Ultrasonic welding of CF/PPS composites with integrated triangular energy directors

Ultrasonic welding of CF/PPS composites with integrated triangular energy directors: melting, flow and weld strength development

Villegas, I.F. (TU Delft Structural Integrity & Composites)
Palardy, G. (TU Delft Structural Integrity & Composites)

2017-06-13

This paper presents a fully experimental study on melting, flow and weld strength development during ultrasonic welding of CF/PPS composites with integrated triangular energy directors. The main goal of this research was assessing whether the heating time to achieve maximum weld strength could be significantly reduced as compared to ultrasonic welding with flat energy directors. The main conclusion is that, in the specific case under study, the triangular energy directors did heat up, melt and collapse approximately two times faster than the time it took for the flat energy directors to melt and significantly flow. However the heating time needed to achieve maximum weld strength for the integrated triangular energy directors did not differ drastically from that for flat energy directors. This was caused by the fact that a fully welded overlap was not directly achieved right after the collapsing of the triangular energy directors. Instead a solidified resin-rich interface was created which needed to be re-melted as a whole in order to achieve a fully welded overlap and hence maximum weld strength.

flat energy directors
Thermoplastic composites
triangular energy directors
ultrasonic welding

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:f897bd5b-a8be-4364-af2b-ca65ab3e36b8

https://doi.org/10.1080/09276440.2017.1236626

0927-6440

Composite Interfaces (Print), 24 (5), 515-528

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2017 I.F. Villegas, G. Palardy