FRICTION WELDABILITY OF UFG 316L STAINLESS STEEL.

The broad range applications of Ultra-Fine Grained metals is substantially limited by the lack of a welding method that allows them to be joined without losing the strong refinement of structure. From this point of view, the solid state welding processes are privileged. Friction welding tests were carried out on UFG 316L stainless steel. A joining process at high temperature activates the recrystallization, therefore the friction welding parameters were selected according to the criterion of the lowest degree of weakness due to recrystallization in the heat affected zone. In order to characterize the structure of basic material and selected areas of the obtained joint, were performed SEM, TEM and metallographic examinations in terms of hardness and range of softening of the material and tensile test. Despite the short time and relatively low welding temperature, results of the test by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy confirmed the loss of the primary ultrafine structure in the Heat Affected Zone of welded joint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]