Temperature Field in the Contact Zone in the Course of Rotary Friction Welding of Metals

We propose a mathematical model for the investigation of the temperature field caused by the friction welding of metals. An axisymmetric nonlinear boundary-value problem of heat conduction is formulated with regard for the friction heating of two cylindrical specimens of finite length made of AISI 1040 steel. It is taken into account that the thermal properties of this steel, its yield strength, and the friction coefficient change as functions of temperature. The numerical solution of the problem is obtained by the finite-element method. We study the influence of two mechanisms of heat generation (caused by friction on the contact surface and by the plastic deformation) on the temperature field of the specimens. It is shown that the obtained numerical results are in good agreement with the corresponding experimental data.