Hot plate welding of plastics: Factors affecting weld strength

Welded joints were made under a range of conditions in polypropylene, glass fiber reinforced polypropylene and poly (methylmethacrylate) bars. Melt flow in the weld was investigated by microscopy and by contact microradiography, and weld strengths were measured by tensile tests. The fracture toughness of the weld zone was determined by tests on double edge notched specimens. The study shows that weld strength is strongly affected by hot plate temperature, heating time and melt flow during welding. Insufficient heating or melt flow results in incomplete bonding. Excessive melt flow produces strong transverse orientation. Both reduce strength, but in different ways, which can be distinguished by fracture mechanics tests.     

Experimental characterization of processing-performance relationships of resistance welded graphite/polyetheretherketone composite joints

A study to investigate fusion bonding (welding) of AS4 graphite/polyetheretherketone (PEEK) thermoplastic composites is presented. Processing studies are conducted for resistance welding preconsolidated AS4/PEEK laminates in both unidirectional and quasi-isotropic configurations using PEEK and polyetherimide (PEI) film at the joint interface. All bonding was done under a constant displacement process. The influence of processing time, initially applied consolidation pressure, and the rate of heat generation on weld performance is examined through lap shear and Mode I interlaminar fracture toughness testing. A rapid increase in strength with processing time that asymptotically approaches the compression molded baseline is measured. Weld times for quasi-isotropic lap shear coupons are significantly shorter than those with a unidirectional lay-up. Variation of the initially applied consolidation pressure is shown to have little influence on the lap shear strength of PEEK film welded lap joints. A discussion of the mechanisms allowing void formation during the welding process is given. Bond strength test results are correlated with ultrasonic C-scans of the weld regions.     

Energy transfer and bond strength in ultrasonic welding of thermoplastics

This paper describes an investigation into some fundamental aspects of ultrasonic welding of thermoplastics. A simple model was developed to characterize the temperature rise at the weld interface up to the glass transition temperature. Beyond this point, the temperature increases more rapidly and almost directly proportional to weld time. The rate of temperature rise increases with increase of amplitude of vibration. The correlation between weld strength and interface temperature was established using the method of dimensional analysis. It was found that the process can be optimized in terms of weld strength by monitoring the power input. There is an optimal load one can apply to achieve high weld strength. The overall efficiency of the process is rather low in terms of energy usage.     

Ultrasonic and impulse welding of polylactic acid films

The weldability of polylactic acid (PLA) is examined in this article. Biaxially oriented PLA films of various thicknesses were joined with impulse and ultrasonic welding techniques. Relatively high weld strengths were achieved with impulse welding over a wide range of welding parameters. Ultrasonic welding produced high weld strengths with relatively short cycle times. In detail, ultrasonic welded samples had a weld factor (weld strength/base material strength) of 1 at cycle times of 0.25 sec. The weld factor was significantly lower at shorter weld times and weld times above 0.35 sec. In contrast, 100‐μm thick samples joined by impulse welding for 2–3 sec had a weld factor of 1 and a standard deviation of only ±5%. The peak temperature during the impulse welding was measured to determine the fusion temperatures of the films. Mechanical, thermal, and optical analysis was used to examine the properties of the PLA at various welding and annealing conditions. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2011. © 2011 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Ultrasonic welding of thermoplastics in the near-field

Ultrasonic welding is one of the most popular techniques for joining thermoplastics because it is fast, economical, and easily automated. In near-field ultrasonic welding, the distance between the horn and the joint interface is 6 mm or less. This study investigated the near-field ultrasonic welding of amorphous (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene and polystyrene) and semicrystalline (polyethylene and polypropylene) polymers. High frequency ultrasonic wave propagation and attenuation measurements were made in order to estimate the dynamic mechanical moduli of the polymers. The estimated moduli were entered into a lumped parameter model in order to predict heating rates and energy dissipation. Experimental results showed that variations in the welding pressure had little effect on energy dissipation or joint strength; Increasing the amplitude of vibration increased the energy dissipation and the weld strength. For the semicrystalline polymers, increasing the weld time improved strength up to weld times greater than 1.5 s, where strength leveled off. For the amorphous polymers, the weld strength increased with Increasing weld time up to times of 0.8 s; for longer weld times, the power required was too high, causing overloading of the welder. Monitoring of the energy dissipation and static displacement or collapse provided valuable information on weld quality.     

