Investigations on Thixojoining Process of Steel Components

A high quality joint between tool steel and stainless steel alloys is hard to achieve with the conventional welding process. In this study, a new process of joining semi-solid AISI D2 tool steel and AISI 304 stainless steel using a partial remelting method is proposed. Metallographic analysis and Vickers hardness tests were performed. The results obtained from investigating the basic geometries demonstrated a good joining quality that differs from the conventional process of welding or mechanical joining with screws or nails. Metallographic analyses along the joint interface between semi-solid AISI D2 and 304 stainless steel showed a smooth transition from one to the other, with neither oxides nor microcracking being observed. Local mechanical properties of different regions show three different readings according to the results of the hardness tests. The current work successfully confirmed that the avoidance of dendritic microstructure of the semi-solid joined zone and high bonding quality components can be achieved. From the present study, it can be said that the thixojoining process can be utilized safely for dissimilar metal pairs.