Abstract
GH3039 superalloy was used as the third body metal to weld γ-TiAl with carbon steel, and the interface structure of the TiAl/GH3039 friction welding joint was analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The results show that the maximum tensile strength of the weld joint is more than 400 MPa after friction welding of γ-TiAl and GH3039 alloys. The plastic deformation of thermo-mechanically affected zone (TMAZ) on GH3039 side is larger than that on TiAl side, and dynamic recrystallization occurs on both sides. The Ni and Ti contents in the phase layer close to GH3039 and TiAl alloys hardly change, respectively. In the welding zone near GH3039 side, the distribution of Ni-rich and Cr-rich grains are complementary. Ti and Al are easily soluble in the Ni-rich crystal grains, and Mn is easily soluble in the Cr-rich crystal grains. A large number of Cr-rich grains formed in the bonding zone have body-centered cubic structure of α-Cr. The interface microstructure of the friction welding zone between γ-TiAl and GH3039 alloys is γ-TiAl+α2-Ti3Al/α2+τ3/τ3-Al1+x-yTi1+yNi1-x/τ3+α-Cr/(Ni, Cr)ss/GH3039.
Science Press
Conventionally, superalloy K418 and Inconel 713 are used as turbo of turbochargers. The rotor shaft of turbocharger is commonly made of AISI 4140 carbon steel. But the disadvantage of superalloy turbine is the large size, which results in a large mass of turbine rotor, a large moment of inertia, a poor transient response of the engine, and a large power loss. According to previous studies of the friction welding joint between K418 turbine disc and AISI 4140 shaf
Meanwhile, TiAl intermetallic has small density, high elasticity modulus, and good high temperature performance. Therefore, TiAl alloy is regarded as the preferred material to replace superalloy in turbine manufacturin
Electron beam welding is also widely used in TiAl connectio
Diffusion welding, as an advanced welding method, has been applied to TiAl alloy connectio
Cai et a
Friction welding is a pressure welding method. The welding workpiece can produce mechanical friction movement and generate heat between the contact surfaces of the welding materials, which makes the materials reach the thermoplastic state and then bend quickly to complete the welding. The future green welding technology has great technical potential and broad application prospect. Friction welding technique has already been applied to TiAl connectio
The existing studies indicate that it is very difficult to get excellent joint properties through direct friction welding of TiAl and AISI 4140 alloys, at the interface of which TiFe2, TiAl, and TiC phases are formed. Therefore, the intermediate metal layer is necessary. AISI 4140 and TiAl alloys should be welded to an intermediate metal before the welding of target materials. GH3039 superalloy has high temperature perfor-mances which match well with those of TiAl, and better friction welding performance with carbon steel. GH3039 alloy is an ideal intermediate metal to achieve friction welding between TiAl and AISI 4140 alloys. However, the author's previous researc
The base alloy materials were TiAl alloy of Φ25 mm and GH3039 alloy. The chemical composition is listed in
C500 type continuous drive friction welding machine equipped with industrial control computer with closed-loop control system was used, which could realize real-time detection and display and control the welding process parameters (welding pressure, axial speed, torque, and axial shortening). The welding parameters used in this study are listed in
The tension strength of the welded joints was tested by DDL300 universal electric testing machine at loading speed of 1 mm/min. Quanta 400F field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) under backscattered electron (BSE) mode coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), Oxford INCA alpha-ray spectrometer, JEM-2100F transmission electron microscope (TEM), and JEOL-8230 electron probe were used to analyze the microstructure and fracture morphology of weld interface. The mechanism of friction welding of dissimilar materials was discussed and the structure of weld interface was investigated.
The appearance of welded joint after friction welding is shown in

Fig.1 Appearance (a) and axial profile (b) of TiAl and GH3039 friction welded joint
Tensile properties of the welded parts were tested after welding. The results show that the maximum tensile strength of TiAl and GH3039 weldment reaches more than 400 MPa and most specimens fracture from TiAl base metal. It is shown that the strength of welded joint is greater than that of TiAl base metal. The fracture morphologies are shown in