Ultrasonic welding of thermoplastics in the far-field

In far-field ultrasonic welding of plastic parts the distance between the ultrasonic horn and the joint is greater than 6 mm. This study investigated the farfield ultrasonic welding of amorphous (acrylo butadiene styrene and polystyrene) and semicrystalline (polyethylene and polypropylene) polymers. Far-field welding worked well for amorphous polymers. Weld strength improved substantially with increasing amplitude of vibration at the joint interface. Increasing the weld pressure and/or the weld time also resulted in higher weld strengths. Far-field ultrasonic welding was not successful for semicrystalline polymers. The parts melted and deformed at the horn/part interface with little or no melting at the joint interface. A model for wave propagation in viscoelastic materials, which was developed to predict the vibration amplitude experienced at the joint interface, indicates that increasing the length of the samples to a half a wavelength should improve the far-field welding of semicrystalline polymers by maximizing the amplitude of vibration at the joint interface.     

Thickness effects in the vibration welding of polycarbonate

In vibration welding of thermoplastics, frictional work done by vibrating two parts under pressure, along their common interface, is used to generate heat to effect a weld. Past work on welding characterized the effects of weld parameters such as the weld frequency, the weld pressure, and the weld time, on the welding process and weld strength, and showed that the most important parameter affecting weld strength Is the weld penetration—the decrease in the distance between the parts being welded that is caused by lateral outflow of material in the molten film. However, those weld studies were based on specimens of constant nominal thickness (6.35 mm, 0.25 in). This paper is concerned with the effects of specimen thickness on the weld process and weld strength.     

A non-isothermal healing model for strength and toughness of fusion bonded joints of amorphous thermoplastics

A study to investigate the influence of processing on the fusion bonding of graphite (AS4) poly(etheretherketone) (PEEK) thermoplastic composites (BASF commingled PEEK/graphite NCS woven fabric) using a polyetherimide (PEI) film at the interface is presented. Fundamental to all fusion bonding processes is the intermolecular diffusion between surfaces in intimate contact. A model based on the healing theory of amorphous polymers has been proposed to predict strength and toughness as a function of non-isothermal process history. This model considers two different microscopic failure mechanisms of a healed interface. For the first time, using non-isothermal data and proper data reduction procedures, it is possible to differentiate between these two mechanisms, which are otherwise indistinguishable from isothermal data. Temperature dependent reptation times representative of the kinetics of chain diffusion in the polymer have been evaluated for both mechanisms over a large range of process temperatures using fracture tests conducted on lap shear specimens manufactured using a hot press. Three alternate and independent techniques to estimate the reptation time in PEI indicate that the model based on the average interpenetration distance is most representative of the physical system. Lap shear strength predictions based on this formulation have been generated for various non-isothermal conditions measured in the hot press and are within 20% of the experimental data. The model was used to show that in isothermal processes, maximum strength and toughness can be achieved in less than 1 s for temperatures exceeding 290°C. Application of the model to a highly non-isothermal technique such as resistance welding using amorphous film technology is also presented. Model predictions show that asymptotic strength may be achieved in relatively short process times with appropriate welding conditions.     

Consolidation and self-bonding in poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK)

The effects of processing variables (time, temperature, and pressure) on the strength development during self-bonding of amorphous PEEK films were studied using a modified single lap-shear test. It was shown that the self-bonding strength developed isothermally at different bonding temperatures exhibits a linear response with the bonding time raised to the 1/4 power in agreement with Wool's theory. DSC measurement of the crystallinity produced at different bonding conditions demonstrated that even though PEEK specimens contain the same amount of crystallinity, the resultant self-bonding strength is sensitively dependent on bonding history. C-mode scanning acoustic microscopy (C-SAM) was applied to define the effect of the processing variables on wetting of the bonding area during the bonding process. It was shown that, above a threshold pressure (< 17 psi), the degree of wetting depends weakly on time, but not on temperature. SEM analysis revealed that amorphous PEEK films are self-bonded by crystalline growth after diffusion and entanglement of the polymer chains across the interface. The crystalline growth rate across the interface is much higher at higher temperatures, leading to a higher self-bonding strength. The shear fracture surface observations also support the above result. The PEEK specimens showing the higher self-bonding strengths exhibit much denser striations and deeper dimplelike ductile patterns in the fracture surface, arising from much more crystalline growth across the interface. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Experiments on the induction welding of thermoplastics

