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Introduction
Friction welding is a solid state welding process, which
means that the joining is carried out at a temperature
below the melting points of the metals to be joined.1 ,2 The
basis of the friction welding process is that the relative
motion of two faying surfaces is used to generate heat,
and this is accompanied by a compressive force which
plastically deforms the surfaces, resulting in the joint.
Practical structures are becoming increasingly complicated, so it is dif cult to manufacture them using only
one material to satisfy environmental and service requirements. Ideally, such structures should be manufactured
from a combination of materials. It is necessary, therefore,
to establish a bonding technique that can readily join dissimilar metals.3 ,4
There are numerous commercial applications for aluminium alloy steel joints, ranging from cryogenic pressure
vessels and anode assemblies to the manufacture of plate
iron and cooking utensils. Friction welding is an obvious
contender in the quest for acceptable properties, compared
with other joining methods for dissimilar metal combinations.5 In the case of fusion welding in the Fe Al system,
excess formation of brittle intermetallic compounds degrades
the joint strength. Nevertheless, since friction welding is a
solid state bonding processes, low thickness intermetallic
layers are formed at the weld interface.6 However, in the
Fe Al system, solid solubility is almost zero, so some intermetallic compounds will be formed despite the application
of friction welding. The major problem in friction welding
aluminium steel joints is the formation of intermetallics
and oxides at the interface. The thickness of such layers
must be controlled if sound welds are to be achieved. In
some studies, Fe2 Al5 , FeAl3 , FeAl and Fe 3 Al intermetallics
were observed at the weld interface in pure aluminium
austenitic stainless steel welds.7 ,8 In other studies, Fe2 Al 5
DOI 10.1179/026708303225001876
Experimental procedure
The materials used in the present work were commercially
available 5052 aluminium alloy and type A36 steel (0.2%
carbon), which were machined to a rod shape 20 mm in
diameter and 120 mm in length. The chemical compositions
are given in Table 1. The 5052 alloy was supplied in the
form of cold drawn bar.
The surfaces of the parts were ground with SiC paper
(grade 100) and cleaned with acetone before welding. Friction welding was carried out using a brake type friction
welding machine (Nitto Seike Co. Ltd). Friction welding
parameters are rotation speed N, friction time t1 , upset
time t2 , friction pressure P1 and upset pressure P2 when
welding with this machine. In this present work, t2 , P1
and N were xed at 5 s, 70 MPa, and 2000 rev min2 1 ,
Materials Science and Technology
June 2003
Vol. 19
773
774 Lee et al. Effect of friction welding on properties of Al alloy 5052 A36 steel joint
Results
MICROSTRUCTURE EVOLUTION
Macrographs of welded joint cross-sections are shown in
Fig. 2. In the case of dissimilar material joints, formation of
the ash depends on the mechanical properties of the two
Table 1 Chemical compositions of materials used in present study, wt-%
C
Si
Mn
Cr
Mg
Al
Fe
5052 alloy
0.094
Bal.
Lee et al.
775
3 Microstructures of weld interfaces at central and peripheral regions and base metals
at the centre but the maximum width was greater. Increasing the friction time diminished the difference in DRX
width between the centre and the periphery so that the
width of the DRX region was similar regardless of location. Aluminium alloys are high thermal conductivity
materials, and a longer friction time caused the present
5052 alloy to attain a homogeneous temperature near the
interface.
Fukumoto et al. reported that the hardness pro le of the
cross-section of a weld interface could be lower or higher
than the hardnesses of the base materials, depending on the
metals welded and the welding parameters.1 6 1 8 Generally,
aluminium alloys are divided into two groups: precipitation hardening alloys, after a speci c heat treatment (aging),
including the 2000, 6000 and 7000 alloy systems, and solid
solution strengthening alloys, including the 3000, 4000 and
June 2003
Vol. 19
776 Lee et al. Effect of friction welding on properties of Al alloy 5052 A36 steel joint
Optical microstructure of 5052 alloy near interface: variation with increasing friction time
a given measured locations; b central region, given welding conditions; c peripheral region, given welding conditions
Lee et al.
777
10
a t1~0 .1 s; b t1~1.5 s
9 Relationship between given welding parameters and tensile strength and amount of ash
June 2003
Vol. 19
778 Lee et al. Effect of friction welding on properties of Al alloy 5052 A36 steel joint
Conclusions
Aluminium alloy 5052 and type A36 steel were joined
using a brake type friction welding machine. The mechanical and metallurgical properties were investigated by
means of tensile testing, microstructural examination and
hardness testing. The major conclusions are summarised
as follows.
1. Aluminium alloy 5052 was greatly deformed, relative
to the base metal, and the features could be divided into
four regions: (a) dynamic recrystallisation region, (b) heat
and deformation affected zone, (c) HAZ and (d) base metal.
The grains were ne and equiaxed near the weld interface
and grains were elongated beside the dynamic recrystallisation region. However, the A36 steel was not deformed.
2. A softened area was formed near the weld interface.
Increasing upset pressure minimised that area and increasing friction time widened the area. The maximum width
of the softened area was ~8 mm from the weld interface.
3. The thickness of the intermetallic reaction layer increased with increasing friction time. It was thicker in the peripheral region than in the central region. This layer was
identi ed as probably FeAl and MgO.
4. Joint strength increased and then settled at a constant
value after reaching a maximum with increasing upset
pressure and friction time. A very thin intermetallic layer
was formed at the weld interface.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Advanced Materials
and Process Research Centre for IT at Sungkyunkwan
University (Grant no. R12 2002 057 03001 0).
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