Inertia friction welding process analysis and mechanical properties evaluation of large rotor shaft in marine turbo charger

The two aims of this study are first, determining the optimal welding process parameters by using the finite element simulation and second, determining the optimal tempering temperature by evaluating the mechanical properties of friction welded part for manufacturing large rotor shaft. Inertia welding was conducted in order to make the large rotor shaft of turbo charger for low speed marine diesel engine. The rotor shaft is composed of the 310mm diameter disk and the 140mm diameter shaft. Since diameters of disk and shaft are very different, the integration using friction welding reduces manufacturing cost compared with the forming process of which a disk and shaft are forged into one body. Finite element simulation was performed, because inertial welding friction process depended on many process parameters, including axial force, initial revolution speed and energy, amount of upset, and working time. It is expected that this modeling will significantly reduce the number of experimental trials needed when determining the optimal welding parameters. Inertia welding was carried out with optimal process parameter conditions obtained from the simulation results. Welded joint part, made by friction welding, had very poor mechanical properties, and so it required heat treatment. The base material used in the investigation was SFCMV1 (SANYO special steel, high strength low alloy Cr-Mo steel) of 140mm diameter. In the study, heat treatment test carried out quenching (950 °C, 4hr, oil cooling) and tempering (690–720 °C, 6hr, air cooling) for friction welding specimens. The various tests, including microstructure observation, tensile, hardness, and fatigue tests, were conducted to evaluate the mechanical properties under various heat treatment conditions after inertia welding.