scholarly journals A Study on Through-the-Thickness Heating in Continuous Ultrasonic Welding of Thermoplastic Composites

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (21) ◽  
pp. 6620
Author(s):  
Bram C. P. Jongbloed ◽  
Julie J. E. Teuwen ◽  
Rinze Benedictus ◽  
Irene Fernandez Villegas
Keyword(s):  
Vibrational Energy ◽  
Continuous Process ◽  
Welding Process ◽  
Ultrasonic Welding ◽  
Thermoplastic Composites ◽  
Squeeze Flow ◽  
Transfer Model ◽  
Welding Interface ◽  
Energy Director ◽  
Energy Share

Continuous ultrasonic welding is a promising technique for joining thermoplastic composites structures together. The aim of this study was to gain further insight into what causes higher through-the-thickness heating in continuous ultrasonic welding of thermoplastic composites as compared to the static process. Thermocouples were used to measure temperature evolutions at the welding interface and within the adherends. To understand the mechanisms causing the observed temperature behaviours, the results were compared to temperature measurements from an equivalent static welding process and to the predictions from a simplified heat transfer model. Despite the significantly higher temperatures measured at the welding interface for the continuous process, viscoelastic bulk heat generation and not thermal conduction from the interface was identified as the main cause of higher through-the-thickness heating in the top adherend. Interestingly the top adherend seemed to absorb most of the vibrational energy in the continuous process as opposed to a more balanced energy share between the top and bottom adherend in the static process. Finally, the higher temperatures at the welding interface in continuous ultrasonic welding were attributed to pre-heating of the energy director due to the vibrations being transmitted downstream of the sonotrode, to reduced squeeze-flow of energy director due to the larger adherend size, and to heat flux originating downstream as the welding process continues.

scholarly journals Static ultrasonic welding of carbon fibre unidirectional thermoplastic materials and the influence of heat generation and heat transfer

2021 ◽  
pp. 002199832097681
Author(s):  
F Köhler ◽  
IF Villegas ◽  
C Dransfeld ◽  
A Herrmann
Keyword(s):  
Cross Sections ◽  
Weld Line ◽  
Welding Process ◽  
Ultrasonic Welding ◽  
Thermoplastic Composites ◽  
Squeeze Flow ◽  
Anisotropic Flow ◽  
Lap Shear ◽  
Anisotropic Thermal Conductivity ◽  
Edge Defects

Ultrasonic welding is a promising technology to join fibre-reinforced thermoplastic composites. While current studies are mostly limited to fabric materials the applicability to unidirectional materials, as found in aerospace structures, would offer opportunities for joining primary aircraft structures. However, due to the highly anisotropic flow of a molten unidirectional ply undesired squeeze flow phenomena can occur at the edges of the weld overlap. This paper investigates how the fibre orientation in the plies adjacent to the weld line influences the welding process and the appearance of edge defects. Ultrasonic welding experiments with different layups and energy director configurations were carried out while monitoring temperatures at different locations inside and outside the weld overlap. The joints were characterized by single lap shear tests, analysis of corresponding fracture surfaces and microscopic cross-sections. Results showed that the anisotropic flow and the anisotropic thermal conductivity of the plies adjacent to the weld line have a distinct effect on the appearance and location of edge defects. By using energy directors that cover only part of the weld overlap area a new approach was developed to mitigate edge defects caused by the highly directional properties of the unidirectional plies.

The Effects of Energy Director Shape on Temperature Field during Ultrasonic Welding of Thermoplastic Composites

2007 ◽  
Vol 353-358 ◽  
pp. 2007-2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiu Chun Yan ◽  
Xiao Lin Wang ◽  
Rui Qi Li ◽  
Hui Bin Xu ◽  
Shi Qin Yang
Keyword(s):  
Welding Process ◽  
Element Model ◽  
Ultrasonic Welding ◽  
The Body ◽  
Thermoplastic Composite ◽  
Thermoplastic Composites ◽  
Glass Transformation ◽  
Different Shapes ◽  
Energy Director ◽  
Different Order

