Materials Science and Engineering A 459 (2007) 7–18

Influences of pin profile and rotational speed of the tool on the formation
of friction stir processing zone in AA2219 aluminium alloy
K. Elangovan, V. Balasubramanian ∗
Department of Manufacturing Engineering, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar 608002, Tamil Nadu, India
Received 23 October 2006; received in revised form 13 December 2006; accepted 27 December 2006

Abstract
AA2219 aluminium alloy has gathered wide acceptance in the fabrication of light weight structures requiring a high strength-to-weight ratio.
Compared to the many fusion welding processes that are routinely used for joining structural aluminium alloys, friction stir welding (FSW) process
is an emerging solid state joining process in which the material that is being welded does not melt and recast. The welding parameters and tool pin
profile play a major role in deciding the weld quality. In this investigation an attempt has been made to understand the influences of rotational speed
and pin profile of the tool on friction stir processed (FSP) zone formation in AA2219 aluminium alloy. Five different tool pin profiles (straight
cylindrical, tapered cylindrical, threaded cylindrical, triangular and square) have been used to fabricate the joints at three different tool rotational
speeds. The formation of FSP zone has been analysed macroscopically. Tensile properties of the joints have been evaluated and correlated with
the FSP zone formation. From this investigation it is found that the square tool pin profile produces mechanically sound and metallurgically defect
free welds compared to other tool pin profiles.
© 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: AA2219 aluminium alloy; Friction stir welding; Rotational speed; Tool pin profile; FSP zone; Tensile properties

1. Introduction
AA2219 is most widely used material for the construction of
liquid cryogenic rocket fuel tanks. It has a unique combination
of properties such as good weldability, high strength-to-weight
ratio and superior cryogenic properties [1]. The preferred weld-
ing processes for AA2219 aluminium alloy are frequently gas
metal arc welding (GMAW) and gas tungsten arc welding
(GTAW) due to their comparatively easier applicability and bet-
ter economy [2]. However, plasma arc welding (PAW) with a
positive polarity electrode and high welding current allows alu-
minium components to be joined economically with an excellent
weld quality [3]. In comparison with the TIG and MIG arcs,
the electron beam is characterized by higher power density and
thus permits the single pass welding of square butt joints with
thickness up to approximately 8 mm in the flat position [4].
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 4144 239734;
fax: +91 4144 239734/4144 238275.
E-mail addresses: elamko@rediffmail.com (K. Elangovan),
visvabalu@yahoo.com (V. Balasubramanian).
Though AA2219 has got an edge over its 6000 and 7000 series
counterparts in terms of weldability, it also suffers from poor as
welded joint strength. The joint strength is only about 40% when
compared to the base metal strength in T87 condition. This is
true both in autogenous welds as well as those welded with the
matching filler 2319, which contains slightly higher contents of
Ti and Zr. The loss of strength is due to the melting and quick
resolidification, which renders all the strengthening precipitates
to dissolve and the material is as good as a cast material with
solute segregation and large columnar grains [5].
Compared to many of the fusion welding processes that are
routinely used for joining AA2219 aluminum alloy, friction stir
welding (FSW) is an emerging solid state joining process in
which the material that is being welded does not melt and recast
[6]. Friction stir welding (FSW) was invented at The Welding
Institute (TWI), UK in 1991. Friction stir welding is a contin-
uous, hot shear, autogenous process involving non-consumable
rotating tool of harder material than the substrate material [7].
Fig. 1 explains the working principle of FSW process. Defect
free welds with good mechanical properties have been made in
a variety of aluminium alloys, even those previously thought
to be not weldable. When alloys are friction stir welded, phase
transformations that occur during cool down of the weld are of a

0921-5093/$ – see front matter © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.msea.2006.12.124
8 K. Elangovan, V. Balasubramanian / Materials Science and Engineering A 459 (2007) 7–18

Fig. 3. Dimensions of square butt joint.

