Thermoplastics are higher in demand in the era of the advancing technology. Thermoplastic material is very useful in almost every field. Friction stir welding is a solid-stateprocess of joining the thermoplastic polymer. In this situation, attempts were made to joining the polypropylene plate of 6mm thickness with a conical threaded tool pin. Visual inspection was performed to check the surface quality of the welds. The results of the tensile testing show a better ductility of the welded joint with maximum tensile strength 19.41 MPa and joint efficiency 54.29 percent. Experiments were performed on varying tool rotational speed 270 to 545 rpm, feed rate 20 to 50 mm/min, and tilt angle ± 0˚ to 50˚ using L9 orthogonal array of Taguchi method. The current studyaimsat optimizing process parameters to arrive at higher tensile strength.
Key words: Friction stir welding; polypropylene material; tool geometry; tensile testing.
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