RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT/RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT/RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT/RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT

The Effect of Joint Design and Volume Fraction

on Friction Welding Properties of
A360/SiC (p) Composites
For this friction welding system, the joint strength is best with 360Al-360Al and
worst with 360Al/10v-%-360Al/10v-% SiC particulate composites
BY C. B. LIN, C. K. MU, W. W. WU AND C. H. HUNG
ABSTRACT. This research uses a rotation
friction welding system with 360Al and
360Al/5v-%-10v-% (v-% = volume fraction percent) SiC particulate composites
utilizing both identical and different materials and two joint designs. In joint design I, one side is a lead angle and the
other is a plane. In joint design II, both
sides are planes. From the experiment, it
was noted that using joint design I
achieved better joint strength. The joint
strength is best with 360Al-360Al and
worst with 360Al/10v-%-360Al/10v-%
SiC particulate composites. 360Al-360Al
has a ductile fracture with dimples, while
the 360Al/10v-%-360Al/10v-% SiC particulate composite has a low-ductile fracture. The 360Al/10v-%-360Al/10v-% SiC
particulate composites are fractured in
the Zpl zone, while the others are fractured in the interface between the Zpl
zone and the Zpd zone. For the joint systems using different materials, the fracture
is in the interface between the Zpl zone
and Zpd zone, where the quantity of SiC
particulate is higher. In the heat-affected
zone (HAZ) for identical materials, the
Zpl hardness value is smaller than Zud;
for the different materials, the hardness in
Zpl is half of the two Zud hardness total
values.

Introduction
SiC particulate reinforced aluminum
alloys (SiC/Al) offer several advantages
relative to monolithic aluminum alloys,
such as high Youngs Modulus, high
hardness, wear resistance, low thermal
expansion coefficient and good thermal
conductivity. These alloys are useful for
aerospace and transportation industry
applications, including airframe structures, automotive front disc brake rotors,
C. B. LIN, C. K. MU, W. W. WU and C. H.
HUNG are with the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tamkang University, Taiwan,
P. R. China.

100-s | MARCH 1999

turbocharger impellers (Ref. 1), aircraft

wing skins and missile bodies (Ref. 2).
The joining technique plays a very
important role in the manufacture of
complicated and special-function SiC/Al
products or structures. The following
methods are often used for joining SiC/Al
composites:
Fusion welding including gas
tungsten arc welding (GTAW) (Ref. 3), resistance welding (RW) (Ref. 4) and laser
beam welding (LBW) (Ref. 5) is a
method that requires a great deal of energy, resulting in chemical reactions that
are responsible for a variety of defects,
such as oxide films, porosity, cracks and
the formation of the intermetallic compound Al4C3 (Refs. 68). These defects
decrease the strength of the weld joint.
The diffusion bonding method (Ref.
9) requires a high vacuum or heating
equipment; therefore, it is more expensive and has restricted application.
Mechanical interlocking or mechanical fasteners (Ref. 10) are methods
that lack ductility; therefore, stress concentration is easily produced in welding
points (such as bolt joints or rivets) that
may lead to catastrophic fractures.
The friction welding (FRW) method
(Refs. 1112) is classified as a solid-state
welding process in which heat is generated by friction from the relative motion

KEY WORDS
Rotation Friction Welding
Joint Design
SiC Particulate
Composites
Joint Strength
Heat-Affected Zone

