Abstract
Co-based alloy tools having the γ/γ’ microstructure with distribution of hard phases hardly experience large deformation and severe wear during friction stir welding (FSW) of ferritic steels at the welding temperature lower than the γ’-solvus. Further examinations implied that the tool wear were suppressed more effectively on Co-based alloy tool with larger volume fraction of hard phases with average size of 2 to 5 μm. In this study, Co-based alloy tools with different volume fractions of hard phases were designed, and effect of hard phases on tool wear was examined in FSW of 0.45% carbon steel. FSW trial showed that the tool wear decreased with increasing volume fraction of hard phases. At the volume fraction of 36%, the wear volume was successfully reduced to two third of that of the tool exhibiting the good wear resistance in a previous study. This study showed a possibility that the tool performance is effectively enhanced by further microstructure optimization of the tool material.
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