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Journal of Mechatronics and Automation

Experimental Investigation of Flexural Strength and Impact Strength of Friction Stir Welded Ultrahigh Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE)

  1. Kalpesh R Patel
  2. K G Dave

Abstract

Friction stir welding (FSW) is a solid-state process in joining thermoplastic materials. Polymers are engineering materials used for future technological development as the polymer processing and fabrication techniques have developed plastic products and components in major industries. Utilization of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) material in engineering structures has increased because of its low weight, high specific strength, chemical resistance, design flexibility, corrosion resistance and reduced manufacturing costs. In present study, FSW process is applied to join a UHMWPE plate of 10 mm thickness with specially designed threaded tool pin profile. Full factorial design with four levels was used as a statistical design of experiment technique to set the optimal welding parameters. Rotational speed of the pin, welding speed and tool pin length were considered as varying parameters. Obtained results show a significant relationship between mechanical properties of welded joint and processing parameters through an analysis of variance (ANOVA).

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