of the parts to be welded. The application

of an axial force maintains intimate contact of the parts and causes plastic deformation of the material near the weld
interface. Deformation is largely restricted to the volume of material adjacent to the original interface by an
adiabatic shear process (Ref. 13). Friction
welding is used with SiC/Al composites
because energy is produced in the workpiece after opposite friction, resulting in
less input energy; the heat-affected zone
(HAZ) is more narrow; and hard, brittle
intermetallic compounds are not easily
produced, thus increasing the welding
strength (Ref. 13).
The advantages of friction welding are
as follows:
1) Previous handling is simple; two
welding sides can be cleaned through
friction.
2) Filler material and a protective atmosphere are unnecessary.
3) A high production rate can be
achieved; therefore, it is economical in
operation. In fact, friction welding has
become a widely used process for joining both similar and dissimilar materials
in industries such as the automotive industry (Ref. 14).
Sassani, et al. (Ref. 15), shows that
copper and steel friction welding, using
a compatible metal interlayer, can increase welding strength approximately
40%. Yilbas, et al. (Ref. 16), indicates that
if there are oxide films and grease on the
surface of the workpiece, the welding
strength will be lower. If the surface has
been cleaned and roughness has been
decreased, it is beneficial to the welding
strength. Decreasing the whirling speed
will decrease welding strength and the
burn-off length. Decreasing the arrest
time will also decrease the welding
strength because of the decreased
forge displacement. Ellis, et al. (Ref. 17),
indicates that the joint strength of
2648Al/14% SiC particulate composites

300 m

A = 30

D1 = 12.7 mm

D2 = 20 mm

L = 15 mm

R = 4.5 mm

(B)

(A)

300 m

(C)
D1 = 12.7 mm

D2 = 20 mm

L = 15 mm

R = 4.5 mm

(B)
Fig. 1 The size of workpiece for: A Joint system I; B joint system II.
300 m

Fig. 3 The microstructure of: A 360Al

base material; B 360Al/5v-%; C
360Al/10v-% SiC particulate composites.

1. BRAKE SYSTEM
2. ROTARY JAW
3a, 3b. WORKPIECE

4. STATIONARY JAW
5. STABILIZER

Fig. 2 Schematic diagram of friction welding system.

is about 380 N/mm2 with friction welding. In addition, if the workpiece goes
through solid-solution, quench and aging
treatments after friction welding, the joint
strength can rise to 431N/mm2, which is
close to the previous 2648Al joint
strength of approximately 455 N/mm2.
This research investigates joining
360Al and 360Al/5v-%-10v-% SiC particulate composites by rotation friction
welding. It also probes the design end
of the workpiece and the influence of SiC
particulate content on the joint strength
and hardness of the welding zone. The
microstructure of the welding zone has
been observed by an optical microscope
and the resulting conclusions are
discussed.

Experimental Procedure
Preparation of the Material

The material system of this research

was adopted to 360Al/SiC particulate
composite, with the quantity of SiC particulate 5v-% and 10v-% and the main
composition of the base material 360Al
(9.5%Si0.5%Mg). SiC particulate was
irregular in shape, -phase, with the
average size of the particles 15 m.
Preparation of the 360Al/5v-%, 10v% SiC particulate composites was as follows: the original 360Al/40wt% SiC
particulate composite ingots were produced by ingot metallurgy (Ref. 18) and
then the diluting method was used on
this material to produce the two abovementioned composites.

The diluting process was as follows:

the 360Al ingots were first placed in a
690 5C (1274 41F) electric resistance furnace and remelted. A proper
quantity of 360Al/40wt-% SiC particulate composite was then added, melted
together to provide degassing and stirred
evenly. Next, the oxidation film and slag
placed on the upper layer of the melt
were cleaned. The system was stirred
before casting, and the melt was stirred
repeatedly to prevent the specific gravity
SiC particulate from sinking to the bottom of the crucible and influencing concentration of SiC particulate in the
composites. The metal mold was placed
in a 300 3C (527 37.4F) constanttemperature system to proceed with the
casting. Finally, the workpiece was removed after casting and put in a 300
3C air furnace to homogenize for 4 h.
Friction Welding

360Al and 360Al/5v-%-10v-% SiC

particulate composite friction welding
workpieces were manufactured first; then
a welding workpiece pair was manufactured Fig. 1. As shown in Fig. 1A, one
workpiece of the welding point is plane
and the other is the lead angle design; in
Fig. 1B, the workpieces of the welding
points are both plane. The welding workpiece was put into a 200 3C (392

