Rotary Friction Welding of Polyetheretherketone Biopolymer Rods Using Variable Rotational Speed

Chil-Chyuan Kuo; Hua-Xhin Liang; Song-Hua Huang; Shih-Feng Tseng

doi:10.3390/polym15204077

Rotary Friction Welding of Polyetheretherketone Biopolymer Rods Using Variable Rotational Speed

Polymers (Basel). 2023 Oct 13;15(20):4077. doi: 10.3390/polym15204077.

Authors

Chil-Chyuan Kuo^{1

2

3

4}, Hua-Xhin Liang¹, Song-Hua Huang⁵, Shih-Feng Tseng⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ming Chi University of Technology, No. 84, Gungjuan Road, New Taipei City 24301, Taiwan.
² Research Center for Intelligent Medical Devices, Ming Chi University of Technology, No. 84, Gungjuan Road, New Taipei City 24301, Taiwan.
³ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Chang Gung University, No. 259, Wenhua 1st Road, Guishan District, Taoyuan City 33302, Taiwan.
⁴ Center for Reliability Engineering, Ming Chi University of Technology, No. 84, Gungjuan Road, Taishan District, New Taipei City 24301, Taiwan.
⁵ Li-Yin Technology Co., Ltd., No. 37, Lane 151, Section 1, Zhongxing Road, Wugu District, New Taipei City 241, Taiwan.
⁶ Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Taipei University of Technology, No. 1, Section 3, Zhongxiao E. Road, Da'an District, Taipei City 106344, Taiwan.

Abstract

Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) is a promising biomaterial due to its excellent mechanical properties. Most PPEK manufacturing methods include additive manufacturing, injection molding, grinding, pulse laser drilling, or incremental sheet forming. Rotary friction welding (RFW) is a promising bonding technique in many industries. However, very few studies have focused on the RFW of PEEK. Conventionally, the number of revolutions is fixed during the welding process. Remarkably, the rotary friction welding of PEEK polymer rods using an innovative variable rotational speed is investigated in this study. The average bending strength of the welded part using a three-stage transformation rotational speed was enhanced by about 140% compared with a rotational speed of 1000 rpm. The advantage of computer numerical controlled RFW of PEEK using variable rotational speed is a reduced cycle time of RFW. A reduction in cycle time of about 6% can be obtained using the proposed RFW with a three-stage transformation rotational speed. The innovative approach provides low environmental pollution and high energy efficiency and complies with sustainable development goals.

Keywords: peak temperature; polyetheretherketone; rotational friction welding; variable rotational speed; weld joint.

Grants and funding

This study received financial support from the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan under contract nos. NSTC 111-2221-E-131-015-MY2, MOST 110-2221-E-131-023, and MOST 109-2637-E-131-004.