The ultrasonic welding process of thermoplastic composite with different shapes of energy director (ED) was simulated using finite element model. The results show that the highest temperature zone locates at the tip for the semicircular and triangular ones, and locates at the middle height for the trapezoid one. But it does not locate at the body of ED for the rectangular one. Energy director with different shapes lead to the temperature rising rate at different order of amplitude. The welding amplitude has same influence on the four shapes of ED. The temperature distributing profiles of semicircular, triangular and trapezoid ED keep constant from the initial welding time to that when the highest temperature on joints arrives the temperature of glass transformation (Tg), but the profile for rectangular ED changes greatly.

scholarly journals Continuous ultrasonic welding of thermoplastic composites: Enhancing the weld uniformity by changing the energy director

2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (15) ◽  
pp. 2023-2035 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bram Jongbloed ◽  
Julie Teuwen ◽  
Genevieve Palardy ◽  
Irene Fernandez Villegas ◽  
Rinze Benedictus
Keyword(s):  
Thin Film ◽  
Heat Generation ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Welding Process ◽  
Ultrasonic Welding ◽  
Thermoplastic Composites ◽  
Weld Strength ◽  
Good Contact ◽  
Energy Director ◽  
Welded Seam

Continuous ultrasonic welding is a high-speed joining method for thermoplastic composites. Currently, a thin film energy director is used to focus the heat generation at the interface. However, areas of intact energy director remain in the welded seam, which significantly lowers the weld strength, and result in a non-uniformly welded seam. To improve the weld uniformity of continuous ultrasonically welded joints, we changed to a more compliant energy director. A woven polymer mesh energy director was found to give a significant improvement in weld quality. The mesh was flattened in between the composite adherends during the welding process. This flattening promoted a good contact between the energy director and the adherends, fully wetting the adherend surfaces, resulting in a more uniformly welded seam without areas of intact energy director.

scholarly journals Thermal Modeling in Composite Transmission Laser Welding Process: Light Scattering and Absorption Phenomena Coupling

2014 ◽  
Vol 611-612 ◽  
pp. 1560-1567 ◽  
Author(s):  
André Chateau Akue Asseko ◽  
Benoît Cosson ◽  
Fabrice Schmidt ◽  
Rémi Gilblas ◽  
Yannick Le Maoult ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Light Scattering ◽  
Laser Welding ◽  
Analytical Model ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Welding Process ◽  
Thermoplastic Composites ◽  
Field Calculation ◽  
Laser Beam Intensity ◽  
Welding Interface ◽  
Laser Welding Process

In previous studies [1, , we have presented a detailed formulation of a macroscopic analytical model of the optical propagation of laser beams in the case of unidirectional thermoplastic composites materials. This analytical model presented a first step which concerns the estimation of the laser beam intensity at the welding interface. It describes the laser light path in scattering transparent composites (first component) by introducing light scattering ratio and scattering standard deviation. The absorption was assumed to be negligible in regard to the scattering effect. In this current paper, in order to describe completely the laser welding process in composite materials, we introduce the absorption phenomenon in the model, in the absorbing material (second component), in order to determine the radiative heat source generated at the welding interface. Finally, we will be able to perform a three dimensional temperature field calculation using a commercial FEM software. In laser welding process, the temperature distribution inside the irradiated materials is essential in order to optimize the process. Experimental measurements will be performed in order to valid the analytical model.

Micro Thin Film Sensor Embedded in Metal Structures for In-Situ Process Monitoring During Ultrasonic Welding

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xudong Cheng ◽  
Xiaochun Li
Keyword(s):  
Thin Film ◽  
Heat Generation ◽  
Welding Process ◽  
Ultrasonic Welding ◽  
Weld Strength ◽  
Welding Parameter ◽  
Welding Parameters ◽  
Thin Film Sensors ◽  
Welding Interface

The objective of this research is to develop an effective method, i.e., ultrasonic metal welding (USMW), to embed micro thin film sensors for metal tooling, and use micro thin film thermocouple study the heat generation during USMW. A complete understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of USMW does not yet exist, and the function of heat generation on weld formation is especially in argument due to the lack of the method to measure the temperature at the welding interface. Continuing on the previous preliminary study [1] which proved that thin film sensors can survive ultrasonic welding process, significant advances were made to improve sensor reliability as well as sensor fabrication effectiveness. These include the development of a new approach for batch production of the sensor units, improvement of the adhesion between metal encapsulating layers for the sensor, as well as the adhesion between the sensing layer and the dielectric layer. Welding experiments are conducted using a series of welding parameter settings with the in-situ data acquisition of temperature 50 μm away from the welding interface. Attempts are then made to correlate the heat generation to welding parameters. With the mechanical testing of the weld strength, the possibility of using heat generation as a weld strength indicator is explored.