WELDING RESEARCH SUPPLEMENT | 101-s

RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT/RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT/RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT/RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT

(A)

RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT/RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT/RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT/RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT

37.4F) air furnace to anneal for 2 h to

eliminate the residual stress of machining. The welding point surface, Ra, was
2.5 m. Before welding, the workpiece
was put in a container filled with acetone
and the grease on the workpiece welding
planes was cleaned by ultrasonic vibration. The finished workpiece was then
fixed for friction welding by using the rotation friction-welding machine Fig. 2.
The process of friction welding occurred
when different quantities of 360Al and
SiC particulate composite materials were
placed in a workpiece of similar or dissimilar quality; the workpiece was fixed
at a rotation speed of 800 rpm; and the
friction pressure of 5.6 MPa was maintained for 8 s. Finally, the same forging
pressure as used in the friction process
was held for 10 s to enhance bonding.
Metallographic Preparation

First, the 360Al, 360Al/5v-%-10v-%

SiC particulate composites and all of the
friction-welded workpiece sections were
cut and polished with 400- and 1200-grit
carbimet papers and 1-m Al2O3 particulate suspension polishing liquid. Finally, the samples were etched by 10%
NaOH solution after polishing and the
morphology was observed using the OPTIPHOT-100 Nikon optical microscope.

Tensile Test

The flash was machined from the welds

before testing with the
gauge length of the test
specimen at 29 mm.
All of the friction
welds were tested at
room
temperature
using an Instron tensile
machine
with
a
crosshead speed of
5 mm/min. The fracture stress was calculated from the load at
failure, divided by the Fig. 4 Schematic of the HAZ showing the fully plasticized (Zpl),
original cross-section partially deformed (Zpd) and undeformed (Zud) regions (Ref. 20).
area. Three measurements were taken for
each of the welding
strengths to calculate
of 10 gf, a loading time of 30 s and a loadtheir average data.
ing speed of 100 m/s. Three measureA JEOL-JSM840A scanning electron
ments were taken for each of the hardness
microscope (SEM) was used after gilding
values to calculate their average data.
gold for 1.5 min to observe the tensile
fracture surface morphology.
Results and Discussion
Hardness Test

SiC Particulate in Matrix Distribution

The Mitutoty Mvk-G1 micro-Vickers

hardness tester was used to test the hardness of the welding zone, with a loading

The 360Al, 360Al/ 5v-% and 360Al/

10v-% SiC microstructures are shown in
Fig. 3. The 360Al base material consists

360AI

360AI

(A)

200 m

Zpl

Zpd

Zud

(B)

Zpd

40 m

Fig. 5 The microstructure of 360Al-360Al (Type A) composites in: A The HAZ; B the Zpl zone.

102-s | MARCH 1999

Zud

(A)

200 m

Zpd

Zud

(B)

Zud

Zpd

Zpl

40 m

Fig. 6 The microstructure of 360Al-360Al/5v-% (Type B) composites in: A The HAZ; B the Zpl zone.

360AI / 10v-%

360AI

200 m

Zud

Zpd

Zpl

Zpd

Zud

Fig. 7 The microstructure of 360Al-360Al/10v-% (Type C) composites in the HAZ.

of a primary crystal, with interdendrite

eutectic silicon. The SiC particulate in
the composite (Fig. 3B, C) clusters between the dendrite arms. The degree of
clustering was more serious in the 5v-%
SiC material than in the 10v-% SiC material. According to Elliss theory (Ref.
19), the heterogeneity of the 5v-% and
10v-% SiC particulate quantity is calculated to be 0.99 and 0.92. The reason for
the clustering is SiC particulate is pushed
to the interdendritic regions during the

solidification process. When the SiC

particulate quantity is increased, SiC
particulate will restrict the growth of the
dendrite and lower its degree of jostle
clustering.
The Microstructure of the SiC Particulate in
the Welding Zone

