The Effects of Friction Stir Welding (FSW) of Polypropylene (PP) on Tensile Strength

Friction Stir Welding (FSW) is a derivative of welding technique which applied the
frictional energy conversion into thermal energy to melt the joint. The main objective of
this report is to investigate and determine the effects ofFSW technique of Polypropylene
(PP) on their mechanical tensile strength. For that reason, the project needs to investigate
the required parameters for PP friction stir welding. Currently, the FSW is applied for
joining metals only. But the plastic joining method needs a new and reliable welding
technique as well. Simultaneously with dynamic development of engineering plastics,
the joining method for polymeric materials also increases. So, this paper will elaborate
briefly on the applicability of FSW on PP plates and how to determine suitable
parameters to do plastic joining using FSW technique and explain the effects of FSW
procedure on plastics. The scope of study for this project includes the possibility of FSW
of PP on the butt joining, the tool geometry as well as the welding parameters and the
tensile strength of the welded PP. The proper project planning has been done started
with fabrication of the tool for FSW, the familiarization of FSW procedure, test several
parameters of FSW on PP and last but not least run the tensile test on the welded PP to
get the strength and compared to the base PP. As a conclusion, this project found that the
FSW of PP on the butt joint is practically successful given the tensile strength of welded
PP compared to its based material is up to 20%. Apart from that, the joining structure of
FSW on PP is similar to the FSW of metals.