Iranian Journal of  Manufacturing Engineering

Iranian Journal of Manufacturing Engineering

Experimental investigations in friction welding process of dissimilar metal parts

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran
Abstract
The friction welding process is a solid-state welding method with various types. This study investigates the rotary friction welding method for joining dissimilar metals. A lathe machine was utilized as a rotary friction welding machine, and three parameters—rotational speed, friction time, and material type—were selected as experimental variables. Different specimens were welded at three rotational speeds (1000, 1400, and 2000 rpm) and three friction times (8, 12, and 16 seconds). The base metals used were CK45 steel, AA6061 aluminum, and CDA101 copper rods with a diameter of 10 mm. Tensile test results indicated a direct relationship between rotational speed and friction time with the tensile strength of the joints. As rotational speed and friction time increased, the ultimate stress and fracture stress of the specimens also increased. The highest tensile strength of approximately 174 MPa was recorded for the steel–copper (St-Cu) specimen, while the lowest tensile strength of about 11 MPa was observed for the aluminum–copper (Al-Cu) specimen. All specimens exhibited brittle fracture at the weld interface due to post-weld hardening and microstructural changes in the heat-affected zone (HAZ) and weld zone (WZ). Microstructural analysis revealed that increasing the rotational speed led to grain refinement in the HAZ and weld metal, resulting in higher tensile strength and hardness in specimens with finer grains. Furthermore, increasing the rotational speed reduced structural defects such as intermetallic phases (IMC) and the precipitation of harmful compounds at the interface while minimizing the formation of porosity, cracks and voids.
Keywords

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