Characterization of the Polyetheretherketone Weldment Fabricated via Rotary Friction Welding

Chil-Chyuan Kuo; Hua-Xhin Liang; Song-Hua Huang

doi:10.3390/polym15234552

Characterization of the Polyetheretherketone Weldment Fabricated via Rotary Friction Welding

Polymers (Basel). 2023 Nov 27;15(23):4552. doi: 10.3390/polym15234552.

Authors

Chil-Chyuan Kuo^{1

2

3

4}, Hua-Xhin Liang¹, Song-Hua Huang⁵

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 Rd., Guishan District, Taoyuan City 33302, Taiwan.
⁴ Center of 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 24301, Taiwan.

Abstract

Polyether ether ketone (PEEK) is frequently employed in biomedical engineering due to its biocompatibility. Traditionally, PEEK manufacturing methods involve injection molding, compression molding, additive manufacturing, or incremental sheet forming. Few studies have focused on rotational friction welding (RFW) with PEEK plastics. Based on years of RFW practical experience, the mechanical properties of the weldment are related to the burn-off length. However, few studies have focused on this issue. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to assess the effects of burn-off length on the mechanical properties of the welded parts using PEEK polymer rods. The welding pressure can be determined by the rotational speed according to the proposed prediction equation. The burn-off length of 1.6 mm seems to be an optimal burn-off length for RFW. For the rotational speed of 1000 rpm, the average bending strength of the welded parts was increased from 108 MPa to 160 Mpa, when the burn-off length was increased from 1 mm to 1.6 mm and the cycle time of RFW was reduced from 80 s to 76 s. A saving in the cycle time of RFW of about 5% can be obtained. The bending strength of the welded part using laser welding is lower than that using RFW, because only the peripheral material of the PEEK cylinder was melted by the laser.

Keywords: bending strength; burn-off length; cycle time; polyether ether ketone; rotational friction welding.

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.