Abstract
Rotary friction welding (RFW) is a solid-state joining process that has been adopted by several industries and fabricators worldwide. It is one typical joining process that produces a weld joint with greater or similar properties to that of the parent material. This process has been an attraction due to an ability to weld materials, which were previously considered difficult to weld using conventional welding processes, such as Titanium alloys.
Titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) was welded with continuous-drive friction welding technique. The main aim was to evaluate the performance of Ti-6Al-4V weld joint in comparison to the parent material and to evaluate the integrity of the weld joint. This was accomplished by varying process parameters during welding. Axial pressure ranging from 25 MPa to 140 MPa and rotational speed ranging from 1600 RPM to 2700 RPM were utilized. Rotary friction welded material and parent material samples of Ti-6Al-4V were examined in terms of mechanical properties and microstructure characterization. The microstructures for weld joint and parent material were analyzed using Optical Microscope. Mechanical properties including tensile strength and micro-hardness were evaluated and analyzed.
The weld results showed that the weld joint of Ti-6Al-4V produced from RFW process is very similar to that of LFW process. The variation in microstructure from the weld center to the parent material revealed different weld zones present in a weld joint namely WN, TMAZ and HAZ which are a typically representation of friction processing. The micro-hardness plots revealed an increase in hardness at the weld joint, with the...
M.Tech. (Mechanical Engineering)