Ultrasonic Welding of Glass Fiber Reinforced PP Thermoplastic Composites: An Investigation of the Outer Layer Orientation and the Fiber Volume Fraction

2020 ◽  
Vol 858 ◽  
pp. 3-13
Author(s):  
Murtada Abass A. Alrubaie
Keyword(s):  
Shear Strength ◽  
Glass Fiber ◽  
Outer Layer ◽  
Fiber Volume Fraction ◽  
Volume Fraction ◽  
Welding Process ◽  
Ultrasonic Welding ◽  
Fiber Volume ◽  
Energy Director ◽  
Welding Pressure

This paper presents an experimental study of the influence of the orientation of the outer layer of polypropeylene (PP) reinforced with E-glass fiber laminate (GF/PP) and the influence of the fiber volume fraction on the quality of the welded joint using an ultrasonic welding process. An orthogonal L 16 array (OA) design of experiment was conducted in this paper based on the Taguchi method to evaluate the effect of the orientation of the outer layer and the fiber volume fraction, on the welding process parameters; the welding energy, the amplitude of vibration, the welding pressure, the holding pressure and the holding time were considered in order to achieve a high weld quality. The experiments were carried out using a 15 kHz ultrasonic welding unit with a maximum supplied power of 4000-Watt. GF/PP laminates with fiber volume fraction of 36% and 46% were used in this paper, and the GF/PP laminates were either unidierctional or had a 90 degree outer layer orienation. A 0.127 mm thick polypropeylene film was used as a flat energy director (ED). The evaluation of the weld quality was measured by the apparent shear strength of the single lap welded joints, and by using laser shearography as a non-destructive inspection technique . The failure mechanism of the single lap joint was monitored, using a high speed digital imaging system. A combination of the highest selected level of welding energy, lowest level of amplitude, lowest level of welding pressure, and the lowest level of both hold time and hold pressure of a unidirectional GF/PP with the lowest fiber volume fraction, were found to achieve a higher apparent shear strength of the welded adherends, as compared with the apparent shear strength obtained with the presence of the flat energy director for the same level of factors. A confirmation experiment was conducted to measure the predicted apparent shear strength and compare it with the measured apparent shear strength from the test.

scholarly journals ROBOTIC SEQUENTIAL ULTRASONIC WELDING OF THERMOPLASTIC COMPOSITES: PROCESS DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
ABHAS CHOUDHARY, ◽  
IRENE FERNANDEZ
Keyword(s):  
Welded Joints ◽  
Industrial Robot ◽  
Welding Process ◽  
Ultrasonic Welding ◽  
Thermoplastic Composite ◽  
Thermoplastic Composites ◽  
Robot Arm ◽  
Spot Welds ◽  
Robotic Platform ◽  
Lap Shear

