DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING,

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, UNIVERSITY OF JOS, JOS PLATEAU

STATE.

MEE 517 ASSIGNMENT (METAL FORMING AND WELDING)

TOPIC: FRICTION WELDING

BY

OKE OLAOSEBIKAN BLESSING

(UJ/2015/EN/0206)

FEBRUARY, 2021

FRICTION WELDING
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 Friction Welding (FRW) is a solid-state welding process which means that in
this process heat is not provided from outside the system and no molten state of
metal is present in this process. In this welding, process heat is generated by
mechanically induced friction by sliding a workpiece on another part of it. After
some time it gains high temperature which is called the plastic stage in which it is
ready to be coalesced by applying sufficient and necessary pressure on both parts
of the workpiece.

Working of friction welding

Fig.1 friction welding

In this welding process, the friction is used to generate heat at the interference
surface. This heat is further used to join two workpieces by applying external
pressure at the surface of the workpiece.

There are many techniques to perform friction welding, but the basic rule or
principle remains the same which can be seen as follows:-

1. Firstly one part of the workpiece is fixed on the chuck which is stationary
and the other part is placed in the rotor. Then the rotor is rotated at high
speed with the help of an external power source.
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 2. Now a high pressure is applied on the stationary workpiece which rubs
against the rotating workpiece and generates high friction. This friction
generates heat at the contact of both the workpieces. It is applied until the
plastic forming temperature is achieved.
3. The rotor is stopped when the pressure is applied increasingly until the
whole weld is formed.

Different types of friction welding

Any welding process that uses friction as a way to create the bond can be
termed as friction welding. However, there are four types of friction welding
processes fundamentally.

1. Rotary Friction Welding:

Fig. 2 rotary welding

Out of the two materials, one is rotated over the surface of the other where
the weld is required. The process uses compressive axial force and the high
rotation speeds. This combination causes the plasticizing of the two materials,
eventually leading to a bond between the two.

2. Linear friction welding:

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 Fig. 3 Linear friction welding

In this type of friction welding, one of the materials oscillates in relation

with the other at high speeds with high compressive forces in a reciprocating
motion. The resulting heat generated at the surfaces causes the metal to
plasticize, and the oxides or surface-level contaminants are burned off or expelled
at the sides.

3. Friction Stir Welding:

Fig. 4 friction stir welding

Friction stir welding uses a special tool with a cylindrical shoulder and a
profiled pin to create welds. The pin drives along the seam of the two workpieces
until the shoulder rests on the seam.

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 4. Friction Stir Spot welding:

Fig. 5 friction stir spot welding

Friction stir spot welding is one of the types of friction stir welding with one
major difference. In friction stir welding, the tool is moved along the seam of the
workpieces. However, in friction stir spot welding, the tool is rotated at a spot and
not moved. It spins and creates a weld, and the tool is lifted up, creating an exit
hole where the profiled pin was injected. The speed at which the relative motion
occurs and the pressure applied on the workpieces depends on the magnitude of
the heat needed to create the weld between the two metal parts. For steel,
friction welding generates anywhere between 900 and 1300 Celsius.

Advantages

 It can produce high quality of welds in a short period of time.

 No filler metal and flux is used in this process.
 It consumes less time than any other process.
 In this process, less skill is required to use it.
 Less area is affected by the heat produced in the process.
 A wide variety of metals can be operated on this system.

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Disadvantages

 This process is limited to angular and flat butt joints.

 The preparation of the workpiece is more critical than making a weld.
 The cost of the setup of the machine is very high.
 It can only be used for smaller parts of machines. Big parts are not
compatible with it.

Application

 It is used to make tubes and shafts.

 It is mostly used in aerospace, automobile, marine, and oil industries.
 Used in electrical industries for welding copper and aluminum equipment.
 It is used to weld Gear levers, drill bits, connecting rod, etc.

References
 https://interestingengineering.com/friction-welding-process-types-and-
advantages
 https://www.theweldingmaster.com/friction-welding/
 Google.com
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