Heat-assisted friction stir welding of polymeric nanocomposite

ABSTRACT

In the present study, the feasibility of friction stir welding (FSW) of polyamide 6/Nitrile butadiene rubber composite was carried out with and without an additional heating system. By controlling heat input and cooling rate, sound joints were obtained during heat-assisted FSW. Mechanical tests under different rotational speeds were performed to probe the tool design efficiency. Produced welds with a heating system minimised improper fusion and defect formation, which resulted in considerable improvement of mechanical properties. Tensile strength and hardness still have lower values at the presence of NBR phase; introducing halloysite nanotubes into PA6 matrix resolved this issue. The highest tensile strength was 61 MPa with over 91% of base material strength. Results are corroborated by photomicrographs.

KEYWORDS:

• Polymer-matrix composite (PMCs)
• mechanical properties
• friction stir welding (FSW)
• weldability
• microstructural characteristics

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Hossein Laieghi http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8470-662X

Sina Alipour http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6115-5733

Amir Mostafapour https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5608-9831