DEFECTS IN FSW WELDS:

There is no liquid state for the weld pool during FSW. For this reason the potential defects types
within the weld, such as tunnel defects “lazy S” and “kissing-bond”, are quite different from
conventional welding defects.

He Investigated on different type of welding defects by observing their macrostructures. He

observed different defects like groove and channel defects, kissing bond defect, lazy S defects.
Groove defects are formed due to insufficient pin plug depth, improper shape of the pin
providing insufficient shear force, very low or very high tilt angle. Channel defects are formed
due to low tilt angle. Channel defect is a very serious defection, which affects the tensile
properties and elongation percentage greatly, and decreases the tensile strength and elongation
percentage sharply.

A kissing bond  refers to the situation where two surfaces have been only partially bonded or are
dis-bonded but touching or in very close proximity.  This may be the consequence of poor
adhesion, service loading or impact damage. This defect is prevalent in FSW due to low heat
generation. He observed that the generation of the kissing-bond characterization of the single lap
pattern occurs in the nugget zone due to the low tilt angle (α = 25°), which corresponds to the
causes leading to the reduction of the tensile strength. It is very difficult to detect using
nondestructive methods such as X-ray or ultrasonic testing.
The Lazy S feature arises as the faying surfaces are deformed and spread out during FSW.
Inadequate bonding along these surfaces will constitute a weld defect.  According to[] .“Lazy S”,
is induced due to chaotic mixing of the oxide layer on the initial butt surface of FS weld of Al
alloy 5456, on the retreated or advanced side. This can be the important reason that the ductility
of the joint decrease dramatically.

Several characteristic  are seen to occur within the FSW and are identified as either flow or
geometric related [13]. The geometric lack of penetration/fusion  defect  occurs due to improper
pin tool penetration depth or improper seam tracking. The flow-related  defects  occur outside the
acceptable processing window with parameters that are considered either too hot or too cold.
Under hot processing with stick conditions, excessive material flow results with flash formation,
surface galling and nugget collapse. Under cold processing with slip conditions, insufficient
flowing material results in surface lack of fill, wormhole, or lack of consolidation  defects  on the
advancing side (listed in terms of increasing forge force). It is postulated that the optimum
processing conditions to prevent flow-related  defects  occur at a temperature where stick–slip
wiping flow occurs and material flowing from the region ahead of the pin tool is exactly
balanced with that flowing back into the vacated region behind the tool.
The main cause for these  defects  is insufficient material to fill the cavity. If the shoulder is not
capable of confining the transferred material with in the weld cavity, a part of the transferred
material is lost as flash. Hence, the shoulder-driven material is not enough to fill the cavity and
this leads to the groove and void like  defects  in the weld. No such defects are observed if proper
axial force is provided. Large axial force reduces the flow stress of the material and the pressure
required to consolidate the transferred material. Hence optimum axial force is required to
overcome these defects.