Enhancing the bending strength of PEEK biomedical material welding parts using continuous drive friction welding with progressively increased welding area method.

In practical application, continuous drive friction welding (CDFW) has low-energy consumption in the welding field. Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) is a high-performance engineering thermoplastic that belongs to the polyaryletherketone family. PEEK is known for its exceptional mechanical, thermal, and chemical properties, making it suitable for a wide range of applications in various industries. However, many pores were found in the weld interface, showing the mechanical properties of PEEK welded samples are limited. To solve this problem, this study proposed an innovative progressively increased welding area (PIWA) method to reduce pores inside the weld interface. The experimental results showed that the bending strength of the PEEK welded samples using optimal process parameters can be increased by approximately 66% compared with the maximum bending strength of 180 MPa using the conventional method with a cone angle of 180°. The proposed PIWA method has industrial applicability and practical value because this technique can enhance the mechanical properties of PEEK welded samples under low environmental pollution and energy consumption. Two distinct welding mechanisms of PEEK biomedical material were observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]