Thermal exposure of low alloy-stainless steel friction welds

Continuous drive friction welding can solve the problems of sensitization, dilution and solidification cracking encountered in conventional fusion welding. Friction welding does not involve melting and the weld zone undergoes thermo-mechanical working that result in a refined grain structure in the bond zone.This book an attempt is made to study the friction welding technique and all the related processes Nearly 10,000 transition joints between low alloy steel and austenitic stainless steel are required in a power plant. Normally these joints are exposed to an operating temperature of 500 degree Celcius. Due to this thermal stresses, welding stresses that arise because of differences in thermal conductivity and expansion coefficients at operating temperatures, microstructural changes because of diffusion of elements across the joint result in property degradation. Hence an experimental study is made to understand the influence of the thermal exposure on the microstructure and mechanical properties of low alloy steel and austenitic stainless steel friction welded joints is made and included