Fig. 1. Schematic representation of FSW principle.

solid state type. Due to the absence of parent metal melting, the
new FSW process is observed to offer several advantages over
fusion welding [8]. Fig. 4. FSW tool dimensions.
FSW joints usually consist of four different regions as shown
in Fig. 2. They are: (a) unaffected base metal; (b) heat affected Table 1a
zone (HAZ); (c) thermo-mechanically affected zone (TMAZ) Chemical composition (wt%) of base metal
and (d) friction stir processed (FSP) zone. The formation of
Cu 6.7
above regions is affected by the material flow behaviour under Mn 0.27
the action of rotating non-consumable tool. However, the mate- Si 0.01
rial flow behaviour is predominantly influenced by the FSW Zn 0.04
tool profiles, FSW tool dimensions and FSW process param- Ti 0.05
Fe 0.13
eters [9,10]. The available literature focusing on the effect of
Zr 0.12
welding parameters and tool profiles on FSP zone formation in Mg 0.01
AA2219 aluminum alloy is very scant. Hence, in this investiga- Al Bal
tion an attempt has been made to understand the effect of tool pin
profiles and rotational speed on FSP zone formation. This paper
presents the relation between the FSP zone formation and ten- ing procedure was used to fabricate the joints. Non-consumable
sile properties of friction stir welded AA2219 aluminium alloy tools made of high carbon steel were used to fabricate the joints.
joints. The tool dimensions are shown in Fig. 4. The chemical com-
position and mechanical properties of base metal are presented
2. Experimental Work in Table 1. An indigenously designed and developed machine
(15HP; 3000 rpm; 25 kN) was used to fabricate the joints. Five
The rolled plates of 6 mm thickness, AA2219 aluminium different tool pin profiles, as shown in Fig. 5 were used to fab-
alloy, were cut into the required size (300 mm × 150 mm) by ricate the joints. Using each tool, 3 joints were fabricated at 3
power hacksaw cutting and grinding. Square butt joint con- different rotational speeds and in total 15 joints (5 × 3) were
figuration, as shown in Fig. 3 was prepared to fabricate FSW fabricated in this investigation. Trial experiments were carried
joints. The initial joint configuration was obtained by securing out to find out the working limits of welding parameters. Three
the plates in position using mechanical clamps. The direction of different welding speeds (0.32 mm/s, 0.76 mm/s and 1.25 mm/s)
welding was normal to the rolling direction. Single pass weld- and three different axial force levels (10 kN, 12 kN and 14 kN)
were used to fabricate the joints. Then the joints were visually
inspected for exterior weld defects and it was found that the joints

Table 1b
Mechanical properties of AA2219-T87
Yield strength (MPa) 310
Ultimate tensile strength (MPa) 408
Fig. 2. Different regions of FSW joint: (a) unaffected base metal; (b) heat Elongation (%) 23
affected zone (HAZ); (c) thermo-mechanically affected zone (TMAZ); (d) fric- Vickers hardness (0.5 kg) 140
tion stir processed (FSP) zone.
 K. Elangovan, V. Balasubramanian / Materials Science and Engineering A 459 (2007) 7–18
Table 2
Welding parameters and tool dimensions
Process parameters
Rotational speed (rpm)
Welding speed (mm/s)
Axial force (kN)
D/d ratio of tool
Pin length (mm)
Tool shoulder diameter, D (mm)
Pin diameter, d (mm)
Tool inclined angle (◦ )
Shoulder deepness inserted into the surface
of base metal (mm)
Included angle of taper pin
Pitch (mm) and included angle (◦ ) of
threaded pin
fabricated at the welding speed of 0.76 mm/s and axial force of
12 kN was free from any external defects. Similar welding speed
was used by the other investigator [8] also to weld AA2219 alu-
minium alloy. The welding parameters and tool dimensions are
presented in Table 2.
The welded joints were sliced using power hacksaw and
then machined to the required dimensions to prepare ten-
sile specimens as shown in Fig. 6. American Society for
Testing of Materials (ASTM) guidelines were followed for
preparing the test specimens. Tensile test was carried out
in 100 kN, electro-mechanical controlled Universal Testing
Machine. The specimen was loaded at the rate of 1.5 kN/min
as per ASTM specifications, so that tensile specimen under-
goes deformation. The specimen finally fails after necking
Fig. 6. Dimensions of tensile specimen.
9
Fig. 5. FSW tool pin profiles.
and the load versus displacement was recorded. The 0.2%
offset yield strength, ultimate tensile strength and percentage
Values of elongation were evaluated. Vicker’s microhardness testing
1500, 1600, 1700
machine (Make: Matzusawa, Japan and Model: MMT-X7) was
0.76 employed for measuring the hardness across the joint with 0.5 kg
12 load.
3.0 Macro- and microstructural analysis was carried out using
5.7 a light optical microscope (VERSAMET-3) incorporated with
18
6
an image analyzing software (Clemex–Vision). The specimens
0 for metallographic examination were sectioned to the required
0.2 sizes from the joint comprising FSP zone, TMAZ, HAZ and
base metal regions and polished using different grades of
7.5 emery papers. Final polishing was done using the diamond
1 and 60
compound (1 ␮m particle size) in the disc polishing machine.
Specimens were etched with Kellers reagent to reveal the
macro- and microstructures. The fractured surface of the ten-
sile tested specimens was analysed using digital scanner at
low magnification to study the general mode of fracture pat-
tern to establish the relationship between FSP zone and the
fracture.
3. Results
3.1. Macrostructure
In fusion welding of aluminium alloys, the defects like poros-
ity, slag inclusion, solidification cracks, etc. deteriorates the
weld quality and joint properties. Usually, friction stir welded
joints are free from these defects since there is no melting takes
place during welding and the metals are joined in the solid
state itself due to the heat generated by the friction and flow of
metal by the stirring action. However, FSW joints are prone to
other defects like pinhole, tunnel defect, piping defect, kissing
bond, cracks, etc. due to improper flow of metal and insuffi-
cient consolidation of metal in the FSP region. All the joints
fabricated in this investigation are analysed at low magnifica-
tion (10×) using optical microscope to reveal the quality of FSP
regions.
The macrostructure of the joints and the observations (FSP
zone shape, FSP zone height (H), FSP zone width (W) at three
10 K. Elangovan, V. Balasubramanian / Materials Science and Engineering A 459 (2007) 7–18

