Friction Welding -2

Applications of Friction Welding

1.span over wide products for aerospace, agricultural, automotive, defense, marine and oil industries.
2.Automotive parts that are friction welded include gears, engine valves, axle tubes, driveline components, strut rods and shock absorbers
3. Hydraulic piston rods, track rollers, gears, bushings, axles and similar parts are commonly friction welded by the mmanufacturers of agricultural equipment
4. Friction welded aluminum/copper joints are in wide usage in the electrical industry.
5.Stainless steels are friction welded to carbon steels in various sizes for use in marine systems and water pumps for home and industrial use
6.Friction welded assemblies are often used to replace expensive casting and forgings
FRICTION STIR WELDING

Friction Stir Welding (FSW) is another variant process of friction welding
The basic problems with fusion welding of aluminum and its alloys are that they possess:
 Cast brittle dendritic structure,
 Micro porosity,
 Inferior mechanical and fatigue properties,
 Loss of strength in heat affected zone,
 Solidification and liquation cracking,
 Loss of alloying elements from the weld pool.

Inertia welding or (Friction Stir Welding) is a modified form of friction welding, where the moving piece is attached to a rotating flywheel. The flywheel is brought to a specified rotational speed and is then separated from the driving motor. The rotating assembly is then pressed against the stationary member and the kinetic energy of the flywheel is converted into frictional heat. The weld is formed when the flywheel stops its motion and the pieces remain pressed together. Since the conditions of the inertia welding are easily duplicated, welds of consistent quality can be produced and the process can be easily automated.

FSW Application
The industrial application of friction stir welding includes following :
 Aerospace: Wings, fuselage, cryogenic fuel tanks, aviation fuel tanks, aircraft structure, and external aircraft throw away tanks.
 Marine: Deck panes, bulkheads, floors, hull and superstructures, refrigeration plants, internal frameworks, marine and transport structures.
 Railway: High speed trains, container bodies, railway tankers, good wagon and underground rolling stocks.
 Automotive: Engine and chassis cradles, wheel rims, tailored blanks, armour plate vehicles,motorcycle and bicycle frames, buses and airfield vehicles, fuel tankers, suspension parts, crash boxes.
 Construction: Bridges, reactors for power and chemical industries, pipelines, heat exchangers, air conditioners, offshore drilling rigs etc.
 Other applications include: Electric motor housing, connectors, busbars, encapsulation of electronics and joining of aluminum to copper, food tins etc.