Joining of stainless steel and copper materials

with friction welding

Mumin Sahin
Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Trakya University, Edirne, Turkey

Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate mechanical and metallurgical variations at interfaces of commercial austenitic-stainless steel and
copper materials welded by friction welding.
Design/methodology/approach – In this paper, austenitic-stainless commercial steel and copper materials are welded using the friction welding
method. The optimum parameters are obtained for the joints. The joints are applied to the tensile and micro-hardness tests. Then, micro- and
macro-photos of the joints are examined.
Findings – It is found that some of the welds show poor strength depending on some accumulation of alloying elements at the interface result of
temperature rise and the existence of intermetallic layers.
Research limitations/implications – It would be interesting to search about the toughness values and fatigue behaviour of the joints. It could be a
good idea for future work to concentrate on the friction welding of these materials.
Practical implications – Friction welding can be achieved at high-production rates and therefore is economical in operation. In applications where
friction welding has replaced other joining processes, the production rate has been increased substantially.
Originality/value – The main value of this paper is to contribute to the literature on friction welding of dissimilar materials.

Keywords Friction welding, Stainless steel, Copper

Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction
Friction welding can be achieved at high-production rates and
therefore is economical in operation. In applications where
friction welding has replaced other joining processes, the
production rate has been increased substantially.
When joining dissimilar metals such as copper and steel,
friction welding is of great importance in applications.
Welding is possible within the limited range of the welding
conditions although problems for welding exist because of
brittle intermetallic compounds and high-thermal
conductivity. To minimize the problems, the friction welding
parameters must be taken into consideration for strong welds.
Heat in friction welding is generated by conversion of
mechanical energy both into heat energy and visco-plastic
deformation work (energy) at the interface of the work pieces
during rotation under pressure. This visco-plastic deformation
work (energy) also produces heat energy via internal viscous
dissipation.
Various ferrous and non-ferrous alloys, which have circular
or non-circular cross-sections and, having different thermal
and mechanical properties, can easily be joined by the friction
welding method. Friction welding is classified as a solid-state
welding process where metallic bonding is produced at
temperatures lower than the melting point of the base metals.
Friction time, friction pressure, forging time, forging pressure
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and rotation speed are the principal welding variables in the
friction welding method (Vill, 1962).
In practice, friction welding is divided into two ways as
continuous drive friction welding and inertia friction welding
(Kinley, 1979; Fomichev, 1980). In the continuous drive friction
method shown in Figure 1, one of the components is held
stationary while the other is rotated at a constant speed (s). The
two components are brought together under axial pressure (Pf)
for a certain friction time (tf). Then, the clutch is separated from
the drive, and the rotary component is brought to a stop within
the braking time while the axial pressure on the stationary part is
increased to a higher upset pressure (Pu) for a predetermined
upset time (tu). Parameters of the method are shown in Figure 2.
Various studies on the effects of mechanical, thermal and
metallurgical properties of welded parts are obtained from
literature on the friction welding method.
Vill (1962), Kinley (1979) and Fomichev (1980) have
written studies on the friction welding set-ups and the
strength of the joints, and Imshennik (1973), Rich and
Roberts (1971) and Sluzalec (1990) wrote studies on the
thermal effects of welded parts in friction welding. Ellis
(1977) examined relations between “friction time-workpiece
diameter”, “loss of length-forging pressure” and “carbon
equivalent-hardness variation”. Yılbaş et al. (1995) and Şahin
et al. (1998) investigated the mechanical, metallurgical and
thermal properties of friction welded steel-aluminium,
steel-copper and aluminium-copper bars. Murti and
Sundaresan (1983) directed a study about parameter
optimisation in friction welding of dissimilar materials.

The author would like to thank Hema Industry/Çerkezköy and

Industrial Lubrication and Tribology
61/6 (2009) 319– 324 Mechanical Engineering Department of Trakya University, Edirne,
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 0036-8792] Turkey for their assistance in experimental and microstructure part of
[DOI 10.1108/00368790910988435] the study.

