Analysing significant process parameters for friction stir welding of polymer composite

Abstract

This research deals with the performance of friction stir welding (FSW) process and its application on composite material with the analysis of weld strength. The objective is to analyse the weld strength by optimising process parameters at different levels. The FSW is carried out at industrial grades by using locally available customised polycarbonate (PC) whereas the fibreglass (FG) is used as composite material in this research. The one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Fisher’s least significant difference test are employed. The reason is to compare the mean shear strength of welds produced by FSW among different composition materials having composite material by weight, i.e. 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%, with machine parameters, i.e. feed rate, rotation speed, and tool profile. The experiments suggested that PC with 15% FG produce highest mean strength under same process parameters and also exhibit the highest mean shear strength to base material. The materials have shown significant difference in their mean shear strength after analysis through Fisher’s LSD method. In the 2nd phase, Taguchi and ANOVA methods were applied to evaluate the effect of tool rotation, feed, and tool design on FSW using PC with 15% FG by weight. The Taguchi analysis using quality characteristic “Larger the Better” suggests that the rotation of tool is the most significant factor that affects the weld strength. The material produces better strength at high rotation speed of 1250 rpm and produces better strength at feed rate of 12 mm/s and tool type conical threaded pin design.