According to Midling, et al. (Ref. 20),

the HAZ after friction welding is divided
into three zones: 1) the fully plasticized

region (Zpl); 2) the partly deformed region (Zpd); and 3) the underformed region (Zud), as shown in Fig. 4. For fixed
friction (forge) pressure and friction time
when using joint design I, the microstructure of 360Al base material and
360Al/5v-%-10v-% SiC particulate composites in the welding zone are shown
in Figs. 59. In Fig. 5A, the HAZs after
360Al friction welding are shown. The
microstructure in the Zpl and the Zpd is
different from the enlarged previous base

WELDING RESEARCH SUPPLEMENT | 103-s

RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT/RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT/RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT/RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT

360AI / 5v-%

360AI

360AI / 5v-%

RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT/RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT/RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT/RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT

360AI / 5v-%

200 m

Zpd

Zud

Zpl

Zpd

Zud

Fig. 8 The microstructure of 360Al/5v-%-360Al/5v-% (Type D) composites in the HAZ.

360AI / 10v-%

360AI / 10v-%

200 m

Zpd

Zud

Zpl

Zpd

Zud

Fig. 9 The microstructure of 360Al/10v-%- 360Al/10v-% (Type E) composites in the HAZ.

material. In Fig. 5B, it can be observed

that the Zpl zone microstructure becomes tiny eutectic silicon, which is then
distributed evenly in the 360Al base
metal. This is due to the process of friction welding the welding planes rotate
mutually, which then produce friction
heat and shear stress. The shear stress
may effectively break the base material
gross primary crystal, dendrite and the
eutectic silicon. There is tiny eutectic silicon in the Zpd zone, which goes into the
Zpl zone by plastic flow field direction.
Figure 6A shows the microstructure of
360Al and 360Al/5v-% SiC particulate
composites in the HAZ. An obvious plastic field can be observed in the Zpd zone
of the 360Al; however, the plastic flow in
Zpd of 360Al/5v-% SiC particulate composites is less obvious because the SiC

104-s | MARCH 1999

particulate effectively prevents the plastic flow. In Fig. 6B, it can be seen in the
Zpl zone that the tiny eutectic silicon and
SiC particulate are distributed evenly in
the matrix, which is different from the
clustering of SiC particulate in the Zud of
360Al/5v-% SiC particulate composites.
The reason why SiC particulate clusters
from the Zud to the Zpl is that the plastic
flow and shear stress under friction welding makes SiC particulate composite
again, which is beneficial to the welding
character.
Figure 7 shows the microstructure of
360Al and 360Al/10v-% SiC particulate
composites in the HAZ. Eutectic silicon
and SiC particulate are distributed evenly
in the Zpl zone. Moreover, it can be observed that the microstructure of 360 Al
in the Zpl zone is eutectic silicon entering

the Zpl zone by plastic flow. It is notable

that eutectic silicon near the 360Al Zpd
zone is less likely to enter the Zpl zone
after forming in the Zpl zone because the
SiC particulate, which has gone into the
Zpl zone, can restrict its entrance. It can
also be seen that the plastic field near the
Zpl in 360Al is more complicated because the SiC particulate of 360Al/10v-%
SiC particulate composites can effectively
restrict the plastic flow since the plastic
flow in the Zpd zone of 360Al is larger
than in the composite materials. After
being plasticized in the HAZ, the harder
360Al/10v-% SiC particulate composites
are pushed into the softer 360Al base material during forging.
Figures 8 and 9 show the microstructures of 360Al/5v-% SiC and 360Al/ 10v%SiC particulate composites for the

Joint System
0%0%
0%5%
0%10%
5%5%
10%10%

Width (mm)

