A comparative study on electron beam welding and rigid restraint thermal self-compressing bonding for Ti6Al4V alloy

This study focuses on the influence of joining method difference on the joint microstructure and properties. Unlike vacuum electron beam welding (EBW) utilizing electron beam as fusion heat source, rigid restraint thermal self-compressing bonding (TSCB), a new solid-state bonding method proposed by authors, employs vacuum electron beam as the non-melt heat source to bond materials in this work. Meanwhile, a comparative study on the microstructure and mechanical properties of EBW joint and rigid restraint TSCB joint was conducted to investigate the effect of this difference on joint microstructure and properties. Results show that compared with EBW joints, the rigid restraint TSCB joints as solid-state joints are homogeneous in terms of microstructure and microhardness profile. Strength of both joints are comparable with that of base metal, but the elongation of the rigid restraint TSCB joint is more close to that of base metal. Rigid restraint TSCB joint has better combination of strength and ductility.