Investigations on FSW of nylon micro-particle enhanced 3D printed parts applied to a Clark-Y UAV wing

Abstract

3D printing, considered as a revolutionary manufacturing process of industry 4.0 has a fundamental hurdle of the maximum physical size of parts it can print. Sectioning the CAD model and later joining/welding them can be a meaningful solution to circumvent this issue. This article explores the joining of micro-particle enhanced dissimilar 3D-printed parts fabricated from generally preferred materials (PLA/ABS) by the Friction Stir Welding (FSW) technique. The aim being 2-fold; to circumvent the bed size limitation of the commercially offered 3D printers and secondly to analyze the effect of Nylon micro-particles on the joint strength of FSWed parts. Critical parameters related to the process were identified, while their significance and mutual interactions were established and validated using DOE/ANOVA statistical tools. The reliable findings showed that adding Nylon micro-particles resulted in the joint strength reaching up to 76% in the case of PLA while it had a detrimental effect on ABS. Further, statistical results revealed that the material combination played a significant role (with a contributing factor of 95.78%) affecting the joint’s strength and its geometric properties (flatness). The revamped results when applied to assemble a Clark-Y wing having a span of 400 mm, displayed good strength as well as a metrological acceptable flatness value of 0.68 µ/m. With the proposed technique, it is anticipated that joining/welding techniques will become a more accepted method in the future, increasing the acceptability of smaller 3D printers.

Keywords:

• Friction stir welding
• joining of 3D printed parts
• bed size limitation
• Clark-Y
• flatness

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Additive Manufacturing and Reverse Engineering Lab for the research facilities, KLS Gogte Institute of Technology, and Visveswaraya Technological University (VTU), Belagavi for the research encouragement. They also thank Mr. Sumedh Desai, Mr. Samarth Maidaragi, Suraj Kumar B. K., and Vishal R. Khanagavi—UG students, Department of Mechanical Engineering for conducting the experimental trials.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by Karnataka Council of Technological Upgradation (KCTU) (KCTU/R&D/KLSGIT/2016-17/162) under Government of Karnataka (GOK).