Efficiency of dissimilar friction welded 1045 medium carbon steel and 316L austenitic stainless steel joints

This study investigated the effects of frictional welding parameters on the microstructure and mechanical properties of dissimilar steel materials, namely, AISI 1045 medium carbon steel and AISI 316L austenitic stainless steel. The welded joints were produced by changing the forging pressure while the friction pressure, friction time, forging time and rotational speed were kept constant to achieve a constant range of temperature (780–800 °C). Experimental results showed that when the forging pressure increases, the hardness value of the weld interface increases whereas the tensile strength decreases. The hardness profiles also indicated that the welds exhibited higher hardness numbers than the two base metals. The highest weld joint efficiency obtained was 90% while the lowest was 63%. The joints failed in the thermo mechanical affected zone on the 316L austenite stainless steel side. Scanning electron microscopy attached with energy dispersive spectroscopy was used to analyse the fracture surface in the tensile test.