Investigation of the Strength of a Friction-Welded Aluminium Alloy

Abstract

Friction welding is a solid state welding technique in which coalescence is produced by frictional heat generated by rotating one workpiece against another. It is a simple process that is readily adaptable to automatic control. It is tolerant to surface preparation, economical due to high production rate with less occurrence of porousity in the weld zone. In this work, friction welding of Aluminium alloy rod was carried out at various rotating speeds – 1200, 696 and 504 revolution per minute and at various welding duration. The parameters that produces the strongest weld was established and compared with strength of gas-welded and arc-welded specimens. The strongest weld obtained at a speed of 1200rpm has a UTS equals to 16.578M/mm2. The UTS for flame and arc welded specimens are 38.68 and 27.63N/ mm2 respectively