Table 3
Effect of rotational speed on macrostructure of the joints fabricated by straight cylindrical pin profiled tool
Rotational Macrostructure Size of FSP Shape of Name of the Quality of Probable reasons
speed (rpm) zone (mm) FSP zone defect and weld metal
location consolidation
RS AS W H

1500 8.7 5.9 Inverted Tunnel in the Poor Insufficient heat

6.1 trapezoidal bottom of the input and flow of
4.1 weld in the the plasticized
retreating side metal
(RS)

1600 9.2 5.9 ” Tunnel in the ” No vertical flow

6.3 root of the weld of the metal
3.9 in the retreating
side

1700 11.1 5.8 ” Pinholes in the ” ”

6.2 retreating side
4.6 and the root of
the weld

different locations, quality of the FSP zone, etc.) made from the to be defective irrespective of rotational speeds used. In the
macrostructure are presented in Tables 3–7. All the three joints case of threaded cylindrical pin profiled tool (Table 5) and tri-
fabricated using straight cylindrical pin profiled tool (Table 3) angular pin profiled tool (Table 7), the joints fabricated at a
and tapered cylindrical pin profiled tool (Table 4) are found rotational speed of 1500 rpm are found to be defective. On the

Table 4
Effect of rotational speed on macrostructure of the joints fabricated by tapered cylindrical pin profiled tool
Rotational Macrostructure Size of FSP Shape of FSP Name of the Quality of Probable
speed (rpm) zone (mm) zone defect and weld metal reasons
location consolidation
RS AS W H

1500 7.4 5.8 Inverted Tunnel in the Poor Insufficient heat

5.1 trapezoidal bottom of the input and flow
3.1 weld in the of the
retreating side plasticized metal

1600 8.4 5.9 ” Pinhole in the ” No vertical flow

6.1 middle of the weld of the metal
4.3 in the retreating
side

1700 11.3 5.9 ” Tunnel in the ” ”

6.7 bottom of the
5.1 weld in the
retreating side
 K. Elangovan, V. Balasubramanian / Materials Science and Engineering A 459 (2007) 7–18 11

Table 5
Effect of rotational speed on macrostructure of the joints fabricated by threaded cylindrical pin profiled tool
Rotational Macrostructure Size of FSP Shape of FSP Name of the Quality of Probable reasons
speed (rpm) zone (mm) zone defect and weld metal
location consolidation
RS AS W H

1500 8.1 5.9 Inverted No defect Good Screw thread generate

4.3 trapezoidal more heat and exerts
3.1 an extra downward
movement to the
plasticized metal

1600 10.3 5.8 ” No defect Good ”

5.2
3.9

1700 11.2 5.9 ” Pinhole in the Poor Excess turbulence of

8.3 middle of the the plasticized metal
7.1 weld due to higher
rotational speed

other hand, the joints fabricated using square pin profiled tool is
found to be free from defects (Table 6). From the macrostruc-
ture analysis, it can be inferred that the formation of defect
free FSP zone is a function of tool profile and rotational speed
used.
3.2. Tensile properties
Transverse tensile properties of FSW joints such as yield
strength, tensile strength, percentage of elongation and joint
efficiency were evaluated. Three specimens were tested at each

