Analysis of the Strength and Quality Properties of Welded PVC Profiles with Glass Fiber Composite Reinforcement in the Context of Milling and Weld Head Feed.

Abstract

Building materials, including polyvinyl chloride (PVC), play a key role in construction engineering, influencing the durability, esthetics, and functionality of structures. PVC stands out for its lightness, thermal insulation, and corrosion resistance. This makes it competitive with wood, aluminum, or steel, particularly in the manufacture of window joinery. One of the key technological processes in the processing of PVC profiles is welding, the quality of which depends on the precise control of parameters such as the temperature, time, and pressure regulating the speed of the welding heads. In modern welding machines, the use of servo drives guarantees the adequate precision and repeatability of the process, which allows better adjustment to technological requirements than in older machines. This study aimed to determine the effect of the heating head feed rate for selected milling depths on the quality and strength of window frame welds. A criterion in the assessment of the strength of the window frames was the result of failure load tests on the welds. In addition, the tests took into account the quality of the welds. The tests showed that the welding head feed rate of 0.25 mm/s generated the highest-quality welds, taking into account the continuity and symmetry of the weld and its highest failure load. When milling the composite to a depth of 1 mm, the average value of the failure load was 3637 N. Meanwhile, for speeds of 0.19 mm/s and 0.31 mm/s, it was 3157 N and 3033 N, respectively. For the 0.5 mm milling variant and without milling the composite, the average load values were significantly smaller.