Design and construction of a friction welding equipment with laser assistance for the joint of AISI 1045 steel and aluminum 2017-T4 shafts

Abstract

Welding metal alloys with dissimilar melting points make conventional welding processes not feasible to be used. Friction welding, on the other hand, has proven to be a promising technology. However, obtaining the welded joint’s mechanical properties with characteristics similar to the base materials remains a challenge. In the development of this work a laser-assisted rotary friction welding equipment was designed and manufactured. To provide the rotary movement, a conventional 3 HP power lathe was used, and a hydraulic pressure system was designed to generate friction, which applies axial force through a simple effect cylinder to generate the union between the base materials. In the implemented equipment, AISI 1045 steel shaft joints were made with 2017-T6 aluminum, the welded joints were metallurgically evaluated, emphasizing the chemical composition at the weld interface. For the microstructure characterization, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersion spectroscopy (EDS) and glow discharge optical emission spectrometry (GDOES) were used to measure the initial composition of the materials that were welded. The results obtained show an adequate adhesion between the base materials, denoting the usefulness of the equipment manufactured for the union of dissimilar materials.