ISSN 1068-798X, Russian Engineering Research, 2007, Vol. 27, No. 2, pp. 103–107. © Allerton Press, Inc., 2007.
Original Russian Text © T.V. Brovman, 2007, published in Vestnik Mashinostroeniya, 2007, No. 2, pp. 68–72.
Creating Permanent Connections
with Plastic Deformation Procedures
T. V. Brovman
Tver State Engineering University, Tver, Russia
DOI: 10.3103/S1068798X07020098
The engineering industry has a great need for multi-
layer (bimetallic) units, consisting, for example, of
metallic sheets with high hardness and high wearing
ability (surface layers) and softer plastic material (inner
layers).
Sometimes there are other requirements for materi-
als; for example, one material should have a high heat
conductivity coefficient, another should ensure the
strength and inflexibility of parts, etc.
The need to obtain bimetallic units is great for
repairing rapidly wearing parts of automobiles, trac-
tors, and road machines. In practice, the process of res-
toration of a worn surface by its mechanical processing
and application of a new layer of wear-resistant mate-
rial is widely used. In some cases, metal connections
are obtained by a compression process [1, 2].
Under high pressure and heating, the microrough-
nesses existing on the connecting surfaces are
deformed plastically with oxide film destruction. As a
result, juvenile segments appear [3], creating the condi-
tions for diffusion and chemical interaction, especially
if materials or metals similar in composition are con-
nected. It is the “gripping” of surfaces that guarantees a
strong connection between parts.
In this paper, we do not examine electrolytic or other
procedures permitting application of thin coatings
(chromium, zinc, and nickel coating); we only examine
the process of applying a coating facing at least several
millimeters thick and that of connecting premanufac-
tured units having the same thickness.
Many procedures of coating facing are known. But,
in the majority of cases, it is necessary to use multilayer
facing as it is possible to obtain the needed properties
of the surface only after facing of the third to fifth layer.
It is difficult to guarantee continuity of a connection if
the next layer of metal is faced to the previous one with-
out its partial melting. In addition, cracks can appear on
the surface of the connecting materials. Thus, in facing
every next layer, it is necessary to melt the previous one
by a minimum of one third of its thickness [4]. It is
understandable that such a procedure requires an addi-
tional power supply, as well as additional time and
materials. In multilayer facing, the multiple melting
103
process increases power consumption still more, with it
being greater the thicker the facing layer.
The Institute of Welding of Russia has developed a
progressive facing procedure permitting facing of lay-
ers with several electrodes (wires); the arc does not
burn on all electrodes simultaneously, but moves from
one electrode to another [4]. The distributed heat source
allows the prescribed properties to be obtained even for
the first layer, and electrode oscillations, enlarging the
heating area, intensify the effect. Such a facing proce-
dure has been used for crusher bodies, blast furnace
facilities, rollers in facilities intended for continuous
casting of steel, etc. This facing procedure has a disad-
vantage: high residual stresses appear in metal layers.
Thus, it is necessary to carry out further thermal treat-
ment (drawback) for stress relaxation, which increases
power consumption still further. For large structures, it
is necessary to create furnaces with great sizes or spe-
cial facilities for local thermal processing. It is impos-
sible to put some technical facilities (converters, steel
teeming ladles, construction irons) into a furnace, and
local thermal treatment (in some cases, by vibrators)
can not always guarantee the uniformity of mechanical
properties and a great decrease in residual stresses.
During solidification, the faced metal tends to decrease
in length, and thus stretching cracks appear in the faced
layers.
In order to overcome this disadvantage, several pro-
cedures with preliminary loading of welding units
before or during the welding process were developed.
In [5], a procedure for manufacturing welding thin-
slab structures is described. The idea of this procedure
is the following: in order to decrease the residual
stresses, the welding edge is set with a displacement
equal to (3–4) × 10–3 of its length. The edge is loaded
with bending using rollers during welding.
At the Kramatorsk Research Institute of Machinery
Technology, a procedure permitting application of a
chrome coating to the copper plates of crystallizers was
successfully used. The plates were bent before coating
and after coating they were unloaded. In this way, resid-
ual stresses were formed in the coating. The stresses
had a sign opposite to that of the stresses appearing in
the plates during their operation. A considerable
104 BROVMAN

y
(a) (b)
α1 α4
y
α3
3 α2 3 P

x x
1 2 1 2

Fig. 1.