A
B
C
D
E

1.66
1.36
1.04
0.94
0.80

identical material welded workpiece in

the HAZ. The plastic flow field near the
HAZ in this welded system is not very
obvious because the plastic flows of the
two sides are identical. Under plasticization and forging, the two sides have identical push power and SiC-particulateresistant plastic flow.
Integrating Figs. 59, the width of
Zpd is the same for all welds, and the
width of Zpl is shown in Table 1. For
the identical material, the 360Al joint
system is the largest and the system of
10v-% SiC particulate is the smallest.
For the different-quality materials, the
width is lowered following an increase
in the total quantity of SiC particulate. In
addition, the 360Al and SiC particulate
(10v-%) is wider than the SiC particulate
(5v-%) identical composites material
welding because the increase of SiC particulate can restrict the plastic field. Finally, in the joint system, one side is base
material and, due to the contribution to
plastic flow made by the base material,

(A)

The Hardness of the HAZ

For fixed friction (forge) pressure and

friction time when using joint design I,
the different joint system hardness distribution in the HAZ is shown in Fig. 10.
The hardness in the HAZ is divided into
three zones: the first is referred to as the
Zud zone, whose hardness is that of the
base material workpiece hardness. The
second zone, the Zpl zone, has hardness
of a mixed quality after the two sides
were plasticized. The third zone, the Zpd
zone, has hardness that is the transforming zone. There is dynamic recovery near
the Zpd zone, which lowers the degree
of hardness (Ref. 20). The different joint
systems effects on the three zones hardness are as follows:
1) For the identical-materials joint
system, the hardness in the Zpl is less
than in the Zud Fig. 10AC. This is because the higher friction heat annealing
softens it in the Zpl zone. The hardness
of the 360Al base material joint system is
lowest in the center of the Zpl zone because the annealing temperature is highest in the center. For the SiC particulate
5v-% and 10v-% joint system, the hardness maintains the same value in the Zpl
zone. Although the annealing effect softens the matrix in the Zpl zone, SiC particulate may restrict the dislocation
activity effectively, with the effect of the

restriction greater than the effect of base

material annealing. Further, the SiC particulate 5v-%-5v-% composites joint system hardness is larger than 360Al-360Al
in the Zpl zone because the distributed
SiC particulate 5v-%-5v-% joint systems
restrictive dislocation activity effect is
greater than the annealing effect after
friction heat. Otherwise, SiC particulate
10v-%-10v-% hardness is less than 5v%-5v-% in the Zpl zone. Midling, et al.
(Ref. 14), showed the increase of SiC particulate concentration produced much
more friction heat, so there may have
been more frictional heating and annealing effect of the 10v-%-10v-% material
weld.
2) For the different-materials joint
system, the 360Al-360Al/5v-% SiC particulate composites and 360Al-360Al/
10v-% SiC particulate composites are
shown in Fig. 10D and E; the hardness
in the Zpl zone is half of the total of
the two Zud hardnesses. Therefore, for
the
360Al
(Hmv70)-360Al/5v%(Hmv80) joint system, the Zpl degree
of hardness is about Hmv75; for the
360Al(Hmv70)-360Al/10v-%(Hmv90)
system, the Zpl degree of hardness is
about Hmv80. This is because the composite and base materials are evenly
mixed. The increasing quantity of SiC in
the Zpl zone increases the degree of
hardness; 360Al-360Al/ 10v-% is greater
than 360Al-360Al/5v-% SiC particulate.
Integrating Fig. 10, the hardness of the
360Al base material is smaller than the

(B)

(D)

(C)

(E)

Fig. 10 The hardness in friction welding affect zone of: A 360Al-360Al (Type A); B 360Al/5v-%-360Al/5v-% (Type B); C 360Al/10v-%360Al/10v-% (Type C); D 360Al-360Al/5v-% (Type D); E 360Al-360Al/10v-% (Type E) joint system.

WELDING RESEARCH SUPPLEMENT | 105-s

RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT/RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT/RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT/RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT

the width is greater than in those with

both sides of composite materials.