In induction welding of thermoplastics, induction heating of a gasket, made of a ferromagnetic‐powder‐filled bonding material and placed at the interface of thermoplastic parts to be joined, is used to melt the interface; subsequent solidification of the melt results in a weld. Tensile tests on induction butt‐welds of polycarbonate (PC), poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT), and polypropylene (PP) are used to characterize achievable weld strengths, and microscopy is used to correlate weld strength with the morphology of failure surfaces. In PC, PBT, and PP relative weld strengths as high as 48%, 43%, and 55% of the respective strengths of PC, PBT, and PP have been demonstrated. Relative weld strengths on the order of 20% have been demonstrated in PC‐to‐PBT welds.     

塑化度与焊接条件对PVC-U型材焊角强度的影响

通过正交试验对比PVC—U型材塑化度和焊接条件对焊角强度的影响试验得知：焊接温度、加热时间及型材塑化度对焊角强度的影响较大,焊接时间与进给压力对焊角强度影响相对较小。型材塑化度在70％左右时具有较好的可焊性,适当提高焊接温度及延长加热时间有利于提高型材的焊角强度,焊接时间超过一定时间后则对焊角强度影响不大,根据型材截面不同进给压力有一最佳值。     

Proposal of ultrasonic welding technique and weld performances applied to polymers

A novel ultrasonic welding technique is proposed and the apparatus based on it is produced accordingly. The effects of weld technology on the strength have been discussed when evaluating with identical kind of polymers. According to the results, the protruded length and the surface roughness give poor effects on the welding strength. The higher welding stress and shorter welding time are more effective. There is an optimal welding stress in this method because the welding strength can be lower when the stress turns too strong. Moreover, the non‐welded areas and the air bubble of the interface have given powerful effects to the strength. It is considered that the ultrasonic welding technique and the apparatus are quite effective to the weld process between polymer materials. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2009. © 2009 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Ultrasonic welding using tie-layer materials. part I: Analysis of process operation

Ultrasonic welding of oriented polypropylene (OPP) using tie-layer materials has been examined. The thermal cycle at the joint interface was evaluated using a high speed data acquisition system, and concurrent changes in horn displacement (penetration) and the output power were monitored. The model explaining process operation involves four phases, i.e., I–where heating occurs because of the stresses generated in asperities on the contacting surfaces; II–where the whole tie-layer reaches the melting point; III–where the polymer melt is subjected to intense heating from viscous dissipation and is squeezed out; and IV–where the joint cools after welding. In the early stages of ultrasonic welding the heat generated at asperities on the contacting surfaces leads to melting of the tie-layer/oriented polypropylene interface within 50 ms. The tie-layer heats up because of a combination of viscoelastic dissipation and heat conduction from the oriented polypropylene/tie-layer interface, and the rate of temperature rise at the midline of the tie-layer is in the range 200°/s to 400°/s. The reduction in thickness of the test specimens (penetration) is negligible up to the time when the tie-layer melts completely, and then changes rapidly when the melted polymer at the joint interface is squeezed out. The influence of machine parameters (amplitude and contact pressure) and of tie-layer Melt Flow Index is also examined. The total time required for completion of the welding process decreases when the amplitude and applied pressure are increased. The use of low Melt Flow Index tie-layers produces peak temperature as high as 600° at the bondline, and little material is ejected during the ultrasonic welding operation.     

Ultrasonic improvement of weld line strength of injection‐molded polystyrene and polystyrene/polyethylene blend parts

The effect of melt temperature, ultrasonic oscillations, and induced ultrasonic oscillations modes on weld line strength of polystyrene (PS) and polystyrene/polyethylene (PS/HDPE) (90/10) blend was investigated. The results show that the increase of melt temperature is beneficial to the increase of weld line strength of PS and PS/HDPE blend. Compared with PS, the increase of melt temperature can greatly enhance the strength of PS/HDPE blends. For PS, the presence of ultrasonic oscillations can enhance the weld line strength of PS at different melt temperatures. But for PS/HDPE blends, the presence of ultrasonic oscillations can improve the weld line strength when the melt temperature is 230°C, but when the melt temperature is 195°C, the induced ultrasonic oscillations hardly enhance the weld line strength. Compared with Mode I (ultrasonic oscillations were induced into the mold at the whole process of injection molding), the induced ultrasonic oscillations as Mode II (ultrasonic oscillations were induced into the mold after injection mold filling) is more effective at increasing the weld line strength of PS and PS/HDPE blends. The mechanism for ultrasonic improvement of weld line strength was also studied. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 45:1666–1672, 2005. © 2005 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Adherability and weldability of poly(lactic acid) and basalt fibre-reinforced poly(lactic acid)

