Overlaying welding technology and performance of axle tube remanufacturing

Abstract

Screw failure is one of the main scrap forms for rear axle tube, and thread turning after surfacing is a common means of remanufacturing. This paper takes rear axle tube as the main research topic, which is made of 40Mn and provided by an axle company. Manual electric arc welding, CO₂ shielded arc welding and argon shielded arc welding are carried to overlay the damaged thread. The deposited metal consists of two welding material lays. Welding process and overlay properties are characterized by the test and analysis of microstructure, residual stress and hardness of surfacing layers. The results show that argon shielded arc welding is an effective method to repair the failure thread; its microstructure of fusion area is meticulous and uniform; its residual compressive stress (absolute value) of welding surface is the biggest among the three welding methods; its hardness curve is relatively flat and appropriate for turning.

Keywords

Surfacing / Remanufacturing / Metallographic structure / Residual stress / Hardness