(a) (b)
2 y 3
1 y
1 2 3

x α1 α2 x

Fig. 2.

decrease (by two to three times) in the stresses acting in
the coating layer was achieved.
Procedures permitting connection of metals not by
welding, but by impulse loads appearing during explo-
sion, are also used [6–9]. Using these procedures, it is
possible to connect different metals and alloys, for
example, steel and titanium. Bimetallic sheets made of
copper and steel for crystallizers with a rectangular
cross section were manufactured in a South Ural engi-
neering plant by joining by explosion in special cham-
bers. In [8, 9], one can find a description of technolog-
ical processes permitting one to obtain bimetallic and
polymetallic sheet units by static and dynamic action.
To obtain a strong and reliable connection, it is nec-
essary to process carefully the contact surfaces: to con-
dition the surfaces, to remove oxides and paints from
them, and sometimes to degrease them. These opera-
tions complicate the technological process and signifi-
cantly increase the cost of a unit. If even one defect
appears on a surface with an area of 10–20 m2 or more,
it can cause crack development under alternating load-
ing and failure of the unit. Thus, a scale particle with
dimensions of tenths of a millimeter can form a small
discontinuity that is a stress concentrator. Such a defect
is a cause of crack development under alternating and
impact loading. In this case, the end part of the crack
continues to be a stress concentrator, which can
increase the area of separation of the two contact sur-
faces, and as a result the unit can fail with time.
Two units can be connected using the plastic defor-
mation process according to the scheme presented in
Fig. 1. Unit 1, made of a harder metal or alloy, has the
grooves 2 formed at angles α1–α4 relative to axis y,
which is a normal to the contact surface between units
1 and 3 (Fig. 1a). The position of connecting units is
shown before their joint deformation. In this example,
the contact surface is parallel to axis x. Then units 1 and
3 are compressed under loading P. The position of the
units after plastic deformation is shown in Fig. 1b. Unit
3 is made of a material with a lower yield stress than
unit 1, due to which it is subjected mainly to plastic
deformation. During the deformation process, a part of
the metal of unit 3 is squeezed into grooves 2. Figure 1
depicts a variant of connection in which two grooves
are oriented at angles α1 = α2 = 20° relative to axis y and
the other two, at angles α3 = α4 = –20°. It is possible to
choose different variants of process realization, but it is
important that the inclination angles of grooves 2 rela-
tive to axis y should be different (it is better if they have
different signs).
Figure 2a depicts a variant of formation of a bime-
tallic unit: sheet 1 is made of a softer material, whereas
grooves 2 are made in sheet 3 of a harder metal. After
joint compression of units 1 and 3, grooves 2 are filled
partially by the material of sheet 1 and a strong perma-

RUSSIAN ENGINEERING RESEARCH Vol. 27 No. 2 2007

 CREATING PERMANENT CONNECTIONS WITH PLASTIC DEFORMATION PROCEDURES 105

y (a) (b)
2 4 5 6 y
2 4 5 6

x x
1 3 7 1 3 7

Fig. 3.

nent connection is formed. Figure 2 depicts two
grooves with inclination angles α1 and α2; here, α1 =
−α2 (i.e., the angles are equal in modulus and opposite
in sign). Unit 3 can be cast of, for example, chilled cast
iron, which is reasonable to use for units operating for
wearing. The presented procedure guarantees tight cou-
pling, which is difficult to realize by other methods: the
effect of an explosion on iron can crack it, and welding
iron and steel units is also problematic.
Sometimes it is necessary to form a three-layer unit
with stronger external sheets and a softer (tough) core.
In this case, sheets 1 and 2 made of stronger metal
(Fig. 3) are placed on each side of sheet 5 with less
strength and inclined grooves are made in them:
grooves 3 and 4 from one side of the axis of symme-
try y and 6 and 7, from the other side. When all the
sheets are compressed, plastic deformation occurs
(mainly sheet 5 is deformed) and, as a result, the unit
shown in Fig. 3b is formed.
Inclined grooves can be made by milling. The back-
fill depth can be assumed to be 0.6–1.0 of the groove
width; i.e., if the groove width is 10 mm, it is sufficient
if it is filled to a depth of 6–10 mm. It is not necessary
to make grooves over the total thickness of the unit;
they can be smaller. Sometimes they can be made in the
z Plastic deformation can be realized by compression
form of a row of separate inclined apertures, which will
be partially filled after deformation (inclined plastic
rivets). One of the units with grooves can be cast. The
groove width over its depth can vary, which guarantees
tighter coupling between units, but requires greater
forces for deformation. Grooves with varying width
guarantee tighter coupling than grooves with parallel
walls (for example, grooves made normally to the con-
tact surface). If grooves are made with parallel walls,
the connection operates well on shear, but, if additional
forces normal to the inclined surface appear (especially
under impact and dynamic forces), the connection is
destroyed.
Inclined grooves guarantee an extremely strong
connection, protecting the connection units from dis-
placement relative to each other. If grooves are made
inclined not only to the contact surface but also to
axis z (Fig. 4), which is an axis of symmetry, the plastic
connection will be protected from displacement along
all three axes (x, y, and z). Inclined grooves can have a
curvilinear form, but it is difficult to obtain such a form
by machining processing. For example, Fig. 5 depicts
an inclined groove with a mean diameter of 50 mm and
an inclination angle relative to axis y of 20%. Such a
structure guarantees a strong connection between two
cylindrical units. Grooves can have the form of closed
and open curves.
or rolling of flat units; it is suitable to connect cylindri-
cal units with bandages by drawing or, if the unit length
is small, by pressing. In this case, inclined grooves can

