Friction Stir Welding Tool Cooling Jacket and Insulation
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Solution Overview
Problem
General-purpose machine tools are not designed to handle the high heat conduction from friction stir welding tools, leading to potential damage to spindle bearings, retainer portions, and thermal expansion issues.
Innovation Solution
A friction stir welding tool with a cooling jacket on the chuck and a heat insulating portion between the shank and chuck, along with a contact-prevention dent on the chuck and shank, to reduce heat conduction to the spindle, and a temperature marker for visual monitoring.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If friction stir welding is performed with a welding tool attached to a general-purpose machine tool, then the welding operation can be conducted, but heat conduction to the spindle adversely affects the spindle, bearing, and mechanism
Solution Approach 1:
A cooling jacket is introduced as an intermediary component between the welding tool and the spindle. This cooling jacket circulates coolant to actively manage heat, preventing direct heat conduction from the welding zone to the spindle, thereby protecting the spindle while enabling welding operations
Solution Approach 2:
The thermal parameters of the system are changed by introducing active cooling. The cooling jacket modifies the temperature distribution along the tool-spindle interface, maintaining the spindle within safe temperature ranges while allowing the welding tool to operate at high temperatures
2Temperature
If a cooling jacket is provided on the chuck to cool the chuck, then heat conduction to the spindle is restrained, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling jacket is designed to utilize the existing spindle coolant system, making the cooling function multi-purpose. The same coolant infrastructure serves both the original machining functions and the new friction stir welding cooling requirements, avoiding the need for a completely separate cooling system
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Effectively restrains heat conduction to the spindle, preventing damage and allowing for safe operation of friction stir welding on general-purpose machine tools.
Implementation Method 1
the heat is cooled by the chuck and the heat conduction to the shank and the spindle can be restrained
Data Source
AI summary
A friction stir welding tool attachable to a spindle of a machine tool includes: a shank connected to the spindle; a chuck connected to the shank through a heat insulating portion; a welding tool connected to the chuck and usable for friction stir welding; and a cooling jacket provided on a circumferential surface of the chuck. The cooling jacket is provided with a refrigerant path for delivering a refrigerant.