Mechanical and Microstructural Properties of HDPE Pipes Manufactured via Orbital Friction Stir Welding

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Mehdikhani H., Mostafapour A., Laieghi H., Najjar R., Lionetto F.

MATERIALS, cilt.15, sa.11, 2022 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus) identifier identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 15 Sayı: 11
  • Basım Tarihi: 2022
  • Doi Numarası: 10.3390/ma15113810
  • Dergi Adı: MATERIALS
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, Aerospace Database, CAB Abstracts, Communication Abstracts, Compendex, INSPEC, Metadex, Veterinary Science Database, Directory of Open Access Journals, Civil Engineering Abstracts
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: HDPE pipe, orbital friction stir welding (OFSW), tool design, morphology, mechanical properties, microstructural evaluation, OPTIMIZATION, PARAMETERS, BEHAVIOR, JOINTS
  • Açık Arşiv Koleksiyonu: AVESİS Açık Erişim Koleksiyonu
  • Gazi Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

In recent decades, extensive research has been performed on the friction stir welding of flat-shaped materials while pipe welding, particularly polymer pipes, still encounters challenging issues. This work presents a feasible route for joining high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes using an orbital friction stir welding (OFSW) set-up properly designed with a retractable pin tool. Fully consolidated joints were achieved using a portable heating-assisted OFSW system suited for on-site pipeline welding. The obtained joined pipes were characterized by a high-quality weld surface and a lack of defects arising from the tool-pin hole. The samples welded with the optimum parameters presented comparable properties with the base materials and even a slight increase in the tensile strength. The highest tensile and impact strengths were 14.4 MPa and 2.45 kJ/m(2), respectively, which is 105% and 89% of those of the base material. XRD, FTIR, and SEM were also applied to assess the property changes in the HDPE pipes after the FSW process. The morphological analysis evidenced that the crystalline structure of the welded sample was similar to that of the base material, proving the effectiveness of the proposed technology.