TWI Industrial Member Report Summary 868/2007
By K A Beamish, J R Pick and P L Threadgill
Background
Friction taper plug welding (FTPW) is a variant of friction welding which can be used for repairing holes.[1,2] This variant is capable of producing high quality welded joints for hole filling and can be applied in situations such as repairing isolated deep defects and filling mis-placed holes. The ability of friction welding techniques to adapt to a number of geometries is well established but its potential is perhaps not as widely known as it might be. There is the potential for the process to be applied in many industry sectors and interest has been shown in the development of the process for hole filling in aluminium. However, very little process information is available in the public domain, and the state of the art has not changed significantly since a previous TWI review in 2001.[3]
The current work develops the progress made in a previous report on process fundamentals for FTPW of AA6082-T6 aluminium alloy. In particular the effect of plate and consumable parameters, weld parameters, different joint geometries and plate thicknesses on the quality of FTPW has been investigated. Modifications to the welding machine have enabled torque to be measured and energy input to be calculated. Energy input may provide a potential indication of weld quality for a given plate thickness.
Objectives
- Establish the effect of component geometry on friction taper plug weld quality in AA6082-T6 aluminium alloy.
- Identify factors that may be used to predict the quality of a friction taper plug weld.