319
 Joining of stainless steel and copper materials
Mumin Sahin
Figure 1 Layout of continuous drive friction welding
5 6
1 2
3 4
Notes: 1. Motor; 2. Brake; 3. Rotating chuck; 4. Non rotating chuck; 5. Rotating
workpiece; 6. Non rotating workpiece; 7. Hydraulic cylinder
Figure 2 Parameters for continuous drive friction welding
Braking
Friction time (tf)
Parameters
Rotation speed (s)
pressure(Pu)
Friction pressure (Pf)
Torque
Shortening
Welding
Time
started
Nentwig (1996) investigated the effect of cross-section
differences of the components upon the joint quality of
friction welding and offered that friction pressure, upset
pressure and rotation speed must be changed in friction
welding of different cross-sections. Fabritsiev et al. (1998)
examined the irradiation resistance of DS copper stainless
steel joints fabricated by friction welding methods. Lee and
Jung (1993) investigated the effect of microstructure variation
on the Cu/CK45 carbon steel friction weld joint.
Then, Sahin and Akata (2003) made a study on joining of
plastically deformed steel (carburising steel) with friction
welding. Later, Sahin and Akata (2004) directed an
experimental study on friction welding of medium-carbon
steel and austenitic-stainless steel components. The same
author also directed various studies on friction welding of
austenitic-stainless steels (Sahin, 2005; 2007). Fu and Du
(2006) examined the effects of external electric field on
microstructure and property of friction welded joint between
copper and stainless steel. Jayabharath et al. (2007) directed a
study on the continuous drive friction welding of sintered
powder metallurgical steel and wrought copper parts.
Surface cleanliness in terms of contaminants, especially
grease, reduces the quality of joints. The cleanliness of the
parts must be considered as important as well. Therefore,
the ends of the parts were cleaned prior to the welding
process to minimize the effect of organic contamination in
the welding zone by acetone (Yılbaş et al., 1995). Then, the
present work was done in the light of previous studies. In this
study, austenitic-stainless steel and copper materials were
welded using the friction welding method. The optimum
parameters were obtained for the joints. The joints were then
applied to the tensile and micro-hardness tests. Following
this, micro- and macro-photos of the joints were examined.
Industrial Lubrication and Tribology
Volume 61 · Number 6 · 2009 · 319 –324
2. The experimental procedure
2.1 Material
In the experiments, AISI 304 austenitic-stainless steel and
copper materials were used. The composition of materials is
given in Tables I and II (Wegst, 1995).
2.2 Geometry of parts
7
The experiment specimens were machined from materials
according to geometry in Figure 3.
2.3 The experiment set-up
In the present study, an experimental set-up was designed and
constructed as a continuous drive method. Experimental
parts of the presented study were conducted using an
experimental set-up that was designed and constructed as a
continuous drive type. In addition, a solenoid valve and
electrical control circuit was designed and constructed to
Upsetting control of friction time and pressure in the set-up. Thus, these
(tu) supplied the control possibility of the experiments easily. The
Upsetting friction welding set-up is shown in Figure 4.
3. Selection of welding parameters using
statistical approach
When the statistician can suggest the experimental runs to be
made in a series of tests, data analysis can be quite
Welding
completed
straightforward. Often, however, an analysis must be carried
out on the results that have been accumulated as part of a test
program or as a series of related test programs and an
empirical predictive model must be constructed from the
results obtained. Terms for possible inclusion in the model
might involve not only the principal variables but also
variables such as cross products, squares, or other
combinations, or transformations, of the principal variables
(Sahin and Akata, 2003; Draper, 1981).
The basis of this approach is the assumption of a
simplified linear model for the optimisation parameter
h given by h ¼ b0 þ b1 x1 þ b2 x2 þ · · ·; where x1, x2, . . . , etc.
are the factors on which h depends and b0, b1, b2 . . . , etc.
represent the “true” values of the corresponding unknowns.
From the results of an experiment comprising a finite number
of trials, one can arrive at sample estimates of the coefficients,
b, which are then usually fitted into a linear regression
equation of the type y ¼ b0 þ b1x1 þ b2x2 þ · · ·, where y is the
response function and the bs are the “estimated” values of the
bs. In simple terms, each coefficient represents the influence
of the corresponding factor on the quality of the weld
expressed by the optimisation parameter.
The statistical analysis involves two steps: first, the
adequacy of the model is tested. A suitable method is based
Table I Chemical compositions of austenitic-stainless steel used in the
experiment
Tensile
strength
Material %C %P %S %Mn %Si %Cr %Ni (MPa)
AISI 304
(X5CrNi
1810) , 0.07 , 0.045 ,0.030 ,2.0 ,1.0 17-19 8.5-10.5 825
Source: Wegst (1995)
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Mumin Sahin Volume 61 · Number 6 · 2009 · 319 –324

Table II Chemical compositions obtained using chemical analysis of copper used in the experiment
Tensile
strength
Copper %Sn %Pb %Zn %P %Mn %Fe %Ni %Si %Mg %Al %Bi %S %Sb %Cu (MPa)
0.00222 ,0.00200 ,0.00100 0.00137 ,0.00050 0.0381 ,0.00100 0.00745 0.00376 0.00500 ,0.00050 0.00251 ,0.00200 99.93 300

