Joining of Oxide Dispersion-Strengthened Steel Using Spark Plasma Sintering

Difficulties with joining oxide dispersion-strengthened (ODS) steels using classical welding processes have led to the development of alternative joining techniques such as spark plasma sintering (SPS). SPS, which is classically employed for performing sintering, may also be used to join relatively large components due to the simultaneous application of electrical pulsed current and uniaxial charge. SPS technology was tested by joining two ODS steel disks. The preliminary tests showed that it is necessary to control surface roughness before joining. Furthermore, the use of ground and lapped surfaces seemed to improve the quality of the interface. Tensile tests on two ODS cylinders joined using SPS were performed at 750 degrees C without any additives. Failure occurred away from the interface with a total elongation close to 50% and an ultimate stress of 110 MPa.