Mechanical and Microstructural Characteristics of Rotary Friction Welded SS316L and Pure Copper with Added MWCNT Nano Additives

This study explores the novel design of geometric rubbing profiles on rotary friction welding for enhanced mechanical clamping in joining dissimilar alloys such as copper and stainless steel 316L. The clamping behavior of rubbing profiles could hold the yielding of the weld joint to a maximum level. An innovative approach to effective mixing of the weldment zone could be achieved through the definition of rubbing profiles. The effective dispersion of dissimilar metallic phases could be governed by the geometrical profile in achieving the intermetallic SS-Cu phase. Variations were made in welding parameters like tool rotational speed, upset pressure, upset time, friction pressure, and friction time to find the appropriate process for the four different rubbing profiles, namely helical fluke, plus, cylindrical, and flat to achieve a reduction in micro and macro-structural defects with strong weld nugget. Results show that helical fluke rubbing profiles were seen to have explicit values like ultimate tensile strength of 217 MPa (upset pressure), elongation of 9.8 % (upset pressure), and average hardness of 125 HV (friction pressure) at the weld nugget. Microstructural characteristics prove that the formation of IMCs through grain size reduction such as cementite increases the Vickers hardness of the weldment.