Nonuniformity in Mechanical Properties of Linear Friction Welded Mild Steel Joint

Mild steel was successfully joined by linear friction welding. Grain size at peripheral region was coarser than that at the other zones of the weld interface, which had no significant effect on microhardness. The local tensile properties were considerably decreased when oxides or lack of bonding appeared at the interface. Ductile fracture dominated the fracture mode for all joints. Variation in local tensile properties could be relieved under a medium friction pressure, a relatively high amplitude with a sufficient friction time. It was attributed to the facts that plastic metal layer of joint became uniform to some extent and interfacial defects were eliminated. The standard deviation of plastic metal layer thickness (χp) could be used to describe the combined effects of welding parameters on joint integral performance. It was found that the standard deviation of plastic metal layer thickness showed a strong inverse correlation with the joint integral performance. Well-formed and defect-free joints exhibiting 90% of the base metal tensile strength could be produced when processing at a frequency of 20 Hz with a friction pressure of 103 MPa or 155 MPa, an amplitude of 2.5 mm and a friction time of at least 4 s.