Table 6
Effect of rotational speed on macrostructure of the joints fabricated by square pin profiled tool
Rotational Macrostructure Size of FSP Shape of FSP Name of the Quality of Probable reasons
speed (rpm) zone (mm) zone defect and weld metal
location consolidation
RS AS W H

1500 10.1 5.8 Inverted No defect Good Sufficient working of the

4.1 trapezoidal plasticized metal due to
4.0 the pulsating action of the
pin profile

1600 10.0 5.9 ” ” ” ”

5.7
3.3

1700 12.1 5.9 ” ” ” Excess working of the

8.4 plasticized metal with
6.8 wider FSP due to high
rotational speed
12 K. Elangovan, V. Balasubramanian / Materials Science and Engineering A 459 (2007) 7–18

Table 7
Effect of rotational speed on macrostructure of the joints fabricated by triangular pin profiled tool
Rotational Macrostructure Size of FSP Shape of FSP Name of the Quality of Probable reasons
speed (rpm) zone (mm) zone defect and weld metal
location consolidation
RS AS W H

1500 7.4 5.9 Inverted Pinhole in the Poor Insufficient heat

4.8 trapezoidal retreating side input and flow of
3.3 the plasticized
metal

1600 8.6 5.9 ” No defect Good Adequate heat

5.8 input and flow of
4.3 the plasticized
metal

1700 9.1 5.9 ” No defect Good ”

5.9
3.4

condition and average of the results of three specimens is pre-
sented in Fig. 7. From the figure, it can be inferred that the
tool profile and tool rotational speed are having influence on
tensile properties of the FSW joints. Of the five joints, the
joints fabricated by square tool profile exhibited superior tensile
properties compared to other joints, irrespective of tool rota-
tional speed. Similarly, the joints fabricated by threaded pin
profiled tool are also showing almost matching tensile prop-
erties to that of square tool profile. But the joints fabricated by
straight cylindrical tool profile exhibited inferior tensile proper-

Table 8
Effect of rotational speed on fracture surface of the joints fabricated by straight cylindrical pin profiled tool
Rotational speed (rpm) Fracture surface Location of Fracture surface Orientation of defects
fracture appearance

1500 Between FSP Coarse granular Groove corresponding

and HAZ of appearance with to the tunnel in the
retreating side concave surface weld cross section

1600 ” Uneven surface with ”

mixed mode pattern

1700 ” Irregular surface with Groove corresponding

dull grey fibrous to the pinhole in the
appearance weld cross section
 K. Elangovan, V. Balasubramanian / Materials Science and Engineering A 459 (2007) 7–18 13

Fig. 7. Effect of rotational speed on tensile properties: (a) tensile strength; (b) yield strength; (c) percentage of elongation; (d) joint efficiency.

ties compared to their counterparts, irrespective of tool rotational
speed.
The joints fabricated at the rotational speed of 1500 rpm have
shown lower tensile strength and elongation compared to the
joints fabricated at a rotational speed of 1600 rpm and this trend
is common for all the tool profiles. Similarly, the joints fabricated
at the rotational speed of 1700 rpm have also shown lower tensile
strength and elongation compared to the joints fabricated at a
rotational speed of 1600 rpm. The effect of rotational speed is
concerned, the joints fabricated at a rotational speed of 1600 rpm
are showing superior tensile properties compared to other joints,
irrespective of tool profiles. The fractured surfaces of the tensile
test specimens were scanned using a digital scanner and the
fracture patterns of all the joints and observations made from
the fractured surface are presented in Tables 7–12. From the
fractured surface analysis, it can be inferred that the defect free
welds are showing uniform deformation across the weld before
failure (Table 11).
14 K. Elangovan, V. Balasubramanian / Materials Science and Engineering A 459 (2007) 7–18

Table 9
Effect of rotational speed on fracture surface of the joints fabricated by tapered cylindrical pin profiled tool
Rotational speed (rpm) Fracture surface Location of Fracture surface Orientation of
fracture appearance defects

1500 Between FSP Irregular surface Groove

and HAZ of with fibrous corresponding to
retreating side appearance along the tunnel in the
with striations at weld cross section
the top

