Induction preheating in FSW of Al-Steel combination

Abstract

A dissimilar joining of Al-steel has the upsides of both the metals in a solitary segment. This blend of materials has tremendous mechanical appropriateness. A considerable contrast in both the materials' thermal, physical, and metallurgical behavior is there, which declines their weldability as a grouping. The friction stir welding of industrially pure aluminum and mild steel was carried out in the current work. Several exertions have been stated in the literature about the preheating of harder metal to realize a better weld coalition. Prior methodologies were not operational because the heat generally gets spread in both the plates. Therefore, in the present experiments, specifically, the steel sheet is heated up utilizing equipment capable of selective induction heating. The preheating of the Al plate is not occurring in this process because of the non-magnetic properties of Al. Additionally, conventional friction stir welding (FSW) joints and newly established induction heat-assisted FSW (IHAFSW) joints were looked at using micrograph analysis and tensile testing. On tensile testing of the joint, it was discovered that the percentage extension is enhanced up to 34% in IHAFSW, which was a foremost challenge in conventional FSW joints. Separated steel fragments were lessened, and the joining face area was enlarged in the IHAFSW joint. Thus, a firm bond is formed with improved ductile properties.