Multi-spot sequential ultrasonic welding is a promising joining technique for fibre-reinforced thermoplastic composites structures (TPC). In existing research on the multi-spot sequential ultrasonic welding process, welds are produced through the use of a static table-top welding machine, at a coupon level. However, in order to apply this joining technology to large structures, the welding process needs to be up-scaled through the use of a robotic platform. At the Smart Advanced Manufacturing (SAM|XL) automation field lab and TU Delft Aerospace Engineering, a robotic sequential ultrasonic welding system has been developed. The system consists of a welding end-effector (EEF) equipped with various sensors that enable online process monitoring and control, which can be mounted on an industrial robot arm to perform sequential multi-spot welds. The goal of this study was to assess the welding performance of the ultrasonic welding EEF, which was mounted on an industrial KUKA KR210 R2700 Extra 10-axis robot arm, by comparing it to the performance of welds produced through the static table-top machine. In this study, single and multi-spot welds were produced on thermoplastic composite coupons, based on welding conditions which were defined in a preliminary study. The robot and EEF deflections observed during the welding process were analysed to assess the deviation of the robotic process from the static one. The feedback obtained from the welding equipment in terms of consumed power and tool displacement in both processes was also compared. The weld quality was assessed though single lap shear testing of the welded joints as well as fractography of the failure surface. The results of this study indicate that the developed robotic welding process is quite robust and is capable of producing high-quality sequential welded joints despite significant system deflections observed during the welding process. Slightly lower welded area and weld strength was obtained which can be attributed to the system deflections. Finally, the results indicate that the use of a stiffer robotic platform as well as a stiffer EEF construction will result in better system rigidity and weld spot positioning accuracy, and through this the welding process shows promise for large-scale industrial applications.

scholarly journals Multi-Objective Optimization of Resistance Welding Process of GF/PP Composites

Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 2560
Author(s):  
Guowei Zhang ◽  
Ting Lin ◽  
Ling Luo ◽  
Boming Zhang ◽  
Yuao Qu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Welding Process ◽  
Welding Current ◽  
Resistance Welding ◽  
Thermoplastic Composites ◽  
Current Time ◽  
Process Factor ◽  
Welding Equipment ◽  
Lap Shear ◽  
Adhesive Connections

Thermoplastic composites (TPCs) are promising materials for aerospace, transportation, shipbuilding, and civil use owing to their lightweight, rapid prototyping, reprocessing, and environmental recycling advantages. The connection assemblies of TPCs components are crucial to their application; compared with traditional mechanical joints and adhesive connections, fusion connections are more promising, particularly resistance welding. This study aims to investigate the effects of process control parameters, including welding current, time, and pressure, for optimization of resistance welding based on glass fiber-reinforced polypropylene (GF/PP) TPCs and a stainless-steel mesh heating element. A self-designed resistance-welding equipment suitable for the resistance welding process of GF/PP TPCs was manufactured. GF/PP laminates are fabricated using a hot press, and their mechanical properties were evaluated. The resistance distribution of the heating elements was assessed to conform with a normal distribution. Tensile shear experiments were designed and conducted using the Taguchi method to evaluate and predict process factor effects on the lap shear strength (LSS) of GF/PP based on signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) and analysis of variance. The results show that current is the main factor affecting resistance welding quality. The optimal process parameters are a current of 12.5 A, pressure of 2.5 MPa, and time of 540 s. The experimental LSS under the optimized parameters is 12.186 MPa, which has a 6.76% error compared with the result predicted based on the S/N.

Experimental Investigations on Aluminium Ultrasonic Welding Parameters

2014 ◽  
Vol 657 ◽  
pp. 306-310
Author(s):  
Lăcrămioara Apetrei ◽  
Vasile Rață ◽  
Ruxandra Rață ◽  
Elena Raluca Bulai
Keyword(s):  
Microstructural Analysis ◽  
Base Material ◽  
Welding Process ◽  
Ultrasonic Welding ◽  
Experimental Investigations ◽  
Welding Parameters ◽  
Material Structure ◽  
Welding Temperature ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Made In

Research evolution timely tendencies, in the nonconventional technologies field, are: manufacture conditions optimization and complex equipments design. The increasing of ultrasonic machining use, in various technologies is due to the expanding need of a wide range materials and high quality manufacture standards in many activity fields. This paper present a experimental study made in order to analyze the welded zone material structure and welding quality. The effects of aluminium ultrasonic welding parameters such as relative energy, machining time, amplitude and working force were compared through traction tests values and microstructural analysis. Microhardness tests were, also, made in five different points, two in the base material and three in the welded zone, on each welded aluminium sample. The aluminum welding experiments were made at the National Research and Development Institute for Welding and Material Testing (ISIM) Timişoara. The ultrasonic welding temperature is lower than the aluminium melting temperature, that's so our experiments reveal that the aluminium ultrasonic welding process doesn't determine the appearance of moulding structure. In the joint we have only crystalline grains deformation, phase transformation and aluminium diffusion.

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