Journal of Materials Processing Technology 212 (2012) 402–407

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Journal of Materials Processing Technology

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Tool steel and copper coatings by friction surfacing – A thermography study

K. Prasad Rao a,∗ , A. Veera Sreenu a , H. Khalid Rafi a , M.N. Libin b , Krishnan Balasubramaniam b
a
Materials Joining Laboratory, Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600 036, India
b
Machine Design Section, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600 036, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Infrared thermography was used to record thermal profiles during friction surfacing. Thermal profiles
Received 6 August 2011 for different sets of consumable rod/substrates (tool steel/steel; copper/steel and copper/copper) were
Received in revised form recorded and analyzed. The thermal profiles showed distinct stages of plastic deformation with respect
30 September 2011
to temperature. The mechanism of bonding or no-bonding was discussed based on thermal profile data.
Accepted 30 September 2011
It was found that a metallurgically bonded coating can be obtained if the flow stress of the plasticized
Available online 7 October 2011
material is comparable with the localized stress developed due to axial loading.
© 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords:
Infrared thermography
Solid state coating
Thermal profile
Friction surfacing

1. Introduction
Friction surfacing is a useful technique of depositing solid state
coatings on substrates for obtaining enhanced surface properties.
It involves an initial rubbing of a consumable rod against a flat sub-
strate for a definite dwell time followed by a relative movement of
rod and substrate (Fig. 1).
Earlier studies carried out by Madhusudhan Reddy et al. (2009)
and Khalid Rafi et al. (2010a,b) showed few metallic rod/substrate
combinations that resulted in friction surfaced coatings while the
studies carried out by Arunsankar (2010) on few other metallic
combinations could not produce any successful coatings. Further,
the study by Liu et al. (2008) on understanding the mechanism
during friction surfacing was limited to material transfer and the
bonding mechanisms of friction surfaced coatings are not yet
clearly probed. It is necessary to understand the thermal phenom-
ena that take place during the entire process of coating formation
as it can influence the coating formation. However, measuring
temperatures at the interface of rotating components will have
practical difficulties if conventional methods are applied. Infrared
(IR) thermography is a convenient, non-contact method for mea-
surement of temperature fields for friction surfacing.
The IR camera measures temperature variations based on irradi-
ance of an object surface. IR camera has been used for temperature
measurement in the past for different domains. Thomann and Frisk
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 44 22574760; fax: +91 44 22574752.
E-mail addresses: kpr@iitm.ac.in, jyothipr@gmail.com (K. Prasad Rao).
(1968) used IR camera for heat-transfer studies, Matte et al. (2009),
Huang et al. (2007), Bruggemann et al. (2000), and Mathieu et al.
(2006) utilized the non-contact feature of IR camera for welding
and fatigue studies, Pastor et al. (2008) used it for non-destructive
flaw testing, and Marinetti and Vavilov (2010) studied different
aspects of corrosion using IR camera. Reported studies in open lit-
erature on thermal profiles during friction surfacing process are
limited (Meola and Carlomagno, 2004; Khalid Rafi et al., 2011). In
this work, it is aimed to study the feasibility of obtaining surface
coatings of various ferrous and non-ferrous rods on different sub-
strates. It was also aimed to understand the coating mechanisms
by recording thermal profiles generated at the coating/substrate
interface by using infrared thermography.
2. Experimental work
Consumable rod/substrate combinations studied are as follows:
(a) tool steel D2 rod on steel substrate (‘D2 is a tool steel grade des-
ignated by AISI-SAE containing high carbon and high chromium),
(b) commercially pure (CP) copper rod on steel substrate and (c)
CP Cu rod on CP Cu substrate. Dimension of the substrate was
300 mm × 200 mm × 10 mm; and the consumable rod was: 15 mm
diameter and 100 mm length. The range of parameters (Axial load:
2–20 kN; rod rotation speed (RPM); 100–2500 RPM; dwell time
30–80 s) used in earlier studies (Bedford et al., 2001; Sreenu, 2010),
were applied for the above consumable rod/substrate combina-
tions. Chisel test was carried out to find any de-bonding at the
interface between coating and substrate. Chisel test gives first hand
information about the coating integrity. A chisel was hammered

0924-0136/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2011.09.023
 K. Prasad Rao et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 212 (2012) 402–407 403

Fig. 1. Different stages in friction surfacing.

