INTERFACIAL MICROSTRUCTURE AND STRENGTH OF FRICTION

WELDING OF STEEL TUBE TO ALUMINIUM TUBE PLATE USING AN

EXTERNAL TOOL

Vijaya Kumar Ca, Muthukumaran Sb*, Senthil Kumaran Sc, Pradeep Ad

Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering,
National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli-620015, Tamil Nadu, India
Phone: +91-9442069381, Fax: 91-431-2500133,
Email: kaashni@gmail.com, pondymuthu@gmail.com, sskumaran@ymail.com,
mechanicalpradeep@yahoo.com
Abstract
Joining of dissimilar materials is of increasing interest for a wide range of industrial
applications like nuclear, thermal power. The automotive industry, in particular, views dissimilar
materials joining as a gateway for the implementation of lightweight materials. Friction welding of
tube to tube plate using an external tool is an innovative friction welding process and is capable of
producing high quality leak proof weld joints. In the present study, friction welding of steel tube to
commercial aluminum tube plate using an external tool with and without tube projection has been
performed. The joints were evaluated by mechanical testing and metallurgical analysis. The results
of bonding interface hardness and joint strength reveals that steel tube with projection are more than
the steel tube without projection.
key words: FWTPET; Bonding interface; Microstructure; Micro hardness; Joint strength.

1. Introduction
The introduction of aluminum alloy parts into a steel car body requires the development of
reliable, efficient and economic joining processes. Since aluminum and steel demonstrate different
physical, mechanical and metallurgical properties, identification of proper welding processes and
practices can be problematic. Therefore, the joining of aluminum alloy and steel has attracted great
attention. Recently, many researchers sought to join aluminum alloy and steel using the several
welding methods such as resistance spot welding [1], MIG welding with brazing [2], friction
welding [3], magnetic pulse welding [4], and friction stir welding. In all of the above cases, it has
been reported that brittle reaction products formed at the welding interface would deteriorate
mechanical properties. In case of explosive welding, if the brittle compound is distributed as
discrete pockets and not as a continuous layer, the strength of the weld may not be significantly
impaired [5].
Friction welding of tube to tube plate using an external tool (FWTPET) was invented in the
year 2006 and patented was granted in the year 2008 to one of the present authors [6]. FWTPET is a
solid state welding process suitable to achieve leak proof high quality joint between tube and plate
of similar or dissimilar metals. The material that is being welded in general does not melt and recast
and joints exhibits enhanced mechanical, metallurgical properties with lesser energy consumption.
Several problems arise in industrial practice for joining of dissimilar materials [7,8]. The main
issues of the steel to aluminum fusion welding come from the large difference between their
melting points, the nearly zero solid solubility of iron in aluminum and the formation of brittle
aluminum-rich intermetallics compounds such as FeAl3.
 In this present study, steel tube is welded with aluminum tube plate using FWTPET process
and the bonding interface microstructure and mechanical properties of steel tube with and without
projection have been studied.
2. Experimental Procedure
The FWTPET machine developed in-house is shown in Fig.1. The external tool consists of a
shoulder and pin is shown in Fig 2. The faying surfaces are cleaned and a suitable hole is drilled in
the plate and the assembly is clamped in the FWTPET machine table.

Fig. 1 Modified milling machine Fig. 2 FWTPET setup

The basic requirements to achieve a FWTPET weld are temperature & pressure which
should be high enough for forging. The tool is lowered during rotation and heat is generated due to
friction when the shoulder touches the plate. When the plate material reaches plastic condition, the
plastic flow of metal takes place towards the center of the tool axis and flows through the holes in
the tube and occupies the gap. The pin acts as an anvil and forges the metal to plastic condition.
Hence, the enormous pressure and high temperature are generated between the tube and tube plate
interface and a metallurgical bond is achieved. The parent metals employed in this study is
commercial pure aluminum plate and SA106 Gr.B Steel Tube. The chemical composition of the
parent metals are shown in Table.1 and 2.
Table 1 Chemical composition of Aluminum plate
Elements
V Si Fe Cu Mg Mn Ti Zn Cr Al
Wt% 0.0001 0.0006 0.0007 0.0013 0.0021 0.0001 0.0001 0.0002 0.0001 Bal

Table 2 Chemical composition of SA106 Grade B steel tube

Elements
C Mn P S Si Cu Ni Cr Mo V Fe
Wt% 0.30 0.41 0.035 0.035 0.10 0.40 0.40 0.40 0.15 0.08 Bal

