Friction welding with conoids

Details Friction welding with conoids Friction welding with conoids

2001-10-10

2003-10-28

Jones, Deborah (Department: 1775)

Stock material or miscellaneous articles

All metal or with adjacent metals

Defined configuration of both thickness and nonthickness...

C428S594000, C228S112100, C228S114500

Reexamination Certificate

active

06638641

ABSTRACT:

TECHNICAL FIELD
The technology described here generally relates to fusion bonding using dynamic frictional energy and, more particularly, friction welding by rotating one work surface relative to another about an axis.
BACKGROUND
Friction welding is a process in which metals, and/or other materials, are joined by heat which is generated when the parts are rubbed together under high pressure. The advantages of friction welding include very rapid completion rates, good mechanical properties, and the elimination of the need for shielding gases under most circumstances. There are at least twenty variants of friction welding processes. Some of those variants include rotary friction welding, friction stud welding, radial friction welding, linear friction welding, orbital friction welding, third-body friction welding, and friction taper plug welding.
Friction stir welding is a relatively new friction welding process. It involves rotating a small tool between two closely-butted components. Frictional heating causes the materials in the components to soften and the forward motion of the tool forces material from the front of the tool to the back, where it consolidates to form a solid state weld. Stir welding processes thus combine the flexibility of mechanized arc welding with the desirable results of friction welding.
Friction stir welding has been used to join various materials that will soften and co-mingle under applied frictional heat, including as metals and plastics. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,975,406, filed Feb. 27, 1998 by Mahoney et al. (and assigned at issuance to the Boeing Company) discloses a method to repair voids in aluminum alloys, and is incorporated by reference here in its entirety. As reproduced in
FIG. 1
of the present application, an aluminum work piece
30
with an anomaly void is machined in order to provide a tapered bore
34
with grooves and ridges
36
provided on the surface of the bore. A consumable tapered plug
38
is then inserted into the tapered bore
34
with a larger section
40
connected to a rotating motor (not shown).
As shown in
FIG. 2
, the included angle cc of the tapered bore
34
is preferably greater than the included angle of the tapered plug
38
in order to ease rotation of the tapered plug, and to prevent air from being between the tapered plug, tapered bore, and/or tapered ridges
36
. Until now, however, the shapes of the tapered plug
38
and tapered bore
34
have not been adequately considered with regard to friction stir welding and/or other friction welding processes.
SUMMARY
These and other drawbacks of conventional technology are addressed here by providing a joining method and friction welded structure including a first member with a conoid recess, and a second member with a second conoid tip that is friction welded to the recess in the first member. One, or both, of the conoids is preferably a non-spheroid, such as a paraboloid. In addition, the conoid recess preferably has a vertex angle that is greater than the vertex angle of the conoid tip.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5975406 (1999-11-01), Mahoney et al.
patent: 6106233 (2000-08-01), Walker et al.
patent: 6454531 (2002-09-01), Crawmer

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