Fig. 2. Experimental set up – IR camera, rod and substrate.

against the small vedge which formed at the region where the coat- software. For the current study, a calibration file having a tem-
ing gets completed. If the coating was not adequately bonded then perature range of 100–1450 ◦ C (and an integration time of 30 ␮s)
the coating would come off from the substrate during hammering. was used. Therefore, in the current study, the starting temperature
Though the chisel test does not give any quantitative information, recorded was 100 ◦ C.
it can give a basic understanding about the mechanical properties
of the coating. For tool steel D2 rod on steel and CP Cu rod on CP
Cu, parameters resulting in metallurgical bonding based on chisel
test were selected. Button shaped coatings were made for infrared
thermography study.
Surface temperature profiles generated at the rod/substrate
interface were recorded using an infrared camera (Fig. 2). The
infrared camera used in this study was calibrated to measure
temperature between 100–1450 ◦ C. The detail of infrared camera
calibration is available in an earlier published work done by Khalid
Rafi et al. (2011). The same calibration method was adopted and
the same IR camera was used for this work. The calibrated IR cam-
era was placed at an appropriate distance (0.5 m) from surfacing
zone and focused to the surfacing region. The CEDIP JADE Mer-
cury Cadmium Telluride (MCT) camera was operated in the LWIR
(Long Wave Infrared) band (7.9–9.7 ␮m) with a focal plane array
of 320 × 240 detectors (each detector is a pixel of size 25 ␮m) and
a pixel pitch of 30 ␮m. The mean Noise Equivalent Temperature
Difference (NETD) of the camera was 20 mK.
Once the field of view was set, the IR camera was subjected to
Non-Uniformity Correction (NUC). This was done by exposing the
detectors first to a black body at room temperature and then to a
uniformly heated plate. This procedure ensures same energy levels
for all the detectors before the start of the experiment. The thermal
images were captured as continuous frames. Thermal images can be
acquired rapidly and a rate of 200 frames/s (fps) was used to ensure
sufficient sampling of the temperature values. The higher frame
rate effectively nullifies the diffusivity effects at higher operating
temperatures. An integration time (the time required for processing
individual frames) of 30 ␮s was set and lens of focal length 25 mm
was used to capture the thermal images. The image data can be
calibrated and expressed as location dependent temperature.
There are different calibration files available for measurement
Fig. 3. (a) Interface microstructure between D2 coating and steel substrate – SEM-
of different temperature ranges and integration times for captur-
BSE. (b) Rubbed surface of tool steel D2 rod compared to the original rod surface –
ing thermal images using LWIR camera and processing by Altair rough surface indicates metal transfer and coating formation.
404 K. Prasad Rao et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 212 (2012) 402–407

Fig. 4. Thermal profile obtained from the interface of tool steel D2 rod/steel substrate and the thermal image (left) obtained at 65 s.

