Abstract
Ultrasonic additive manufacturing (UAM) is a solid state manufacturing process capable of producing near-net-shape metal parts. Recent studies have shown the promise of UAM welding of high strength steels. However, the effect of weld parameters on the weld quality of UAM steel is unclear. A design of experiments study based on a Taguchi L16 design array was conducted to investigate the influence of parameters including baseplate temperature, amplitude, welding speed, and normal force on the interfacial temperature and shear strength of UAM welding of carbon steel 4130. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and main effects analyses were performed to determine optimal weld parameters within the process window. A Pearson correlation test was conducted to find the relationship between interfacial temperature and shear strength. These analyses indicate that the highest shear strength of 392.8 MPa can be achieved by using a baseplate temperature of 400°F (204.4°C), amplitude of 31.5 μm, welding speed of 40 in/min (16.93 mm/s), and normal force of 6000 N. The Pearson correlation coefficient is calculated as 0.227, which indicates a weak positive correlation between interfacial temperature and shear strength over the range tested.