Jurnal Review

Dissimilar friction welding of induction surface-hardened steels and thermochemically treated steels
By Rhidiyan Waroko
Ion Mitelea , Victor Budu , Corneliu Crciunescu, Politehnica University of Timisoara, P-ta Victoriei nr. 2, 300007 Timisoara, Romania

Background
Friction welding is a highly productive process since it requires short processing times. Friction welding is an important solution for joining dissimilar steels, due to the particularities of the process that relies on the conversion of mechanical energy into thermal energy, with favourable effects on the resulting interface and heat affected zone. For friction joining of surface hardened steels, the distribution of the thermal gradient on the surfaces in contact during the process is affecting the hardness at the interface.

Background (2)
The friction welding parameters need to be considered and adequately selected in conjunction with the materials properties (specific heat, thermal conductivity, critical quenching rate, plastic deformation and recrystallization behaviour). This work is focused on the particularities of the conventional friction welding process of dissimilar steels for joints in which one component is inductionhardened, using high frequency currents, and the other one is subject to another heat or thermochemical treatment, such as carburization or nitriding.

Experimental Details
Table 1. The composition of the steels used in the experiments.

Experimental Details (2)

Table 2. Treatments applied to the components for the joining experiments.

Experimental Details (3)

Sample was characterized by:
Hardness test (HVS 10A1 hardness tester on longitudinal section, polished and nital-etch join) Macroscopic (Olympus SZH-10 stereo microscope) Microstructure (Olympus BH-2 metallographic microscope) Bending test (Instron 250 kN universal testing machine) Torsion test (Schenk-Trebel torsion testing machine 1600Nm) Impact test (V-Notched, 300 J Charpy pendulum)

Experimental Details (4)

Table 3. Summarizes the main aspects detailed in the experimental programme, underlying the particular process variables considered and the resulting effects studied for the sets of joined couples of steels.

Result and Discussions

The concurrent action of the friction speed, the axial pressure (for the friction and forging phase), of the time and the resulting friction upset distance, as well as the rotational speed are the main factors to control the quality of the weld. For the same rotational speed the relative peripheral speed between the components is increasing from the centre of the sample toward the surface. Due to the different relative speed between the surfaces in contact along the radius, the friction is more intense toward the outer surface in contact, compared to the central part. These factors have been considered in the analysis of the couples of steels joined by friction welding detailed below.

Result and Discussions : Induction hardened-quenchedtempered-hardened dissimilar joint

Hardness of C55 IH was shown in figure 1, while the hardness of the C45 HT steel was in the range of 280 HV1

Fig. 1. Hardness gradient of the C55 steel after high frequency induction-hardening

In order to minimize the length of the softened part of the C55 induction hardened steel during the joining process, the friction/forging pressure was increased to 300/400 N/mm2. A lower friction/forging pressure, 200/300 N/mm2, was used in order to obtain a uniform distribution of the temperature in radial and axial directions.

Result and Discussions : Induction hardened-quenchedtempered-hardened dissimilar joint (2)

The macroscopic investigation of the friction welded couple, presented in Fig. 2a, does not reveal any cracks in the centre of the joint that could have occurred due to the deformations in the colder areas of the material. The microscopic investigation of the joint interface reveals a fine recrystallization microstructure oriented along the former deformation fibres (Fig. 2b, left), the typical tempered sorbitic microstructure (Fig. 2b, right)

Fig. 2. Macro and micrographic images of the dissimilar C55 induction-hardened with a C45 quenchhardened steel friction welded joint.

Result and Discussions : Induction hardened-quenchedtempered-hardened dissimilar joint (3)

Fig. 3. Hardness gradients for two values of the friction/upsetting pressure across the joining plane for the dissimilar C45 quench-hardened-C55 induction-hardened friction welded joint, measured in the marginal and central areas, respectively.

Result and Discussions : Induction hardened-quenchedtempered-hardened dissimilar joint (4)

The mechanical tests performed on the samples welded using a 200 N/mm2 friction pressure and forging pressures of 300 and 400 N/mm2, respectively revealed the following aspects: Torsion tests showed a plastic deformation only in the quenched-hardened steel but no degradation of the material was observed in the joining zone. For static three points bending tests, the 60 kN load led to fracture at a 20 bending angle. The analysis of the weld shows a significant weakening of the joint produced by the quenched-hardened component that forced a slip during the test, thus the maximal load deviated outside the section of the weld. The Charpy impact test was performed in the induction hardened component in order to obtain a maximal load of the heat affected zone. The test showed a fracture occurring in the induction-quenched zone, at about 3 mm from the joint plane, i.e. in the minimal resistance zone, as showed in Fig. 3. The samples joined using higher axial pressure showed a crack initiation in areas with intense deviations of the fibres and a subsequent propagation in the rest of the zone.

Result and Discussions : Induction hardened-quenchedtempered-hardened dissimilar joint (5)

Higher values for the friction pressure lead to a reduction of the hardness on the inductionhardened surface and only in a narrow range. The maximal friction pressure has to be limited to about 200 N/mm2 in order to avoid material separations in the centre of the joint plane, due to the deformation of colder areas, thus leading to deterioration of the mechanical properties.

Result and Discussions : Induction hardenedcarburized steels dissimilar joint

Fig. 4. Details about the micro-tructure and hard-ess gra-dients in pre-welding state for the 16Mn Cr5 (carburized) and 34CrNiMo6 (induc- tion hardened) steels used in the experi- ments.

