Some studies on friction spin welding of thermoplastics

Abstract

Thermoplastic parts are ubiquitous in the current era and the joining of thermoplastic parts is gaining importance because of the widespread use of thermoplastics in various fields. Adhesive bonding and heat fusion welding are two of the popular methods of joining thermoplastics. Many methods are known of mechanical friction welding which utilizes the heat generated through mechanical friction between joining parts to fuse them and friction spin welding is one such important method. The two axis-symmetric parts can easily be joined using the friction spin welding technique. In friction spin welding one rotating part interacts with another stationary part to generate heat at the interface under pressure and ultimately joint is formed after cooling. The spin welding machinery is manufactured by a few companies in the world and the price of a machinery is very high. To gain self-reliance in spin welding machinery technology a new indigenous friction spin welding machine for thermoplastics with advanced controls is conceptualized, designed in detail and a prototype is developed for the joining of two thermoplastic parts in axis-symmetrical fashion. The indigenous prototype machine can perform the friction spin welding process with consistency. It enables the operator to choose and control the process parameters such as rotation velocity, time of rotation, spin pressure, cooling pressure, and spin initiate distance. newline