free lap welds are
obtained with asbestos backing plate for welding speeds at
least up to 64 mm/min. Reasons for the formation of tun-
nel, cold lap, and hook defects particularly for mild steel
backing plates can be seen in Fig. 12. Note from Fig. 12a
that temperatures in WNZ, for asbestos backing plate, are
higher than that for mild steel and stainless steel backing
plates by about 100 and 50o C, respectively. Further note that
the temperatures shown for WNZs are measured along weld
center line at about 2 mm from the top. Peak temperatures
reached at the bottom of the bottom plate (i.e., at about 5 to
6 mm from top) would be much smaller than that measured
by the thermocouples, particularly for mild steel backing
plate. Lower weld zone temperatures for mild steel and
stainless steel backing plates appear to result in tun-
nel defects. Higher thermal diffusivity of mild steel
is expected to result in significant heat loss from the
plates being welded, thereby resulting in lower weld zone
temperatures.
Interestingly, difference in heat affected zone temper-
atures for different backing plates is much smaller as
compared to difference in weld nugget zone temperatures.
Further, peak temperatures on advancing side are higher
than that on the retreating side. Note that this has got to
do with sheet placement and temperatures would have been
higher on retreating side if the sheet placement were to be
reversed and the top sheet was on retreating side. As noted
earlier, for the aluminium alloy used in this work, Imam
et al. [16] show that softening from overaging is expected
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2015) 77:2181–2195 2191

Fig. 9 Vickers microhardness

contours at weld mid-sections
for a and b 3 mm and c-e 6 mm
sheets. Note that the tool
rotational speed is 450 rpm and
welding speed is 18 mm/min

to occur when heat affected zone temperatures go above
410o C. Thus, overaging in HAZs is not expected in any of
the lap welds obtained here. Photographs of failed lap shear
test specimen prepared from welds obtained with different
backing plates are shown in Fig. 13. Note from the figure
that while welds obtained with mild steel and stainless steel
backing plates fail from WNZ, welds obtained with asbestos
backing plate fail from the base metal. The presence of cold
lap defect for MS and SS backing plates can be confirmed
from Fig. 13a and b. Average strength (maximum load per
unit width) of lap welds obtained with MS, SS, and ASB
backing plates was found to be 290, 350, and 360 N/mm,
respectively.
4 Summary and conclusions
Friction welds were obtained for 3 and 6 mm thick 6063-T4
aluminum alloy sheets, under butt and lap configurations,
using asbestos, stainless steel, and mild steel backing plates.
2192 Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2015) 77:2181–2195

Morphology, microstructure, and mechanical properties of • Weld zone temperatures are significantly affected by
the welds were analyzed as a function of the backing plate the backing plate material, particularly in lap weld con-
material used. The following conclusions are drawn from figuration. While defect free lap welds were obtained
this work: with asbestos backing plate, tunnel, hook, and cold lap

140 140
t = 3 mm t = 6 mm
120 120
Joint Efficiency (%)

100

Joint Efficiency (%)

100
80 80
60 60
40 40
ASB SS MS ASB SS MS ASB SS MS ASB SS MS
20 20
0 0
450 635 450 635
Tool rotational speed (rpm) Tool rotational speed (rpm)
(a) (d)
1 00 1 00
t = 3 mm t = 6 mm
Yield Strength (MPa)
Yield Strength (MPa)

80 80

60 60

40 40

20 ASB SS MS ASB SS MS 20 ASB SS MS ASB SS MS

0 0
450 635 450 635
Tool rotational speed (rpm) Tool rotational speed (rpm)
(b) (e)
16 16
t = 3 mm t = 6 mm
14 14
12 12
Elongation (%)

Elongation (%)

10 10
8 8
6 6
4 4
ASB SS MS ASB SS MS
2 2
ASB SS MS ASB SS MS
0 0
450 635 450 635
Tool rotational speed (rpm) Tool rotational speed (rpm)
(c) (f)
Fig. 10 Joint efficiency, yield strength (0.2 % proof stress), and as the ratio of tensile strength of transverse weld specimen to that of
percentage uniform elongation for welds obtained at different tool similarly oriented base metal specimen. Also note that uniform elon-
rotational speeds and for different backing plate for a–c 3 and d–f gation is the engineering strain at load maximum. The welding speed
6 mm sheet thickness, respectively. Note that joint efficiency is defined is 18 mm/min
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2015) 77:2181–2195 2193

Fig. 11 Optical macrographs AS RS AS RS

for lap welds obtained at MS SS
635 rpm for 3 mm sheets with a
mild steel, b stainless steel, and
c asbestos backing plates Hook 5000 µm 5000 µm
v = 18 mm/min v = 18 mm/min

Tunnel Defect Cold lap Tunnel Defect

(a) (b)
AS RS

ASB

5000 µm
v = 18 mm/min

5000 µm
v = 38 mm/min

5000 µm
v = 64 mm/min

(c)

Fig. 12 Peak temperatures in 550 550

weld nugget zone (WNZ), heat ASB f = 635 rpm WNZ ASB
affected zone on advancing side v = 18 mm/min WNZ f = 635 rpm
500 500
Peak Temperature ( oC)
Peak Temperature ( oC)

(HAZ AS), and heat affected SS

WNZ
zone on retreating side (HAZ 450 450 HAZ
RS) in mid-section of the top MS AS HAZ
sheet in lap welding of 3 mm ASB 400 HAZ
400 HAZ AS
sheets for welds obtained with a SS HAZ AS
RS HAZ
using the three backing plate MS ASB SS RS
350 350 RS
MS
materials and b only asbestos at
a tool rotational speed of 300 300
635 rpm and welding speeds of
18, 38, and 64 mm/min. 250 250
Thermocouples in HAZs are WNZ HAZ-AS HAZ-RS 18 38 64
placed at a distance of 14 mm Welding Speed (mm/min)
from weld center line
(a) (b)

Fig. 13 a–c Fractographs of MS SS

weld cross-sections of lap weld
tensile specimen just after
failure, obtained using asbestos Cold lap Hook
(ASB), stainless steel (SS), and AS RS AS RS
mild steel (MS) backing plates
for tool rotational speed of (a) (b)
635 rpm and welding speed of
18 mm/min ASB

AS Fracture Location RS

(c)
2194
defects were obtained with mild steel and stainless steel
backing plates.
• stir welding of naturally aged aluminium alloys. Mater Des 52:
Microhardeness of weld nugget zone, for this alloy, is
predominantly controlled by the average grain size in
weld nugget zone which is in turn controlled by the
peak temperature and cooling rates in this region.
• Process window within which defect free butt or lap
welds can be obtained is larger for backing plate materi-
als with lower thermal diffusivity. In this work, asbestos
backing plate provided the largest process window
within which defect free welds could be obtained.
• 15. Rosales MJC, Alcantara NG, Satos J, Zettler R (2010) The back-
Peak weld zone temperatures are lower for sheets of
lower thickness. Thus, an appropriate choice of backing
plate is more important during friction stir welding of
thinner sheets.
• Eng A 558:94–402
Sheet positioning plays a crucial role in temperature
asymmetry in lap welding. Peak HAZ temperature is
higher in the sheet placed on the top.
Acknowledgments The support provided by the Central Research
Facility and Steel Technology Center at IIT Kharagpur is greatly
appreciated. The authors are also grateful to Maniram Chakraborty
for his help in carrying out experiments at welding laboratory in
Mechanical Engineering Department at IIT Kharagpur.
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