Table 1 The Zpl Width of the Different

Joint Systems

360AI

RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT/RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT/RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT/RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT

360AI

(A)

200 m

360AI / 5v-%

360AI / 5v-%

(B)

200 m

360AI / 10v-%

360AI / 10v-%

(C)

200 m

360AI

360AI / 5v-%

(D)

200 m

360AI / 10v-%

360AI

(E)

200 m

Fig. 11 The tensile fracture zone of: A 360Al-360Al (Type A); B 360Al/5v-%-360Al/5v-% (Type B); C 360Al/10v-%-360Al/10v-% (Type
C); D 360Al-360Al/5v-% (Type D); E 360Al-360Al/10v-% (Type E) joint system.

hardness of the Zpl for all welds except

the 360Al-360Al joint system. The enhanced hardening in the Zpl zone is due
to the dislocation generated to accommodate the difference in CTE between

106-s | MARCH 1999

the reinforcing particulate and the matrix

(Ref. 21).
Tensile Fracture Type

The tensile fracture types of different

joint systems are shown in Fig. 11, from

which the following can be observed:
1) For the identical-materials joint
system, the 360Al and 360Al/5v-%360Al/5v-% SiC particulate composites

(A)

50 m

(B)

50 m
Fig. 12 Fracture surface of morphology
(SEM): A 360Al-360Al (Type A); B
360Al/10v-%-360Al/10v-% SiC (Type E) particulate composites.

fracture in the interface between the Zpl

zone and the Zpd zone Fig. 11 A and
B, respectively. Because the stress is concentrated due to the alignment of SiC particulate, cracking easily occurs in this
zone. The 360Al/10v-% SiC particulate
composites system fractures in the Zpl
zone. Increasing the rate of void nucleation at the reinforcing phase by increasing the SiC particulate density of this
zone (Ref. 22) easily produces lowductile fractures Fig. 11C.
2) For the different-materials joint
system, 360Al-360Al/5v-% SiC particulate composites and 360Al-360Al/10v-%
SiC particulate composites, tensile fractures occurred in the interface between
the Zpl and the Zpd where the quantity
of SiC particulate was higher Fig. 10D
and E.
The Joint Strength

The 360Al-360Al/5v-% and 10v-% SiC

particulate composite workpieces use joint
design I and II, whose joint strengths are
shown in Tables 2 and 3, respectively.
From this table comparison, for the identical-joint system, using joint design I can
achieve better joint strength, and the friction pressure and forging adopted by this
research are less than those in Refs. 1517.
Joint design II is the design method formerly used. Making use of joint design I

Tensile
Properties

Joint
System

5.6 MPa
8s

y0.2% (MPa)
UTS (MPa)
f (MPa)

A
0%0%

B
0%5%

C
0%10%

D
5%5%

E
10%10%

172.6
215.9
212.5

111.3
134.4
130.6

139.2
171.5
171.2

121.2
152.7
152.6

86.1
107.6
105.7

Table 3 The Joint Strength of Friction Welding by Joint Design II

Tensile
Properties

Joint
System

5.6 MPa
8s

y0.2% (MPa)
UTS (MPa)
f (MPa)

