Study of Shrink Fitting for Shaft Couplings by Laser Heating: Shrink Fitting for Pipe of Stainless Steel and Bar of Carbon Steel

Laser shrink fitting for shaft coupling was developed as application of laser forming. The coupling of the pipe of stainless steel and bar of carbon steel is made by laser shrink fitting. A bar is inserted into a pipe, and the pipe surface of the bar-inserted-part is irradiated and heated by 1kw class laser. Metallographic structure of the laser irradiated part of the pipe and bar is not changed. The fitted part of the pipe is shrunk in both circumferential and axial direction. The residual stress on the surface of the fitted pipe is a compressive one in the circumferential and axial direction. The tensile strength of the fitted part is nearly equal to the tensile strength of base metal of stainless steel pipe.