LARSER AND FRICTION STIR WELDING:

WELDING:

“ Welding is a fabrication process whereby two or more parts are fused together by means
of heat, pressure or both forming a join as the parts cool. Welding is usually used on metals and
thermoplastics but can also be used on wood. The completed welded joint may be referred to as a
weldment.”

TYPES OF WELDING:

There are 50 different types of welding. The main four are following.

 MIG welding.
 TIG welding.
 Stick-Shielded welding.
 Flux -cored welding.
 Laser Welding.
 Friction stir Welding.

BUT WE WILL DISCUSS ONLY LASER AND FRICTION STIR WELDING

1. LASER WELDING:

“Laser welding is a process

used to join together metals or
thermoplastics using a laser
beam to form a weld.”
Principle of Laser Welding:

Laser welder is intended to solder, and weld plastic using the laser beam. Laser beam does not scatter
as the light bulb light does, and the beam is directed in the same direction in parallel. As such, high
energy density is the characteristic of a laser beam.

Steps of Laser welding:

1. The laser focus spot is targeted on the workpiece surface to be welded.

2. At the workpiece surface the concentration of light energy converts into thermal energy (heat).

3. The heat causes the surface of the material to melt, which progresses through the surface by the process
of surface conductivity.

4. Throughout the welding the beam energy level is maintained below the vaporization temperature of the
workpiece material.

Types of Laser welding:

There are two types of Laser Welding.

 Heat conduction welding.

 Keyhole welding.
Advantages of Using Laser Welding:

Laser welding offers several advantages that are often not found in other welding methods. Some of the
defining characteristics of laser welding are.

 The whole welding process can be easily automated using a CAD/CAM setup
 No electrode is used in the process
 No form of tool wear occurs
 Laser welding is highly specific in targeting
 High-quality welds are obtained

2. FRICTION STIR WELDING:

“Friction stir welding (FSW) is a solid state joining process that uses frictional
heat generated by a rotating tool to join materials.”

Principle of Friction
Welding:

Friction welding uses the principle of heat generation by friction between two members. During
the friction welding process, two surfaces to be welded are made to rub against each other at very high
speed. The developed friction between the rotating and non-rotating surface produces enough heat at the
weld interface.
 This diagram shows the basic Principle of Friction welding.

The Process of Friction Welding:

1. Frictional contact phase. One of the workpieces is rotated.

2. Friction phase. The contact surfaces heat up due to the relative motion (rotation) and the
simultaneous pressure.
3. Forge phase. The rotation stops and the pressure is increased once again.
4. Holding phase.

Types of Friction Welding:

 There are four types of welding.

 Rotary Friction welding
 Linear Friction welding
 Friction Stir welding
 Friction Stir Spot welding

Advantages of Friction welding:

 No need for filler wire or shielding gas.

 Expanded types of welds.
 Improved safety due to the absence of toxic fumes and molten splatter.
 Lower setup costs and less training.
 Great weld appearance and minimal under/over matching.

THE END