x x

Fig. 4. Fig. 5.

RUSSIAN ENGINEERING RESEARCH Vol. 27 No. 2 2007

106 BROVMAN
4 bon and corrosion-resistant steels.
4 70% if composite units made of low-alloy steel and
5 high-speed steel are used [9]. If St3 steel–65G steel
3 1
A 6
B steels). But, if during casting from 65G steel inclined
2 C
7 E
D 6
1
Fig. 6.
be made on the external surface of the inner unit or on
the internal surface of the bandage. It is possible to heat
one or several units before their joint deformation,
under which at least one of the units should be plasti-
cally deformed.
The technology and a procedure for calculating the
force of deformation will be presented in detail in sub-
sequent publications. It should be pointed out that the
plastic deformation method has three main advantages:
(1) The method of plastic deformation of units with
filling of inclined grooves is better than the facing
method due to the fact that it requires less power con-
sumption (it is not necessary to heat the metal up to
melting) and it is not necessary to thermally treat the
units (in the majority of cases), as this method does not
cause the stresses appearing during crystallization after
facing.
(2) It is better than welding by pressure, explosion,
soldering, or gluing, as it is not necessary to carefully
prepare the contact surfaces: to degrease them, to clean
them carefully, and to remove oxide films, i.e., to create
juvenile segments on the contact surface. Expenditures
on surface preparation before unit connection are sev-
eral times less.
(3) The plastic deformation procedure guarantees
high strength and reliability of a connection, which
cracks only if the metal filling the inclined grooves
cracks. If the metals are connected over smooth sur-
faces, for example, by explosion or soldering, the
appearing crack spreads especially quickly under alter-
nating loading; it is impossible to stop it and even an
insignificant defect can cause cracking of the entire
unit. The plastic deformation method with filling of
inclined grooves is less sensitive to this phenomenon. If
there are several inclined grooves (four to eight), even
shearing and metal destruction in one of the grooves
does not lead to cracking of the whole unit.
In practice, it is possible to obtain composite units:
steel–aluminum, steel–lead, steel–nickel, steel–
cupronickel, steel–copper, etc. It is possible to use com-
RUSSIAN ENGINEERING RESEARCH
posite units made of different steels, for example, car-
It is possible to cut high-speed steel consumption by
bimetal material is used in the journal boxes of a diesel
locomotive, it enables a savings relative to the case
where the units are manufactured by casting from 65G
steel (this steel is welded with difficulty with other
grooves are made, this unit can be connected by the
plastic deformation method with another unit made, for
example, of carbon steel.
In Fig. 6, a widely used structure of a grader blade
is shown [10]. Insert 1 interacts with crushed material
2—soil, asphalt, conglomerate consisting of soil and
stones, etc.
Unit 1 is made of chilled cast iron and is connected
with steel units 3 and 4. Frequently, an additional
insert 5 is installed on the blade. This is done in order
to increase its lifetime.
After wearing of unit 1, the blade can be turned in
such a way that insert 5 starts to operate. In both inserts,
inclined grooves 6 and 7 are made. The grooves are par-
tially filled by material of unit 3 during its connection
with units 1 and 5 by the plastic deformation method.
The main operational wearing surface is surface A.
Grooves 6 and 7 are made in unit 3 over the total
lengths BC and DE, respectively, from different lateral
surfaces of the blade. This guarantees that unit 1 is not
displaced along the contact surface between units 1 and
3 over the blade length and is not displaced in the trans-
verse direction along the groove axes. The strength of
the connection obtained during plastic deformation of
unit 3 is higher (due to the fiber arrangement) than the
strength of the typical key connection obtained by
mechanical processing.