1600 ” Uneven surface Insufficient

with fibrous dull consolidation
grey appearance corresponding to
the pinhole in the
weld cross section

1700 ” Flat surface with Groove

coarse granular corresponding to
appearance the tunnel in the
weld cross section

4. Discussion 4.1. Effect of tool pin profile

From the experimental results (macrostructure, tensile prop-
erties and fracture surface), it is found that the joint fabricated
using square pin profiled tool at a rotational speed of 1600 rpm
exhibited superior tensile properties compared to other joints.
The reasons for the better performance of these joints are
explained below.
The primary function of the non-consumable rotating tool
pin is to stir the plasticized metal and move the same behind
it to have good joint. Pin profile plays a crucial role in mate-
rial flow and in turn regulates the welding speed of the FSW
process [11,12]. The pin generally has cylindrical plain, frus-
tum tapered, threaded and flat surfaces. Pin profiles with flat

Table 10
Effect of rotational speed on fracture surface of the joints fabricated by threaded cylindrical pin profiled tool
Rotational Fracture surface Location of Fracture surface Orientation of
speed (rpm) fracture appearance defects

1500 Between FSP and Flat and smooth No defect

HAZ of retreating surface with bright
side granular appearance

1600 ” Irregular surface with No defect

fibrous dull grey
appearance

1700 ” Uneven surface with Groove

fibrous appearance corresponding to
along with striations the pinhole in the
at the top weld cross section
 K. Elangovan, V. Balasubramanian / Materials Science and Engineering A 459 (2007) 7–18 15

Table 11
Effect of rotational speed on fracture surface of the joints fabricated by square pin profiled tool
Rotational Fracture surface Location of Fracture surface Orientation of defects
speed (rpm) fracture appearance

1500 Between FSP Coarse granular No defect

and HAZ of appearance with striations
retreating side at top and bottom

1600 ” Concave surface with ”

granular appearance (like
cup and cone fracture)

1700 ” Granular appearance with ”

striations at the bottom

Table 12
Effect of rotational speed on fracture surface of the joints fabricated by triangular pin profiled tool
Rotational Fracture surface Location of Fracture surface Orientation of defects
speed (rpm) fracture appearance

1500 Between FSP Uneven surface with Groove corresponding to

and HAZ of coarse granular the pinhole in the weld
retreating side appearance along with cross section
striations at the bottom

1600 ” Flat surface with bright No defect

granular appearance

1700 ” Irregular surface with dull No defect

grey fibrous appearance
along with striations at
the bottom

faces (square and triangular) are associated with eccentricity.

Fig. 8. Effect of pin profiles on FSP zone hardness.
This eccentricity allows incompressible material to pass around
the pin profile. Eccentricity of the rotating object is related to
dynamic orbit due to eccentricity [13]. This dynamic orbit is
the part of the FSW process. The relationship between the static
volume and dynamic volume decides the path for the flow of
plasticized material from the leading edge to the trailing edge of
the rotating tool. This ratio is equal to 1 for straight cylindrical,
1.09 for tapered cylindrical, 1.01 for threaded cylindrical, 1.56
for square and 2.3 for triangular pin profiles. In addition, the
triangular and square pin profiles produce a pulsating stirring
action in the flowing material due to flat faces. The square pin
profile produces 100 pulses/s and triangular pin profile produces
75 pulses/s when the tool rotates at a speed of 1500 rpm. There
16 K. Elangovan, V. Balasubramanian / Materials Science and Engineering A 459 (2007) 7–18

Fig. 9. Effect of tool pin profiles on FSP zone microstructure: (a) straight cylindrical; (b) taper cylindrical; (c) threaded cylindrical; (d) square; (e) triangular.

is no such pulsating action in the case of cylindrical, tapered and
threaded pin profiles.
During tensile test, most of the specimens failed in the FSP
region but the exact location of failure is either at the retreating
side (RS) or at the advancing side (AS) and it is also evident
from the fracture surface analysis. Hence, microhardness mea-
surement and microstructural analysis have been carried out in
the FSP region of all the joints. Fig. 8 shows the microhardness
values and Fig. 9 displays the microstructure of FSP region of all
the joints fabricated at a rotational speed of 1600 rpm for com-
parison purpose. Of the five joints, the highest hardness value
of 105 Hv has been recorded in the joint fabricated using square
pin profiled tool and the lowest hardness value of 82 Hv has
been recorded in the joint fabricated using straight cylindrical
pin profiled tool. Similarly, the FSP region of the joint fabri-
cated using square pin profile tool contains finer grains (Fig. 9d)
compared to other joints. The higher number of pulsating action
experienced in the stir zone of square pin profiled tool produces
 K. Elangovan, V. Balasubramanian / Materials Science and Engineering A 459 (2007) 7–18 17

finer grained microstructure and in turn yields higher strength

and hardness.

