Investigation on friction stud welded AMC/AISI 304 steel joints with ceramic intercoating

Friction stud welding, a recent variant of friction welding process, is ideally suited for naval applications, short-term emergency repairs, submarine rescue, aerospace applications and automotive applications. In all these critical applications, there is a need for joining of dissimilar materials in general and aluminium matrix composites/steel joints in particular as in the case of recent aerospace and automotive applications. The strength of the dissimilar joint is a major concern in all these applications. Due to the variation in thermal properties and inhomogeneous temperature distribution, heat-affected zones are formed that lead to deterioration in strength in the dissimilar joints. In the present work, a new procedure is disclosed that can increase the strength of the dissimilar joint. The design of the specimen is modified and ceramic slurry is introduced at the interface in order to achieve increase in joint efficiency and higher joint strength.