Friction-stir-spot welding of 3D printed ABS and PA6 composites: flexural, thermal and morphological investigations

Abstract

ABSTRACT In past one decade friction-stir-spot welding (FSSW) has been established as one of the commercially acceptable joining process for thermoplastics. But hitherto little has been reported on the effects of semi-consumable/fully consumable rapid tooling (RT) in FSSW. The present study reports the joining of fused deposition modelling (FDM) printed dissimilar thermoplastic composite materials (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and polyamide6 (PA6) both extrusion grade) as a case study of FSSW by using melt flow compatible RT. The study suggested that 15% Al metal particulate reinforcement to ABS and 50% Al reinforcement to PA6 exhibits melt flow compatibility with feasibility of FSSW. The FSSW of dissimilar materials suggested that 1400 rpm rotational speed; 20 s stirring time and 2 mm pin depth of RT resulted into superior flexural strength (FS) and thermal properties. The results are also supported by thermal images, force measurement and optical photo-micrographs.