Figure 3 Parts used in the experiments

y ¼ 2346:079 þ 6:545 £ x1 þ 6:026 £ x2
d1 = 10 (mm) d2 = 10 (mm)
T, s (rpm) Later, parameters having the least error using the method of
Pf (MPa), tf (sec)
least squares were taken as the optimum welding parameters.
The optimum welding conditions are given in Table IV.
Subsequently, various tests were applied to the welded
parts. The tests are given as tensile tests, micro-hardness tests
Lathe
and metallurgical tests below.
chuck
Copper Austenitic-stainless steel
4. The experimental results and discussion
Figure 4 Continuous drive friction welding set-up
4.1 The tensile tests
Work-pieces Sliding guide
Hydraulic First, the optimum parameters such as the ones shown in
Drive group Table IV were found using statistical analysis for the welded
1 parts. Later, many parts were machined and these parts, using
the optimum parameters were welded. The effects of friction
2 time and friction pressure on the strength of the joints were
Chuck Clamps
examined in welding of equal diameter parts. In experiments,
Clutch Bearings T upset time was kept constant. The strengths of the joints were
Friction 3 P T
pressure determined by tensile tests, and the results were compared
control with those of fully machined joints. The tensile strengths of
Upset the joints were estimated as dividing the ultimate loads by an
M: Motor
P: Pressure pressure area of 10 mm’s diameter. Relation obtained between the
P T
control tensile strength versus the friction time and friction pressure is
T: Tank exit
1: Return valve M
graphically shown in Figures 5 and 6.
2: Pressure indicator
3: Solenoid valve Table IV Parameters used in the friction welding experiments
Oil tank
Friction Friction Upset Upset
Aluminium, AISI 304, time, pressure, time, pressure,
on the Fischer or F ratio, which can be used to confirm if the d1 (mm) d2 (mm) tf (s) Pf (MPa) tu (s) Pu (MPa)
terms in the assumed linear function are statistically
significant. The second step is to obtain optimal estimates 10 10 8.5 75 20 160
of the regression coefficients for the significant factors, which
may be done using the method of least squares (Murti and
Sundaresan, 1983; Sahin and Akata, 2003). Figure 5 Relationship between tensile strength versus friction pressure
Parameter optimisation was carried out using factorial design
Stainless-steel and copper joints
of experiments. The two factors chosen were friction time and
(d = 10 mm, – d = 10 mm)
friction pressure. The other parameters such as upset time, (tf = 8.5 sec, Pu = 150 MPa, tu = 20 sec)
upset pressure and rotational speed were maintained constant.
250
Experimental results for factors are given in Table III.
First, optimal estimates of regression coefficients were
obtained using the method of Fisher ratio. The resulting 200
Tensile strength (MPa)

equation is also given below:

150
Table III Experimental results for factors
Friction pressure, X1 Friction time, X2 Tensile strength
100
Trial No. (MPa) (s) (MPa)
1 54 8.5 30 50
2 66 8.5 203.8
3 75 8.5 223
4 75 6 143 0
0 20 40 60 80 100
5 75 12 190
Friction pressure (Pf-MPa)

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Mumin Sahin Volume 61 · Number 6 · 2009 · 319 –324

Figure 6 Relationship between tensile strength versus friction time
Stainless-steel and copper joints
(d = 10 mm, – d = 10 mm)
(Pf = 75 MPa, Pu = 150 MPa, tu = 20 sec)
250
in the parent metals and interface region of the joints are
shown in Figures 9-12.
As it is shown in Figures 7 and 8, we see that the axial
shortening in copper side is much more than that in the
stainless-steel side. The axial shortening values of the joints

Figure 9 Micro-photo of stainless-steel

200
Tensile strength (MPa)

150

100

50

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Friction time (tf-sec)

As the friction time and pressure for the joints are increased as
it is shown in Figures 5 and 6, the tensile strength of the joints
increases. But, the strength of the joints raises a peak in
Figures 5 and 6, and later, when the friction time and
pressure for the joints are increased, the tensile strength of the ×1,000
joints decreases. Here, we can see that the maximum strength
obtained in the joints is about 75 per cent that of copper parts
having the weakest strength (ASM, 1983). Figure 10 Micro-photo of copper

4.2 Microstructure of welded parts

As regards joints, the photo and the macro-photo of the joint
is shown in Figures 7 and 8. Then, the microstructure-photos

Figure 7 Photo of joint

Stainless-
steel Copper

×1,000
×3

Figure 11 Micro-photo of interface region in joints

Figure 8 Macro-photo of joint

Copper Stainless- Stainless-

steel steel
side
Copper
side

×3 ×50

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Mumin Sahin Volume 61 · Number 6 · 2009 · 319 –324

