scholarly journals A Comprehensive Review on Optimal Welding Conditions for Friction Stir Welding of Thermoplastic Polymers and Their Composites

Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1208
Author(s):  
Syed Haris Iftikhar ◽  
Abdel-Hamid Ismail Mourad ◽  
Jamal Sheikh-Ahmad ◽  
Fahad Almaskari ◽  
S. Vincent

Friction stir welding (FSW) and friction stir spot welding (FSSW) techniques are becoming widely popular joining techniques because of their increasing potential applications in automotive, aerospace, and other structural industries. These techniques have not only successfully joined similar and dissimilar metal and polymer parts but have also successfully developed polymer-metallic hybrid joints. This study classifies the literature available on the FSW and FSSW of thermoplastic polymers and polymer composites on the basis of joining materials (similar or dissimilar), joint configurations, tooling conditions, medium conditions, and study types. It provides a state-of-the-art and detailed review of the experimental studies available on the FSW and FSSW between similar thermoplastics. The mechanical properties of FSW (butt- and lap-joint configurations) and FSSW weld joints depend on various factors. These factors include the welding process parameters (tool rotational speed, tool traverse speed, tool tilt angle, etc.), base material, tool geometry (pin and shoulder size, pin profile, etc.) and tool material, and medium conditions (submerged, non-submerged, heat-assisted tooling, cooling-assisted tooling). Because of the dependence on many factors, it is difficult to optimize the welding conditions to obtain a high-quality weld joint with superior mechanical properties. The general guidelines are established by reviewing the available literature. These guidelines, if followed, will help to achieve high-quality weld joints with least defects and superior mechanical properties. Apart from parametric-based studies, the statistical-based studies (e.g., analysis of variance (ANOVA)-based studies) are covered, which helps with the determination of the influential parameters that affect the FSW and FSSW weld joint strength. Also, the optimal ranges of the most influential process parameters for different thermoplastic materials are established. The current work on the development of general guidelines and determination of influential parameters and their operating ranges from published literature can help with designing smart future experimental studies for obtaining the global optimum welding conditions. The gaps in the available literature and recommendations for future studies are also discussed.

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 6259-6271
Author(s):  
Srinivasa Rao Pedapati ◽  
Dhanish Paramaguru ◽  
Mokhtar Awang ◽  
Hamed Mohebbi ◽  
Sharma V Korada

Underwater Friction Stir Welding (UFSW) is a solid-state joining technique which uses a non-consumable tool to weld metals. The objective of this investigation is to evaluate the mechanical properties of the AA5052 Aluminium alloy joints prepared by UFSW. The effect of different type of welding tools and welding parameters on the weld joint properties are studied. Square, tapered cylindrical and taper threaded cylindrical type of welding tools have been used to produce the joints with the tool rotational speed varying from 500 rpm to 2000 rpm while the welding speed varying from 50 mm/min to 150 mm/min. Tensile strength, micro-hardness distribution, fracture features, micro-and macrostructure of the fabricated weld joints have been evaluated. The effect of welding process parameters that influences the mechanical properties and fracture characterization of the joints are explained in detail. A maximum Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS) value of 222.07 MPa is attained with a gauge elongation of 14.78%. Microstructural evaluation revealed that most of the fracture are found on the thermal mechanically affected zone (TMAZ)adjacent to the weld nugget zone (WNZ) due to bigger grain sizes. It is found that most of the joints exhibit ductile characteristics in failure. Fractography analysis has been used to find the behavior of weld joints in failure.


