Characterization of Steel-Ta Dissimilar Metal Builds Made Using Very High Power Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing (VHP-UAM)

Ultrasonic additive manufacturing is a solid-state additive manufacturing technique that utilizes ultrasonic vibrations to bond metal tapes into near net-shaped components. The major advantage of this process is the ability to manufacture layered structures with dissimilar materials without any intermetallic formation. Majority of the published literature had focused only on the bond formation mechanism in Aluminum alloys. The current work pertains to explain the microstructure evolution during dissimilar joining of iron and tantalum using very high power ultrasonic additive manufacturing and characterization of the interfaces using electron back-scattered diffraction and Nano-indentation measurement. The results showed extensive grain refinement at the bonded interfaces of these metals. This phenomenon was attributed to continuous dynamic recrystallization process driven by the high strain rate plastic deformation and associated adiabatic heating that is well below 50 pct of melting point of both iron and Ta.