Abstract
Friction Stir Welding (FSW) is a solid-state joining process for metals, non-metals and polymers. It is carried out with the help of a specially designed, non-consumable tool. The heat required, for creating a softened region at the faying surfaces, is generated by rotation of tool against the work piece material. Being a solid-state welding process, it offers several advantages like inducing minimum effect on the mechanical properties of base material, reduced shrinkage and distortion, no spatter or Ultra Violet (UV) radiations etc. However, developing a sound weld requires an appropriate combination of several process parameters e.g. the design of tool, its rotational and traversing speeds etc. To substantiate this aspect, an approach based on Response Surface Methodology (RSM) is presented during this paper that optimizes the combination of process parameters while investigating their effect on the mechanical properties of a friction stir welded butt joint configuration of Polycarbonate. To minimize the total number of combinations a Central Composite Rotatable Design (CCRD) is used with three factors and two levels. The results have shown that the butt joints fabricated at a traverse speed of 14 mm/min, rotational speed of 1700 RPM and with simple cylindrical conical tool geometry yielded the maximum ultimate tensile strength of 51.299 MPa.
Highlights
Welding is a metal joining process which is generally performed by fusing the adjoining surfaces while adding some additional filler material
The objective of this research was to use that combination of the above mentioned three parameters which resulted in maximizing the tensile strength of the welded joints
To minimize the number of possible combinations of the three different parameters while maximizing the tensile strength of the welded joints a central composite rotatable design was used in combination with a mathematical model developed by Response Surface Methodology (RSM)
Summary
Welding is a metal joining process which is generally performed by fusing the adjoining surfaces while adding some additional filler material. They used a Design Of Experiments (DOE) based analysis to study the effect of process parameters on the dimensions of Heat Affected Zone (HAZ) and strength of joint developed They concluded that better quality and strength was achieved in FSW as compared to conventional welding techniques. Mehta et al [10] developed an approach for the FSW of two dissimilar materials (Copper and AA6061T651) and observed the effect of process parameters on welded joints They argued that a defect free joint having a maximum strength of 133 MPa could be developed by using cylindrical tool pin profile. It was which significantly affect the strength of welded joints, is concerned Being motivated by this gap in research an approach, based on RSM in combination with CCD, is developed during this research which maximizes the weld strength by optimizing the combination of some significant process parameters like traversing speed, rotational speed, and tool geometry. Being motivated by this gap in research an approach, based on RSM in combination with CCD, is developed during this research which maximizes the weld strength by optimizing the combination of some significant process parameters like traversing speed, rotational speed, and tool geometry. 3D plot effects and ANOVA are used to verify and present the optimal level for each parameter
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