Fig.2 Fracture morphologies of friction welded joints at TiAl based metal side (a) and at weld seam (b)
After cutting the fracture specimen along the white line in

Fig.3 SEM-BSE image and EDS line scanning result of weld interface
The element distribution of the weld interface from the bottom GH3039 alloy to the upper TiAl base metal was determined by linear scanning of EDS with scanning length of about 8 μm, as shown in
In order to determine the distribution of each element in WZ, electron probe micro-analyzer (EPMA) was used to conduct the surface scanning test and the results are shown in

Fig.4 SEM-BSE image (a) and element distributions of Ni (b), Cr (c), Ti (d), Al (e), and V (f) of weld interface
It can be seen from
In order to further explore the interface microstructure of WZ, TEM was used to observe the WZ.

Fig.5 Bright field TEM images of boundaries between TMAZ and WZ on TiAl (a) and GH3039 (b) sides
In order to show the element distributions in the WZ, the scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) was used to scan different zones. The EDS analysis results of the zone near IPZ lines on TiAl and GH3039 sides are shown in

Fig.6 STEM image (a) and EDS mapping of Ti (b), Al (c), Ni (d), Cr (e), and Mn (f) element of zone near IPZ of TiAl side


Fig.8 STEM image (a) and EDS mapping of Ti (b), Al (c), Ni (d), Cr (e), and Mn (f) element of IPZ
The element distribution near the interface of TiAl WZ is clearly shown in
It can be seen from Fig.7 that from TMAZ to WZ of GH3039 side, the grain changes from large recrystallized grain to small equiaxed grain, and finally into equiaxed grain chunk of abundant Ni or Cr. The distribution of Ni-rich and Cr-rich grains is complementary, as shown in Fig.7d and 7e. The Ti content in Ni-rich grains is high, as shown in Fig.7b and 7d, and the S content in Cr-rich grains is high, as shown in Fig.7e and 7f. According to the micro zone analysis, it can be determined that layer A is Ni based solid solution phase. The equiaxed grains of rich Cr in layer B are formed by precipitation in the base material and the spinodal decompo-sition under the thermo-mechanical coupling during welding.
Near TMAZ of GH3039 alloy, because the Ni-rich grains attached to the existing grains grow, the Ni-rich grains are in vertically teeth-like shape. The Cr-rich grains are embedded in the Ni-rich grains. Away from the interface of about 0.4 μm, grains rich in Ni or Cr grow into large equiaxed grains. Therefore, the dynamic recrystallization occurs on both sides
The zone shown in
In order to determine the phase shown in

Fig.9 TEM image of welded zone (a) and SAED (area marked by
circle) pattern along zone axis [111] (b)
It can be confirmed that the SAED pattern in
In order to further determine the specific composition of each intermediate phase layer, EPMA was used to analyze the element distributions of each intermediate phase layer in
1) The γ-TiAl intermetallic and GH3039 superalloy can be friction welded, and the maximum tensile strength of the weld joint is more than 400 MPa.
2) Due to thermo-mechanical coupling during friction welding, the plastic deformation of thermo-mechanically affected zone (TMAZ) on GH3039 side is much more obvious than that on TiAl side, and dynamic recrystallization occurs on both sides.
3) There are four continuous intermediate phase layers formed at intermediate phase zone (IPZ). Weld zone (WZ) includes IPZ and element diffusion zone on both sides.
4) In WZ near GH3039 side, the distribution of Ni-rich and Cr-rich grains is complementary. Ti and Al are easily soluble in the Ni-rich crystal grains, and Mn is easily soluble in the Cr-rich crystal grains.
5) A large number of Cr-rich grains formed in the bonding zone are body-centered cubic α-Cr with lattice constant a=0.288 nm and interfacial spacing d=0.2036 nm.
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