Friction surfacing is a thermomechanical solid-state process that provides material deposition on the substrate surface. The rotating consumable tool is forced on the substrate surface until it gets plasticized.

Afterwards, a relative motion is provided between the rotating consumable tool and substrate to obtain the deposition. The spindle speed, axial force and table travel speed are essential process parameters for friction surfacing.

However, in order to perform friction surfacing on non-specialized equipment such as VMC, modified VMC, etc., it is necessary to provide a suitable tool feed rate. That can be controlled by the ratio of table travel speed to tool feed rate.

In this article, efforts are made to investigate the influence of the ratio of table travel speed to tool feed rate for friction surfacing deposition of aluminium alloy on the steel surface.

A CR01 low carbon steel and AA6061-T6 are selected as substrate and base metal, respectively.

Based on the literature and pilot experiments, three different ratios of table travel speed to tool feed rate, 1.5, 1.75 and 2, have been selected.

The quality of friction surfacing deposition is investigated by visual observation, microstructure, microhardness, and push-off tests. These selected ratios provide uniform deposition without defects.

The microstructure examination reveals that the bonding is obtained due to mechanical interlocking as well as inter-diffusion at the interface. The push-off strength increases with a decrease in ratio and reaches a maximum push-off strength for the ratio of 1.5.

This article is shared by Gautam Chudasama and Vivek Kalyankar.