0%0%

0%5%

0%10%

5%5%

10%10%

112.7
151.5
149.1

102.9
122.6
121.6

136.2
136.2
136.2

103.5
118.7
117.2

106.8
107.2
106.3

can achieve better joint strength because

the tangent velocity used farthest from the
center is greater and smaller in the center
during the process of friction welding.
Therefore, the material farthest from the
center can produce obvious plastic flow.
This plasticized zone will fill in the lead
angle gap because of friction pressure. This
filled plastic zone can only hinder the following plasticized zone, which increases
the chance of welding. Also, because joint
design II does not have a lead angle design,
the plastic materials farthest from the center will leave and decrease the welding
zone. The ensuing welding, which contributes to the HAZ, comes from the center. Because the tangent velocity of this
zone is low (especially in the center, which
is zero) the friction heating and degree of
plasticizing is smaller, lowering its diffusion welding ability and joint strength. For
fixed friction (forge) pressure and friction
time when using joint design I, the joint
strength rankings are separated as follows:
360Al-360Al > 360Al-360Al/ 10v-% >
360Al-360Al/5v-% > 360Al/ 5v-%360Al/5v-% > 360Al/10v-%-360Al/ 10v%. This is because, for the identical
material
(360Al-360Al>360Al/5v-%360Al-5v-%>360Al/10v-%-360Al/10v-%)
joint system, in the 360Al-360Al system,
the base material toughness is better and
can delay its breakage. There is even eutectic silicon in the Zpl zone and the stress
concentration is smaller, which can effectively increase tensile strength. Moreover,
for the 360Al/10v-%-360Al/10v-% system, the SiC particulate density of the Zpl
zone is high and its material quality will
produce low-ductile fractures in the Zpl
zone. If one side of the workpiece is the
base material (360Al-360Al/10v-%,
360Al-360Al/5v-%) joint system, because
360Al provides much more strain energy
for absorption, it can delay breakage and

increase the strength of the composite materials (10v-% strength is better than 5v-%).
The SEM fracture surface morphology
after 360Al-360Al and 360Al/10v-%360Al-10v-% workpiece tensioning is
shown in Fig. 12. From Fig. 12A, it can be
observed that the fracture surface of 360Al360Al has ductile fractures with dimples.
Moreover, 360Al/10v-%-360Al/ 10v-%
has low-ductile fractures Fig. 12B.

Conclusions
The following conclusions have been
reached:
1) The microstructure of the Zpl zone
is different from that in the Zud. For
360Al/SiC particulate composites, clustering SiC particulate turns into evenly
distributed SiC particulate.
2) For the identical materials, the
360Al joint system has the widest Zpl
zone, and the 360Al/10v-% SiC particulate composites joint system has the
smallest. For the different quality materials, the width is decreased by an increase
in the total of the two workpiece particle
qualities. In addition, the increasing
360Al-360Al/10v-% joint system is
wider than the 360Al-360Al/5v-% joint
system.
3) The hardness in the HAZ is divided
into three zones: Zud, Zpl and Zpd. For
the identical materials, the Zpl hardness
is lower than the Zud; for the different
material, the Zpl hardness is half of the
total of the two Zud hardness values.
4) For the tensile fracture type, the
identical materials, 360Al and 360Al/5v%, break in the interface between the Zpl
zone and the Zpd zone, and 360Al/10v% breaks in the Zpl zone. For different
materials, the breaks occurred in the interface between the Zpl zone and the
Zpd zone, where the quantity of SiC par-

WELDING RESEARCH SUPPLEMENT | 107-s

RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT/RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT/RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT/RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT

Table 2 The Joint Strength of Friction Welding by Joint Design I

RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT/RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT/RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT/RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT

ticulate is higher.
5) Using joint design I results in better joint strength than with design II.
6) For the joint strength, the sequence is 360Al-360Al, 360Al-360Al/
10v-%, 360Al-360Al/5v-%, 360Al/5v%-360Al-5v-%,
360Al/10v-%360Al/10v-%.
7) The tensile fracture surface morphology 360Al-360Al has dimple ductile
fractures and 360Al/10v-%-360Al/10v% has low-ductile fractures.
Acknowledgment

This work was supported by The

National Science Council, Taiwan,
Peoples Republic of China.
References
1. Huda, D., EI Baradie, M. A., and
Hashmi, M. S. J. 1993. Metal-matrix composites: Materials aspects. Part II. Journal of Materials Processing Technology 37(14): 529-s
to 541-s.
2. Lienert, T. J., Baeslack III, W. A.,
Ringnalda, J., and Fraser, H. L. 1996. Inertiafriction welding of SiC-reinforced 8009aluminum. Journal of Material Science 31(8):
2149-s to 2157-s.
3. Kennedy, J. R. 1972. Microstructural
observations of arc welded boron-aluminum
composites. Welding Journal 51(3): 120-s to
124-s.
4. Hersh, M. S. 1971. Correlation between
boron/aluminum sheet quality and resistance
weld quality and strength. Welding Journal
50(12): 515-s to 521-s.

