Welcome back to the Spinweld blog! This time around, we’re looking at the quality assurance process we use as we work on your friction welding projects.
How are friction welding products tested for safety?
Most quality assurance for friction welding is done as the product is being made. This is known as “in-process” testing.
Overall things that are looked for in friction welding quality assurance testing are:
- Machine temperature
- Forge force
- Friction force
- Rotation speed
- Axial displacement (Upset)
- Visual (weld curl, discoloring of metal, marring)
- T.I.R (Total indicator run out)
- Net material dimension
As you know, the beauty of friction welding is that you can join two materials that are not able to be welded traditionally. But before we can do that, we have to make sure those two materials are of good quality. During the R&D process there are many checks, measures, and tests that take place including:
- Chemical analysis
- Microstructures
- Strength and hardness
- Dimensions
- Tolerances
Part of the process also includes testing for a certain number of failures, essentially to guarantee that the weld is holding. This allows Spinweld to be absolutely sure that your product is going to be as strong as possible! Destructive quality control examinations commonly used for friction weldments include:
- Bend
- Tension
- Impact
- Metallography
- Fatigue
- Hardness
- Torsion
- Shear
Non-destructive testing includes:
- Ultrasonic testing
- Dimensional inspections
- Visual inspections
- Magnetic particle testing
- Pressure testing
- Radiographic, X-ray
- Liquid penetrant
- Eddy current
- Load testing
Spinweld also tests the environment in which the welding is taking place, considering:
- TESA Micro Hite, programmable, digital, height gage
- OPG 14” Optical Comparator
- Dino-Lite Pro Digital Microscope
- Tachometer RPM Gage
- Pressure Test Gage
- Thermal Range Gage
- Polishing Machine
- Bench Centers
- Roll Out Tables
- Granite Surface Plate 8”x3’x5’, 4”x12”x18”, Gage Blocks, Gage Pins, Height Gages, Bore Gages, Micrometers Depth, Micrometer Bore, Calipers, Indicators, Thread Ring Gages, Thread Plug Gages, etc.