Figure 12 Micro-photo of interface region in joints Figure 14 Hardness distribution on the horizontal distance of joints
Stainless steel (AISI 304) - copper
(d = 10 mm, –d = 10 mm)
Stainless-
steel Welding interface
Copper side 300
side Steel Copper
275
side side
250
225

Vickers hardness (HV03)

200
175
150
125
x 1,000
100
change between 8.0 and 8.3 mm. However, the stainless steel 75
was almost never deformed because the melting temperature of Base 50 Base
copper material is lower than that of stainless-steel. Therefore, material HAZ zone material
25
the weld flash consists of copper material at the interface.
0
The microstructure of the base metal consists of austenitic
grain structure. There are in relatively small melting and –4 –3 –2 –1 0 1 2 3 4
heat-affected zones developing at the interface of joints. The Horizontal distance (mm)
widths of the melted zone and heat affected zones are about
0.2 mm and 4.5 mm, respectively. The heat-affected zone in
copper side having a higher thermal diffusivity is wider than Figure 15 Hardness distributions along the vertical distance for
that in steel side. different horizontal distances of joints
While no significant variation is observed in the grain size
on the steel side, small grains in the copper side indicate Stainless-steel and copper (d = 10 mm, – d = 10 mm)
hardening. Copper exhibited equalized grains and dispersion Horizontal distance 0.5 mm from joint centre
of Cu2O particles. Constituent elements of both materials had Horizontal distance 1 mm from joint centre
Horizontal distance 1.5 mm from joint centre
interdiffused through the weld interface, and some Horizontal distance 2 mm from joint centre
intermetallic compounds were formed at the weld interface. Horizontal distance 2.5 mm from joint centre
Horizontal distance 3 mm from joint centre

4.3 Hardness variations of welded parts 300

The strength of the joints is related to the hardness variation Steel side 280
within the HAZ. Hardness variation was obtained using 300 g 260
load by Vickers micro-hardness testing and measuring 240
locations are shown in Figure 13. The hardness variations 220
Vickers hardness (HV03)

in horizontal distance and vertical distance to the centre in the 200

welding zone of the joints are shown in Figures 14 and 15.
180
Micro-hardness test results on the horizontal distance of
160
joints are shown in Figure 14. It can be seen that around the
interface, the hardness of the copper increases slightly. 140
As it is shown in Figure 15, the hardness values along 120
100 Copper side
the vertical distance for different horizontal distances on the
stainless-steel side of the joints is higher according to the 80
copper side as it is advanced from the interface both to the end 60
of the parts and the base metals. It can be considered that 40
different thermal diffusivity of materials and intermetallic 20
layer existing at the interface cause hardness variations.
0
–5 –4 –3 –2 –1 0 1 2 3 4 5
Figure 13 Hardness test orientation
Vertical distance to centre of joints (mm)
Joint centre
AISI 304
Copper (midaxis) Vertical distance
to the centre 5. Conclusions
y .
The continuous drive friction welding method can be
suitably adopted for the production of different steels and
x Horizontal distance metals having different thermo physical properties and
to the centre strong welds can be achieved.
.
For optimising welding parameters, statistical analysis is
Welding flash
an economical method.

323
 Joining of stainless steel and copper materials
Mumin Sahin
.
Optimum welding parameters should be properly selected
in friction welding of similar and dissimilar materials.
. Tensile strengths for austenitic-stainless steel and copper
parts were considered as positive results when compared
with those of the base metals. Joint strength increased and
reached a maximum, and then decreased again as the
friction time and friction pressure increased. Sufficient
heat to obtain a strong joint could not be generated with a
shorter friction time. A longer friction time causes
the excess formation of an intermetallic layer. However,
some of the welds show poor strength depending on some
accumulation of alloying elements at the interface result of
temperature rise and the existence of intermetallic layers.
.
As it is shown in the micro-photos, it can be seen from the
figures that a maximum mixing of Fe into the Cu region
occurs not at the centre of the specimen. The absence of
an intermetallic layer at the centre is consistent with the
low-relative velocity in that region. It should be noted that
when friction welding, it is highly probable that the copper
oxide film is broken up, allowing the exposure of
uncontaminated surfaces as a result large amounts of
deformation at the interface occurring.
.
As it is shown from hardness figures, while the hardness of
the copper according to horizontal distance increases
slightly, that of the steel slight decreases. This is due to
the steel reaching the annealing temperature during the
welding process, which in turn reduces hardness on the
steel side. On the other hand, copper exhibits hardening
due to its high-thermal conductivity and fast cooling
behaviour.
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Corresponding author
Mumin Sahin can be contacted at: mumins@trakya.edu.tr