108-s |MARCH 1999

5. Dahotre, N. B., McCay, M. H., and

McCay, T. D. 1989. Laser processing of a
SiC/Al alloy metal matrix composite. Journal
of Applied Physics 65(11): 5072-s to 5077-s.
6. Devletian, J. H. 1987. SiC/Al metal
matrix composite welding by a capacitor
discharge process. Welding Journal 66(6):
33-s to 39-s.
7. Iseki, T., Kameda, T., and Maruyama, T.
1984. Interfacial reactions between SiC and
aluminum during joining. Journal of Material
Science 19(5): 1692-s to 1689-s.
8. Ahearn, J. S., Cooke, C., and Fishman,
S. G. 1982. Fusion welding of SiC-reinforced
Al composites. Metal Construction 14(4):
192-s to 197-s.
9. Lienert, T. J., Baeslack III, W. A.,
Ringnalda, J., and Fraser, H. L. 1996. Inertiafriction welding of SiC-reinforced 8009aluminum. Journal of Material Science 31(8):
2149-s to 2157-s.
10. Hall, I. W., and Manrique, F. 1995.
Surface-treatment of carbon-fiber for aluminum-alloy matrix composites. Scripta
Metal. 33(12): 2037-s to 2043-s.
11. Wang, K. K., and Nagappan, P. 1970.
Understanding aluminum welding. Welding
Journal 49(9): 419-s to 425-s.
12. Wang K. K., and Lin, W. 1974. Flywheel friction welding research. Welding
Journal 53(6): 233-s to 241-s.
13. Spindler, D. E. 1994. What industry
needs to know about friction welding. Welding Journal 73(3): 27-s to 42-s.
14. Midling, O. T., and Grong, O. 1994.
A process model for the friction welding of
Al-Mg-Si alloys and Al-SiC metal-matrix
composites I. HAZ temperature and strain-rate
distribution. Acta Metal. 42(5): 1595-s to
1609-s.

15. Sassani, F., and Neelam, J. R. 1988.

Friction welding of incompatible materials.
Welding Journal 67(11): 264-s to 270-s.
16. Yilbas, B. S., Sahin, A. Z., Cobon, A.,
and Abdul Aleem, B. J. 1995. Investigation
into the properties of friction-welded bars aluminium. Materials Processing Technology
54(1): 76-s to 81-s.
17. Ellis, M. B. D., Gittos, M. E., and
Threadgill, P. P. I. 1994. Joining aluminum
base metal matrix composites. Materials
World 12(8): 415-s to 417-s.
18. Lin, C. B. 1994. U.S. Patent No.
5401338.
19. Ellis, M. B. D. 1996. Joining of Albased metal-matrix composites: A review.
Materials and Manufacturing Processes 11(2):
45-s to 61-s.
20. Midling, O. T., and Grong, O. 1994.
A process model for friction welding of Al-MgSi Alloys and Al-SiC metal-matrix composites
2. HAZ microstrucure and strength evolution.
Acta Metal. 42(5): 1611-s to 1622-s.
21. Arsenault, R. J., and Shi, N. 1986. Dislocation generation due to differences between the coefficients of thermal expansion.
Materials Science and Engineering 81(1):
175-s to 187-s.
22. Humphreys, F. J. 1988. Mechanical
and physical behavior of metallic and ceramic
composites. Proceedings of the 9th Riso International Symposium on Materials Science. S.
I. Andersen, H. Lilholt, and O. B. Pedersen,
eds. Rockslide Denmark: Riso National Laboratory, pp. 5174.