3. Results and discussion increase in the torque and “sticking and slipping” phenomena
may take place where the surface asperities will get welded
1. Tool steel D2 consumable rod on low carbon steel substrate and be broken. To overcome the effect of the torque, the sys-
Coatings could be obtained with tool steel D2 rod on low tem has to generate large amount of energy leading to severe
carbon steel substrate (Fig. 3) in a wide range of process param- plastic deformation at the interface. The heat generates in
eters (10–20 kN and 600–1600 RPM). Fig. 3a shows interface a much faster rate than heat dissipation, resulting to a con-
microstructure between coating and substrate. Defect free and dition of adiabatic heating. The sudden rise in temperature
continuous bonding was observed. Chisel test showed no de- during Stage 2 can be attributed to viscous heat dissipation
bonding at the interface of coating/substrate. The rubbed surface due to plastic deformation (Meola and Carlomagno, 2004).
of tool steel D2 rod on steel is shown in Fig. 3b. It showed a very Once the temperature reached to 900 ◦ C, the friction compo-
rough surface indicating metal transfer from the tip of the rod nent of heat generation get diminished and gradually taken
forming a coating on the substrate. Fig. 4 shows typical thermal
profile (time–temperature plot) obtained during coating forma-
tion. A thermal image obtained at a time period of 65 s is also
shown on the left side of Fig. 4.
Four stages were noticed in the above thermal profile.
1. Stage 1 consisted of a slow and gradual increase in temper-
ature (from room temperature to ∼200 ◦ C) with respect to
dwell time (0 to ∼18 s).
2. Stage 2 consisted of sudden rise in temperature from ∼200 to
900 ◦ C (18 to ∼22 s).
3. Stage 3 consisted of gradual rise in temperature from 900 to
∼1075 ◦ C (22 to ∼45 s).
4. Stage 4 attains a steady state temperature (∼1075 ◦ C) during
which the coating starts forming (45 s onwards).
First stage commences as soon as the two metal surfaces
come into the contact. The initial friction between the surfaces
will be playing an important role in the temperature gener-
ation during Stage 1. The heat generation during this stage
is predominantly decided by the coefficient friction between
consumable rod and the substrate. Higher the coefficient of
friction (COF), higher the rate of heat generation.
After a gradual increase in temperature (from room tem-
perature to 200 ◦ C) during Stage 1, the temperature increased
to ∼900 ◦ C during Stage 2. At the end of Stage 1, the oxide
layers would have been removed from the faying surfaces
leading to the formation of two nascent surfaces which comes
into an intimate contact. The interface experiences a sudden Fig. 5. Rubbed end of CP Cu rod-smooth surface indicating no metal transfer.
 K. Prasad Rao et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 212 (2012) 402–407
Fig. 6. Thermal profile obtained from the interface of CP Cu rod/steel substrate and the thermal image (left) obtained at 15 s.
over by the viscous heat dissipation (Stage 3). This gradual
transition from friction and viscous heat dissipation to com-
plete viscous heat dissipation for heat generation is depicted
by the slope of the temperature profile at Stage 3 (between
900 and 1075 ◦ C). When the peak temperature of 1075 ◦ C was
attained, the process reached a steady state value which can
be termed as Stage 4 where coating was formed. The plas-
tic deformation initiated during Stage 2 attains a steady state
during Stage 4 with continuous generation of heat till the end
of the process.
2. CP Cu rod on low carbon steel substrate
In the entire range of process parameters used, CP Cu rod
could not be coated on low carbon steel substrate. The rubbed
surface of CP Cu on steel is shown in Fig. 5. It can be noted that
the rubbed surface of rod deformed at the tip and formed flash
rather than coating. The smooth surface at the rubbing end of
the rod is another indication that there was no metal transfer
from rod to the substrate. This was in contrast to the rubbed
surface of tool steel D2 rod (Fig. 3b), which was very rough
indicating metal transfer and coating formation.
The thermal profile for this system (obtained with 6 kN load
and 1500 RPM) is shown in Fig. 6 with a thermal image taken
at 15 s. The thermal profile showed three different stages, sim-
ilar to that of tool steel D2 coating on steel substrate. During
Stage 1, the temperature of the rod tip rose to ∼600 ◦ C in ∼14 s.
During the end of Stage 2, peak temperature of ∼975 ◦ C was
attained within a short time of ∼1.5 s. During Stage 3, the sys-
tem attained a steady state value of ∼975 ◦ C. Despite such a
high temperature attained, CP Cu coating could not be formed
on steel substrate. This could be attributed to the sudden
405
reduction in the flow stress of copper at elevated tempera-
ture, which is less than that of the localized stress due to axial
load. At the maximum temperature obtained during Stage 3
(975 ◦ C), CP Cu will have very low flow stress (ASM Handbook,
2006). When the material does not exhibit enough flow stress
to involve in “stick and slip mechanism”, it easily deforms at
these applied axial load and coating will not form.
3. CP Cu rod on CP Cu substrate
In contrast to friction surfacing of CP Cu on steel substrate,
a coating could be obtained when CP Cu rod was friction
surfaced over CP Cu substrate though in a narrow range of
process parameters (6 kN axial and 1500 RPM). Fig. 7a shows
interface microstructure between CP Cu coating and CP Cu
substrate. Continuous bonded area with no gross defects was
observed. No de-bonding was noticed at the interface of coat-
ing/substrate after the chisel test. The rubbed surface of CP
Cu rod is shown in Fig. 7b. The rough surface of the rubbed
surface indicates that there was a metal transfer from the tip
of the rod forming a coating on the substrate.
The thermal profile obtained is shown in Fig. 8 with a ther-
mal image taken at 19 s. During Stage 1, the heat generation
was lower compared to previous systems. The maximum tem-
perature generated was ∼120 ◦ C. During Stage 2, like previous
cases, there was an increase in temperature reaching ∼700 ◦ C.
The steady state temperature of 700 ◦ C was maintained dur-
ing Stage 3. Unlike the friction surfacing of CP Cu rod over
steel, the temperature did not exceed 700 ◦ C during Stage 3.
This could be attributed primarily to the high thermal con-
ductivity of both consumable rod and the substrate materials.
The rapid heat conduction through both the rod and substrate
406 K. Prasad Rao et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 212 (2012) 402–407

Table 1
Steady state temperature during Stage 3 and forging temperatures of rod materials.

