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. 2023 Nov 8;15(22):4354.
doi: 10.3390/polym15224354.

Rotary Friction Welding of Dissimilar Polymer Rods Containing Metal Powder

Chil-Chyuan Kuo  1   2   3   4 , Hong-Wei Chen  1 , Song-Hua Huang  5
Affiliations

Rotary Friction Welding of Dissimilar Polymer Rods Containing Metal Powder

Chil-Chyuan Kuo et al. Polymers (Basel). .

Abstract

Three-dimensional printing is widely used for manufacturing a variety of functional components. However, the 3D printing machine substantially limits the size of the functional components. Rotary friction welding (RFW) is a possible solution to this problem. In addition, there is a notable scarcity of research directed toward the domain knowledge of RFW involving dissimilar polymer rods containing metal powder. In this study, two welding specimens fabricated by polylactic acid (PLA)-containing copper powder and PLA-containing aluminum powder were joined using a turning machine. After RFW, a bending test and a Shore A surface hardness test were performed to investigate the weld quality. It was found that the bending strength of the welded parts fabricated by RFW of PLA and PLA-containing Al powder rods can be enhanced by about 57.5% when the welded part is placed at 45 °C. Surface hardness test results showed that the surface hardness of the weld interface is better than that of the 3D printed parts, and the average surface hardness of the weld interface from RFW of PLA and PLA is the highest. The surface hardness of the weld joint is about 3% higher than that of the base material. The surface hardness of the heat-affected zone is about 3% lower than that of the base material. The average peak temperature of the welded joint is the highest in the RFW of PLA-containing Al powder and PLA-containing Al powder rods. The average peak temperature of the weld joint can be as high as 160 °C. The average peak temperature of the welded joint is the highest in the RFW of PLA-containing Cu powder and PLA-containing Cu powder rods. The average peak temperature of the welded joint can be as high as 144 °C. A technical database was built for the selection of ambient temperatures used for the RFW of dissimilar polymer rods containing metal powder and three base materials.

Keywords: aluminum powder; ambient temperature; copper powder; polylatic acid; rotary friction welding.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram of the experimental process.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Three-dimensional digital model sliced by three-dimensional printing software.
Figure 3
Figure 3
FRW of PLA-containing Al and PLA-containing Cu powders.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Experimental setup for (a) surface hardness and (b) bending strength tests of frictionally welded parts.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Schematic diagram of the surface hardness measurement location.
Figure 6
Figure 6
The chemical composition of the filaments of (a) PLA-containing Al and (b) PLA-containing Cu powders for making the welding specimens.
Figure 7
Figure 7
FE-SEM micrograph of two different RFW samples: (a) PLA-containing Cu and (b) PLA-containing Al powders.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Nine different kinds of specimens for evaluating mechanical properties: (a) pure PLA, (b) PLA-containing Cu powder, (c) PLA-containing Al powder, (d) RFW of PLA and PLA, (e) RFW of PLA-containing Cu powder and PLA-containing Cu powder, (f) RFW of PLA-containing Al powder and PLA-containing Al powder, (g) RFW of PLA-containing Al powder and PLA-containing Cu powder, (h) RFW of PLA and PLA-containing Cu powder, and (i) RFW of PLA and PLA-containing Al powder.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Bending strength of RFW specimens in comparison with pure materials.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Bending test results of nine different specimens: (a) pure PLA, (b) PLA-containing Cu powder, (c) PLA-containing Al powder, (d) RFW of PLA and PLA, (e) RFW of PLA-containing Cu powder and PLA-containing Cu powder, (f) RFW of PLA-containing Al powder and PLA-containing Al powder, (g) RFW of PLA-containing Al powder and PLA-containing Cu powder, (h) RFW of PLA and PLA-containing Cu powder, and (i) RFW of PLA and PLA-containing Al powder.
Figure 11
Figure 11
Thermal analyses of the two welded parts: (a) RFW of PLA-containing Al powder and PLA-containing Al powder rod and (b) RFW of PLA-containing Cu powder and PLA-containing Cu powder rod.
Figure 12
Figure 12
Surface hardness of RFW specimens in comparison to pure materials.
Figure 13
Figure 13
Surface hardness distributions of the welded part.
Figure 14
Figure 14
Temperature as a function of time in the weld interface for six welded parts.
Figure 15
Figure 15
Peak temperatures in the weld interface for six welded parts.
Figure 16
Figure 16
Bending strength of the welded parts under different ambient temperatures.
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