Metals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1480
Author(s):  
Assefa Asmare ◽  
Raheem Al-Sabur ◽  
Eyob Messele

The use of aluminum alloys, nowadays, is swiftly growing from the prerequisite of producing higher strength to weight ratio. Lightweight components are crucial interest in most manufacturing sectors, especially in transportation, aviation, maritime, automotive, and others. Traditional available joining methods have an adverse effect on joining these lightweight engineering materials, increasing needs for new environmentally friendly joining methods. Hence, friction stir welding (FSW) is introduced. Friction stir welding is a relatively new welding process that can produce high-quality weld joints with a lightweight and low joining cost with no waste. This paper endeavors to deals with optimizing process parameters for quality criteria on tensile and hardness strengths. Samples were taken from a 5 mm 6061-T6 aluminum alloy sheet with butt joint configuration. Controlled process parameters tool profile, rotational speed and transverse speed were utilized. The process parameters are optimized making use of the combination of Grey relation analysis method and L9 orthogonal array. Mechanical properties of the weld joints are examined through tensile, hardness, and liquid penetrant tests at room temperature. From this research, rotational speed and traverse speed become significant parameters at a 99% confidence interval, and the joint efficiency reached 91.3%.


Author(s):  
R Palanivel ◽  
RF Laubscher ◽  
S Vigneshwaran ◽  
I Dinaharan

Friction stir welding is a solid-state welding technique for joining metals such as aluminum alloys quickly and reliably. This article presents a design of experiments approach (central composite face–centered factorial design) for predicting and optimizing the process parameters of dissimilar friction stir welded AA6351–AA5083. Three weld parameters that influence weld quality were considered, namely, tool shoulder profile (flat grooved, partial impeller and full impeller), rotational speed and welding speed. Experimental results detailing the variation of the ultimate tensile strength as a function of the friction stir welding process parameters are presented and analyzed. An empirical model that relates the friction stir welding process parameters and the ultimate tensile strength was obtained by utilizing a design of experiments technique. The models developed were validated by an analysis of variance. In general, the full impeller shoulder profile displayed the best mechanical properties when compared to the other profiles. Electron backscatter diffraction maps were used to correlate the metallurgical properties of the dissimilar joints with the joint mechanical properties as obtained experimentally and subsequently modeled. The optimal friction stir welding process parameters, to maximize ultimate tensile strength, are identified and reported.


2013 ◽  
Vol 554-557 ◽  
pp. 1022-1030 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierpaolo Carlone ◽  
Gaetano S. Palazzo

In recent years, remarkable interest has been focused on the Friction Stir Welding (FSW) process, by academic as well as industrial research groups. Conceptually, the FSW process is quite simple: a non-consumable rotating tool is plunged between the adjoining edges of the parts to be welded and moved along the desired weld line. Frictional and viscous heat generation increases the work piece temperature, softening the processing material and forcing it to flow around the pin. Although FSW has been effectively applied in welding of several materials, such as copper, steel, magnesium, and titanium, considerable attention is still focused on aluminum welding, in particular for transport applications. Recent literature clearly evidenced microstructural variations in the stir zone, imputable to continuous dynamic recrystallization phenomena, leading to the formation of a finer equiaxed grains. Moreover, depending on the specific alloy, thermal cycles can induce coarsening or dissolution of precipitates in the thermo-mechanically affected zone (TMAZ) and in the heat affected zone (HAZ). The influence of the aforementioned microstructural aspects on mechanical properties and formability of FSWed assemblies is also well recognized. The aim of this paper is to numerically and experimentally investigate the influence of process parameters, namely rotating speed and welding speed, on microstructural aspects in AA2024-T3 friction stir butt welds. A three-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) model has been implemented to simulate the process. A viscoplastic material model, based on Wright and Sheppard modification of the constitutive model initially proposed by Sellars and Tegart has been implemented in the commercial package ANSYS CFX, considering an Eulerian framework. Tool-workpiece interaction has been modeled assuming partial sticking/sliding condition, and incorporating both frictional and viscous contributions to the heat generation. Microstructural aspects have been numerically predicted using the Zenner-Holloman parameter and experimentally measured by means of conventional metallographic techniques. Satisfactory agreement has been found between simulated and experimental results. The influence of process parameters on mechanical properties has also been highlighted.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document