A Hybrid Thermal Assisted Friction Stir Welding Approach for PMMA Sheets

Subject Areas :

Mojtaba Rezaee Hajideh ¹ , Mohammadreza Farahani ² , Masoud Ahmad Khanbeigi ³

1 - MSc. School of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran
2 - Associate Professor, School of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
3 - MSc. School of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran

Received: 2017-09-18 Accepted : 2017-11-02 Published : 2017-05-01

Keywords: Thermoplastic Polymer, Poly Methyl Methacrylate, Thermal Assisted Friction Stir Welding,

Abstract :

The widespread application of thermoplastic polymers in different aspects of industries hasmotivated researchers and companies to improve and upgrade their forming, joining and assemblingprocesses to overcome their limitations. One of the newest joining methods of thermoplastics isfriction stir welding which is based on frictional heat generated through contact between a rotatingtool and the workpiece. A hybrid thermal assisted friction stir welding approach was proposed inthis study for two Poly methyl methacrylate sheets. In this method, the stationary shoe was heatedup to the specified temperature and then the FSW tool was gradually plunged toward the clampedsheets. The effects of different process parameters such as rotational and traverse speeds and theheater temperature on the mechanical properties of the joints were studied. Results showed thatapplying the optimum rotational speeds of 1600 rpm and highest traverse speeds of 12.5 mm/minwith the stationary shoe heats up to 70% of base polymer melting temperature which leads to thehighest joint performance with strength equal to 95% of PMMA strength.