Rod-substrate Steady state temp Forging temp of rod Hot extrusion coating Coating formation
(◦ C) material (◦ C) (ASM formation temp of rod material
Handbook, 2006) (◦ C) (ASM Handbook, 2006)

D2 steel on steel 1075 1050–1100 – Formed

CP Cu on steel 975 730–845 800–950 Not formed
CP Cu on CP Cu 700 730–845 800–950 Formed

materials would have resulted in avoiding temperature build
up at the interface. CP Cu will exhibit sufficient flow stress
to cause shearing of plasticized layers and formation of sur-
face coating at this temperature (ASM Handbook, 2006). The
shearing of rubbed surface after the surfacing process can be
seen from Fig. 6b indicating metal transfer.
Fig. 7. (a) Interface microstructure between CP Cu coating and CP Cu substrate –
SEM-BSE. (b) Rubbed surface of CP Cu rod-rough surface indicating metal transfer
forming coating.
3.1. Mechanism of friction surfaced coating formation
Whether or not consumable rod forms a coating on the substrate
depends on it’s flow stress. The flow stress of the consumable rod
is a function of local strain rate and temperature (ASM Handbook,
2006). Flow stress decreases significantly with both strain rate
and temperature. Friction surfacing process involves relatively high
strain rates. Based on the study by Johnson et al. (1983) on response
of various metals to large torsional strains over a large range of
strain rates, the strain rate in friction surfacing is expected to be
about 60 s−1 . During friction surfacing process relatively high tem-
peratures are generated, close to that of melting points (Khalid Rafi
et al., 2011). The hot plasticized metal that lies in between the rod
and substrate in friction surfacing is similar to a hot metal that is
subjected to hot extrusion or hot forging. Friction stir welding is
often described as a combination of in situ extrusion and forging
process (Chang et al., 2004). If the flow stress of the hot plasticized
material becomes too low due to higher temperature, the excessive
plasticization of the material will result in an uncontrolled defor-
mation. Therefore, both in hot extrusion or hot forging processes,
the temperature of material is maintained in a particular range for
controlled deformation to take place.
In the friction surfacing technique also, the hot plasticized layer
is compressed in between the rod and substrate. In this case too,
a large reduction in flow stress due to exposure to very high tem-
peratures is undesirable to get a surface coating. The plasticized
material at the interface should posses some amount of flow stress,
which should at least match with the localized stress experienced
due to axial loading. If the flow stress of plasticized material is low
for a given temperature, then it extrudes out in the form a flash.
If the flow stress is comparable with the localized stress experi-
enced, the material will experience some resistance to plastic flow
and will interact with the substrate to form a coating.
In the current study it was found that tool steel D2 coating could
be coated on steel substrate with ease, because at the steady state
temperatures obtained (1075 ◦ C), D2 steel had enough flow stress
to offer resistance to plastic flow and interact with the substrate to
form a coating. However, CP Cu could not form a coating on steel
substrate. This can be attributed to high temperature that was gen-
erated (∼975 ◦ C), where flow stress of CP Cu will be relatively low
offering no resistance to plastic flow. When CP Cu substrate was
used in place of steel substrate, temperature at the interface could
be maintained at ∼650 ◦ C and it had enough flow stress to offer
resistance to plastic flow and formed a coating. Therefore, it can be
inferred that the primary requirement for obtaining a friction sur-
faced coating is to maintain sufficient flow stress for the plasticized
material. Incidentally, the steady state temperature attained during
Stage 3 of systems where coating was obtained (D2 steel coating
on steel as well as CP Cu on CP Cu), was close to the forging and hot
extrusion temperatures of the materials (Table 1) (ASM Handbook,
2006).
Therefore, the study indicates that by maintaining the steady
state temperature during Stage 3 close to that of the rod material
hot extrusion or hot forging temperatures, various coatings can be
obtained. Methods can be adopted to maintain the flow stress with
a prior knowledge of deformation temperatures.
 K. Prasad Rao et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 212 (2012) 402–407
Fig. 8. Thermal profile obtained from the interface of CP Cu rod/Cp Cu substrate and the thermal image (left) obtained at 19 s.
4. Conclusions
1. Under the experimental conditions used, metallurgically bonded
friction surfaced coatings of tool steel (D2) on steel substrate and
CP Cu on CP Cu substrates could be obtained.
2. 4 stages were noticed in the IR thermal profiles obtained during
friction surfacing.
a) Stage 1 consisted of a slow and gradual increase in tempera-
ture with respect to dwell time.
b) Stage 2 consisted of a sudden jump in temperature with in a
very short dwell time followed by gradual rise in temperature
(Stage 3).
c) Stage 4 consisted of steady state temperature during which
coating formed/not formed.
3. Under the applied experimental parameters, there seems to
be a relation between the feasibility of coating formation and
the steady state temperature during Stage 3.
4. It was found that a metallurgically bonded coating can be
obtained if the flow stress of the plasticized material is compa-
rable with the localized stress developed due to axial loading.
5. By maintaining the steady state temperature during Stage 3
close to that of the rod material hot extrusion or hot forging
temperature, various coatings can be obtained.
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial help rendered
by Naval Research Board, DRDO, Government of India in supporting
this work.
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