Tempered martensite and residual austenite (Fig. 4a) in the surface microstructure and ferrite-bainite in the core (Fig. 4b) were observed in carburized-quenchedtempered 16MnCr5 steel component,

Result and Discussions : Induction hardenedcarburized steels dissimilar joint (2)

Fig. 4. Details about the micro-tructure and hard-ess gra-dients in pre-welding state for the 16Mn Cr5 (carburized) and 34CrNiMo6 (induc- tion hardened) steels used in the experi- ments. (cont)

A distribution reflected by the hardness gradient of 16MnCr5 (Fig. 4c). The induction-hardened layer for the 34CrNiMo6 steel was in the range of 2 mm from the surface (Fig. 4d).

Result and Discussions : Induction hardenedcarburized steels dissimilar joint (3)

The macrographic analysis of the longitudinal section through the welded joint shows that for lower values of the axial pressure, the carburized layer is not fully expunged from the joint plane, thus leading to cracks localized at the base of the burr (Fig. 5a). By increasing the pressure, the carburized layer is fully expunged in the burr and the occurrence of cracks and other defects related to the inclusion of carburized microlayers in the joint plane is suppressed (Fig. 5b and c).

The microstructure of joint in Fig. 5c consists of bainite and ferrite for the induction-hardened 34CrNiMo6 steel, while the one of the carburized-quenchedtempered 16MnCr5 steel shows pearlite and carbides with a fraction of ferrite that becomes higher as the distance from the joint plane is increased. A fine structure with mostly pearlite predominates in the joint plane.

Result and Discussions : Induction hardenedcarburized steels dissimilar joint (4)

The heat affected zone is expected to show a less pronounced biconcave shape, for friction welding at high friction/forging pressures (300/400 N/mm2), due to the fact that one of the components is carburized. High friction/forging pressures (300/400 N/mm2) lead to good mechanical characteristic, i.e. 60 kN ultimate force for bending tests and a fracture occurring in the heat affected zone, in the carburized component, at about 9 mm from the joint plane. the hardness of the marginal area is rapidly decreasing due to the heating with a high rate. For higher friction pressures, the heat developed in the joint plane is increased and the material will be heated in a narrow range across the interface, leading to the plastification of the material in the contact zone and the expulsion in the burr.

Result and Discussions : Induction hardenedcarburized steels dissimilar joint (5)

Fig. 6. Hardness gradients in axial direction across the joint plane for the inductionhardened 34CrNiMo6 steel with a 16MnCr5 carburized-quenched-tempered steel joint for two values of the friction/forging pressure. The reduction of the friction pressure to 200 N/mm2 did not significantly affect the results of the welding. An expansion of the softened area, from 13 to 15 mm (for increased friction time from 3 to 5 s) was observed due to the higher axial heat developed in the joint. By increasing the forging pressure from 300 to 400 N/mm2, the softened area can be further reduced.

Result and Discussion : Induction hardenednitrided steel dissimilar joint

It is expected that a biconcave HAZ forms for high friction/forging pressures (300/400 N/mm2), if one of the components is thermomechanically treated. On the other hand, at lower axial pressures (200/300 N/mm2) it was observed that the decrease of the pressure did not affect the process, neither the extent of the softening area. An increase of the softening area from about 14 mm to about 16 mm, and a reduction of the thermal gradient in the joint area were observed, as a result of the intensification of the heat generated in the axial direction. The hardness gradient across the joint proves that a peak is obtained for friction/forging pressures of 200/300 N/mm2 and an upset length of 4.5 mm.

Result and Discussion : Induction hardenednitrided steel dissimilar joint (2)

Fig. 7. Typical microstructure and hardness gradient observed for the C45 after the nitriding operation and the macroscopic image of the C55 induction-hardened and C45 nitrided steel joint.

Result and Discussion : Induction hardenednitrided steel dissimilar joint (3)

Regardless of the axial pressure used (200/300 or 300/400 N/mm2 friction/forging pressures) the joints showed good mechanical properties. On bending tests at room temperature, the bending angle was above 15 and the fracture occurred above 60 kN. Each time the fracture occurred in the nitrided part, in the area where the fibres have been deviated during the friction welding process. Micrographic observations showed a layer enriched in nitrogen, resistant to Nital etching. The nitride layer contributes to the reduction of the relative friction between the components in the vicinity of the rotational axis. An increase of the friction upset length to 6 mm leads to the total expulsion of the nitride debris. The experimental results show that a high quality joint can only be obtained if the nitride layer is fully expunged from the joint plane. If such nitride debris are still present, a quasi-cleavage fracture occurs due to the high cooling rate during the friction welding process, as also observed for other combinations with nitrided steels

Conclusion
The joining of an induction-hardened C55 steel with a quenched-temperedhardened C45 steel, the friction pressure is limited to about 200 N/mm2, since higher values were observed to lead only to minor reduction of the hardness on the induction-hardened surface and can favour the presence of discontinuities in the centre of the joint plane. The friction welding of induction-hardened and thermochemically treated steels is influenced by the presence hard layers in the join plane. If such layers are not expunged during the process, they affect the integrity of the joint. By increasing the axial pressure, the thermochemically hardened layer can be expunged in the burr and the presence of macro and microstructural defects or the initiation of cracks or in the joint plane are suppressed. For dissimilar joints made out of an induction-hardened 34CrNiMo6 steel and a carburized 16MnCr5 steel, the expulsion of the carburized layer is not complete for upset lengths of 4.5 mm but was observed for friction/upsetting pressures, in the range of 300/400 N/mm2 and 6 mm upsetting lengths.

Conclusion (2)
The analysis of the friction welding process for induction-hardened C55 steels and nitrided C45 steel revealed that the presence of the nitride layer contributes to the reduction of the friction in the vicinity of the rotational axis. Regardless of the friction/forging pressures used (200/300 or 300/400 N/mm2) the joints showed good mechanical properties, but the complete expulsion of the nitride layer was observed only for 6 mm upset length.