Friction welding
AssigneeROLLS-ROYCE plc
InventorAlexander J. Bagnall
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Blades (20) are friction welded onto a disc (10) to form an integrally bladed rotor. To prevent the formation of defects in the weld interface between the blades (20) and the disc (10) a shielding gas is used. The shielding gas is introduced via two nozzles (22,24). The nozzles (22,24) are circumferentially spaced apart and located on opposite sides of the weld interface. The two gas flows oppose one another to create a curtain of gas, which flows around the weld interface. The gas curtain shields the weld interface from air and so reduces the formation of defects due to oxidation.
Claims13
A method of friction welding workpieces together at en interface comprising the steps of holding a first workpiece in a fixed relationship to a second workpiece, oscillating the second workpiece with respect to the first workpiece, applying a load between the first and second workpieces so as to generate a temperature at the interface between the workpieces which is sufficient to weld the workpieces together, introducing opposing flows of a shielding gas on opposite sides of the interface to produce a continuous flow of shielding gas around the interface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.