If insert 1 is made of chilled cast iron, the resistance
ability and lifetime of the blade increase greatly. In
practice, the wear-resistant iron grades IChKh4G7D,
IChKh28N2, IChKh12M, and IChKh28N2M2, among
others, are widely used. Thus, if pig iron contains 5–8%
chrome, it creates a carbide of cementite type. The wear
resistance of a unit made of such pig iron is consider-
ably higher than the wear resistance of units made of
steels of other types. The difference is especially clear
if surface A of the inserts rubs (see Fig. 6) not against a
metal, but against conglomerate, stones, chunks of min-
erals, alloy additives of refractories, etc. In [10], it is
recommended that blades be made with chilled cast
iron facing on the contact surface. This permits power
consumption to be decreased and the high stresses
appearing during the facing process to be overcome.
Units made of cast pig iron and having grooves with
opposite inclination angles can be connected with steel
plates made, for example, of steel 20 heated to 900–
1000°C by the plastic deformation method, for exam-
ple, by pressing. This method can also be used if it is
Vol. 27 No. 2 2007
 CREATING PERMANENT CONNECTIONS WITH PLASTIC DEFORMATION PROCEDURES
necessary to connect metals with nonmetallic materi-
als, for example, with polymers or concrete. If a poly-
mer has low plasticity and is not subject to plastic
deformation, it is possible to apply it (in the liquid state)
to the surface of a metallic plate in which inclined
grooves with different angles have been made. After
solidification, a strong connection between the two
materials is formed. Such technology can be used if it
is necessary to connect concrete with metals or units
formed by stone casting.
It is possible to apply to a metal surface with
inclined grooves a layer of another metal with the fac-
ing procedure, but for this purpose high power con-
sumption is required (to heat the metal to the melting
temperature; to melt the metal; and, during multilayer
facing, for partial secondary melting of every layer in
order to obtain a proper connection between the faced
layers).
CONCLUSIONS
(1) It is possible to obtain strong and reliable perma-
nent connections of composite units by the plastic
deformation method with filling of inclined grooves by
deformed material.
(2) If the groove inclination angles are equal in mod-
ulus and opposite in direction, it is possible to obtain a
connection strength higher by 30–40% than that for the
connection obtained by explosive welding. It is reason-
able to use groove inclination angles relative to the con-
tact surface equal to 15°–30°.
RUSSIAN ENGINEERING RESEARCH Vol. 27 No. 2
107
(3) It is possible to obtain strong and reliable con-
nections of metals of different types, for example,
steel–copper, pig iron–aluminum, etc. Such a connec-
tion has increased resistance to impacts and vibration.
REFERENCES
1. Aibinder, S.B., Avtomatichesk. Svarka, 1964, no. 5.
2. Chrukhina, K.E., Golovanenko, S.A., Masterov, V.A.,
and Kazakov, N.F., Bimetallicheskie soedineniya (Bime-
tallic Joints), Moscow: Metallurgiya, 1970.
3. Matveev, A.S., Tekhnol. Mashinostroen., 2006, no. 5.
pp. 43–45.
4. Glazov, V.V. and D’akov, A.N., Tekhnol. Mashino-
stroen., 2006, no. 5. pp. 38–42.
5. USSR Inventor’s Certificate 1 347 303.
6. Orlov, M.I., Pashukov, Yu.N., Atabekov, E.U., and
Krupin, A.V., Izv. Vysh. Uchebn. Zaved., Chern. Metal-
lurg., 1992, vol. 311, pp. 32–35.
7. Krupin, A.V., Solov’ev, V.I. Sheftel, N.I., and Kobe-
lev, A.G., Deformatsya metallov vzryvom (Metal Defor-
mation by Explosion), Moscow: Metallurgiya, 1975.
8. Kobelev, A.G., Potapov, I.N., and Kuznetsov, E.V., Tekh-
nologiya sloistykh metallov (The Technology of Sand-
wich-Type Metals) Moscow: Metallurgy, 1991.
9. Kuznetsov, E.V. and Kobelev, A.G., Plasticheskaya
deformatsya stalei i splavov (Plastic Deformation of
Steel and Alloys), Zinov’ev, A.V., Ed., Moscow: Mos-
cow Institute of Steel and Alloys, 1996, pp. 269–302.
10. Shneider, V.A. and Tischenko, N.A., Meliorativnye i
stroitel’nye mashiny (Reclamation and Construction
Materials), Moscow: Kolos, 1978.
2007