4.2. Effect of tool rotational speed

Rotational speed appears to be the most significant process

variable since it also tends to influence the translational velocity.
Very high rotational speeds (>10,000 rpm) could raise strain rate,
and there by influence the recrystallisation process; which in turn
could influence the FSW process [14]. Higher tool rotational
speed resulted in a higher temperature and slower cooling rate
in the FSP zone after welding. A higher rotational speed causes
excessive release of stirred materials to the upper surface, which
resultantly left voids in the FSP zone. Lower heat input condition
due to lower rotational speed resulted in lack of stirring. The area
of the FSP zone decreases with and decreasing the tool rotation
speed and affect the temperature distribution in the FSP zone
[15].
As the rotational speed increases, the strained region widens,
and the location of the maximum strain finally moves to the
advancing side from the original retreating side of the joint.
This implies that the fracture location of the joint is also affected
by the rotational speed [16]. The tensile properties of the joints
made with different welding conditions resulted in lowest tensile
strength and ductility at lowest spindle speed for a given tra-
verse (welding) speed. As the spindle speed increased, both the
strength and elongation improved, reaching a maximum before
falling again at high rotational speeds. It is clear that, in FSW,
as the rotational speed increases, the heat input also increases.
However, the calculated maximum temperatures are nearly the
same in all the rotational speeds. This phenomenon can be
explained by the following two reasons: first, the coefficient of
friction decreases when a local melt occurs, and subsequently
decreases when a local input; secondly, the latent heat absorbs
some heat input.
Moataz and Hanadi [17] have opined that at very high rota-
tional speeds, second phase (strengthening) particles would
suffer more fragmentation and leads to segregation of par-
Fig. 10. Effect of rotational speed on FSP zone hardness (tool profile: square
pin).
ticles in other parts of the TMAZ. As the rotational speed
is decreased, and the temperature within the nugget becomes
lower and the volume fraction of coarse second phase particles
increases. Hence, the tool rotation speed must be optimized to
get FSP region with fine particles uniformly distributed through-
out the matrix. Of the three different tool rotational speeds,
the joints fabricated at a rotational speed of 1600 rpm exhib-
ited superior tensile properties, irrespective of tool pin profiles.
For comparison purpose, the microhardness and microstructure
of FSP regions produced by square pin profiled tool at different
rotational speeds are presented in Figs. 10 and 11. Higher micro-
hardness and finer grain diameter have been obtained at the FSP
region of the joint fabricated at 1600 rpm using square pin pro-
filed tool. The combined effect of higher number of pulsating
stirring action during metal flow and an optimum tool rotational
speed may be the reason for superior tensile properties, higher
hardness and finer microstructure at the FSP region of the joint
fabricated at a rotational speed of 1600 rpm using square pin
profiled tool.

Fig. 11. Effect of rotational speed on microstructure of FSP zone (tool profile: square pin).
18 K. Elangovan, V. Balasubramanian / Materials Science and Engineering A 459 (2007) 7–18
5. Conclusions
In this investigation an attempt has been made to study the
effect of tool pin profile and tool rotational speed on the forma-
tion of friction stir processing zone in AA2219 aluminium alloy.
From this investigation, the following important conclusions are
derived:
(i) Of the five tool pin profiles used in this investigation to
fabricate the joints, square pin profiled tool produced defect
free FSP region, irrespective of rotational speeds.
(ii) Of the three tool rotational speeds used in this investigation
to fabricate the joints, the joints fabricated at a rotational
speed of 1600 rpm showed better tensile properties, irre-
spective of tool pin profiles.
(iii) Of the 15 joints fabricated in this investigation, the joint fab-
ricated using square pin profiled tool at a rotational speed
of 1600 rpm showed superior tensile properties.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the Department of Manufacturing
Engineering, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar, India for
extending the facilities of Metal Joining Laboratory and Material
Testing Laboratory to carryout this investigation. The authors
wish to place their sincere thanks to Aeronautical Research &
Development Board (ARDB), New Delhi for financial support
rendered through a R&D project No. DARO/08/1061356/M/I.
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