AFRC-DIRF 07008-Rotary Friction Welding of Dissimilar Materials (Phase 3)

BAE Systems Ltd. (based in Barrow-in-Furness) have approached the AFRC to explore the in-house Rotary Friction Welding technology for joining a wide range of materials with dissimilar thermo-physical properties in a tubular geometry targeting submarine applications. They are particularly interested in using this solid-state welding technology to join dissimilar material combinations of S355 steel and S31254 Stainless Steel (SS) in phase 3 of the project. RFW is an autogenous solid-state welding process that can achieve a dissimilar joint without melting the base materials, overcoming challenges like solidification cracking, weld distortion and pores associated with more traditional welding processes, i.e. fusion welding or similar. This key advantage has enabled the RFW process to achieve high-quality solid-state welds for demanding and critical structural integrity applications.