In the present study Tungsten alloy has been used as tool for FWTPET joints.. The
experiment has been conducted using 6 mm rolled plates of commercially pure aluminum and cut
into the required sizes (50 mm x 70 mm) by means of a power hacksaw. Similarly, steel tubes of 19
mm external diameters have been cut into required size (40 mm height). Then the tubes are fixed in
their respective holes with 2mm depth (without tube projection) and steel tube with 2mm projection
in tube plate. The assembly of the work piece is clamped on the machine table and the tool has been
fixed to the tool holder of the machine.
3. Results and Discussions
3.1 Joint Strength Test
The process variables considered in the present study are tool rotational speed, shoulder
diameter and pin clearance. The samples are welded according to L9 orthogonal array of Taguchi
method with three levels of process parameters and the exact process parameters are obtained from
genetic algorithm as 1400 rpm speed, 28mm tool shoulder diameter and 1mm pin clearance. The
validation experiment has been conducted using feasible input parameters and the joint strength has
been found and compared with and without steel tube projection is shown in the table 3.
Table 3 optimized results

Experimental values Tool Rotational Tool shoulder Pin clearance Joint strength
speed (rpm) diameter (mm) (mm) (MPa)

Genetic algorithm 1399 27.98 1.08 68.45

Sample welded without 1400 28 1 67.93

tube projection

Sample welded with 1400 28 1 70.45

tube projection

3.2 FWTPET Sample Welded Without Tube Projection

The appearance of the bond interfaces in the case of weld obtained with 2mm tube
projection is shown in Fig 3. In steel tube without projection (2mm depth in aluminum tube plate)
welding, the tool shoulder touches the aluminum plate and the plate undergoes severely plastic
deformation condition and a metal flow occupies the hole in the tube and forms a bond between
them.

Fig 3 Microstructure of sample welded without tube projection

During rotation, the tool shoulder touches the Aluminum plate and it undergoes plastically
deformed condition and forms a bond. The micrograph reveals that the metallurgical bonding
between tube and tube plate has been achieved. However some discontinuous are observed and this
is due to the fact that, the necessary heat has not been generated at the interface.
3.3 FWTPET Sample Welded With Tube Projection
The samples welded at optimized conditions with tube projection are investigated with
microstructure analysis. The microstructure of various zones of the sample welded with tube
projection is shown in the Fig.4.

Fig. 4 Microstructure of welded sample with tube projection

Fig4 shows the microstructure of the sample welded with tube projection and the
micrograph reveals that better bonding has been achieved between the tube and plate. In case of
sample welded with tube projection, the tool is in contact with the steel tube for longer time and
necessary heat has been generated in the tube. However, in this case the tube surface temperature
may exceed the melting temperature of aluminum and a continuous layer of fusion zone may be
formed at the joint interface. In the present study, the interface is continuous and appears as a single
line even at higher magnifications and a fusion zone is also observed along the aluminum side of
the bond interface. However, fusion zones are not observed in the joints obtained without tube
projection. The microstructure reveals the fine grained ferrites near the bond interface and this is
due to combined effect of severe plastic deformation and higher nucleation rate. In case of
explosive welding also, a straight bond with a continuous layer of fusion zone may forms at higher
collision velocity. The continuous layer is essentially an alloy composed of the two parent
materials. It is thought to be caused because of the instantaneous heat generated by the severe
plastic deformation encountered at the interface [5].
3.4 Hardness measurements
Hardness values were obtained using a micro indentation hardness tester with a load of
300g, and a loading time of 10s. The micro hardness plot of the sample welded with and without
steel tube projection is shown in the Fig. 5. The micro hardness plot reveals that hardness at the
interface is slightly higher in the sample welded with 2mm tube projection (98.6 Hv) when
compared to the sample welded without tube projection (55.6 Hv). In tube projection weld zone
have high hardness compare to the without projection. The zones near the weld interface shows in
the improvement in hardness due to the grain refinement and has high hardness values of both
Aluminum plate and steel tube.
 Fig. 5 comparison of hardness profile of FWTPET sample with and without tube projection
4. Conclusions
In the present study FWTPET process was used to join steel tube to aluminum tube plate
and a high quality and defect free weld joints have been obtained. The microstructure reveals that
grain refinement has occurred in the bond interface which leads to higher joint strength and
hardness. The interface of the sample welded with tube projection is excellent compare to that of
without tube projection. The formation of continuous layer at the interface leads to better bonding
between the dissimilar metals. The micro hardness plot reveals that hardness at the interface is
slightly higher in the sample welded with 2 mm tube projection (98.6 Hv) when compared to the
sample welded without tube projection (55.6 Hv).
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to acknowledge the financial support provided by the MHRD,
Government of India, and New Delhi for this work
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