Physical modelling of cut welding.

Cut welding is a newly developed cold welding process by which the parts to be joined are shaved and immediately thereafter the clean surfaces are forced to slide one against the other and finally upset to obtain bonding. The process is of potential interest as an easy-to-automize and clean welding process to join metals like aluminium, copper, stainless steel and others. The present work describes experiments carried out to analyze the mechanisms involved in cut welding using wax as a model material. The experiments have shown that it is possible to simulate a solid phase welding process using a model material, this being the first work of this kind reported in the literature. The model material technique gives a very good illustration of the mechanisms involved in cut welding, and the experiments have emphasized that the flow pattern in cut welding is a governing factor with respect to the obtainable bonding area. Experiments with varying different parameters have shown that it is possible to influence the flow pattern during cut welding and in that way increase the area with good contact between the parts.