The adherability and weldability of pure poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and basalt fibre-reinforced PLA were investigated in this research. The joining efficiency rate is introduced as a comparative parameter among different joining processes. In the case of adhesive bonding, 16 different adhesives were used to join specimens together. The highest bond strength and joining efficiency rate for both the pure (16 MPa, 78%) and basalt fiber-reinforced (18 MPa, 44%) adhesive-bonded specimens was achieved with acrylate-based two-component adhesives. The bond strength and joining efficiency rates of bonded specimens manufactured with four welding technologies (hot gas welding, friction stir welding, ultrasonic welding, laser welding) were also investigated. The highest bond strength for both pure PLA and basalt fibre-reinforced PLA specimens (51 and 125 MPa, respectively) was attained by laser welding. The highest joining efficiency rate for pure PLA specimens (85%) was attained by ultrasonic welding, while it was achieved by laser welding for basalt-fibre reinforced PLA specimens (70%).     

Vibration welding of thermoplastics. Part III: Strength of polycarbonate butt welds

In vibration welding of thermoplastics, frictional work done by vibrating two parts under pressure, along their common interface, is used to generate heat to effect a weld. The main process parameters are the weld frequency, the amplitude of the vibratory motion, the weld pressure, and the weld time or weld penetration; The effects of these parameters on weld quality were systematically studied by first butt-welding polycarbonate specimens under controlled conditions over a wide range of process parameters, and by then determining the strengths and ductilities of these welds by tensile tests, A significant result is the apparent existence of a weld-penetration threshold above which high weld strengths are attained, but below which the strength drops off. Under the right conditions, the strengths of polycarbonate butt welds are shown to equal the strength of the virgin polymer.     

Enhanced interfacial adhesion between polypropylene and nylon 6 by in situ reactive compatibilization

We used in situ reactive compatibilization to investigate the interfacial reinforcement between polypropylene (PP) and nylon 6 (Ny6). A certain amount of maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (MAPP) was pre-blended with pure PP to form in situ a copolymer with Ny6. The fracture toughness was measured using an asymmetric double cantilever beam test (ADCB). An analysis of the locus of failure revealed that at constant bonding temperature, the fracture toughness between PP and Ny6 was influenced not only by the bonding temperature but also by the bonding time. The fracture toughness increased with the bonding temperature until 220 °C, and then decreased at higher bonding temperatures, which could be explained by the progressive occurrence of two different failure mechanisms, first adhesive failure at the interface and later cohesive failure between chains. X-ray diffraction measurements on specimens prepared at bonding temperatures of 210, 220, and 230 °C revealed no identifiably different crystalline PP phases. The fracture toughness increased with the annealing time, passed a peak, and then reached a plateau. The dependence of the fracture toughness on the bonding time could also be explained in terms of the two fracture mechanisms. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results corroborated these explanations.     

Hot pin welding of thin poly(vinyl chloride) sheet

This paper develops a method of welding two thin sheets of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) with a heated pin, thus allowing construction of a relationship between the weld temperature and weld strength. Constructing a relationship between weld strength and temperature is necessary for modeling many welding processes, including laser transmission welding. An experimental approach to establishing this relationship is required because of the complex melting behavior of PVC. The designed experimental device uses a single heated pin to weld samples by using varying pressure and temperature for one second dwell time. An electro‐mechanical loadframe pulled the welded samples until joint failure occurred, thereby allowing determination of the weld strength. An experiment varying welding pin temperature and joining pressure found the temperature to be a highly significant determiner of weld strength, while the pressure was found to be not significant. A transient numerical heat transfer model was used to calculate the weld interface temperature for each pin temperature. The relationship established in this paper can be used to predict the weld strength from the temperature output from models of alternative welding methods. J. VINYL ADDIT. TECHNOL., 13:110–115, 2007. © 2007 Society of Plastics Engineers.     

The effect of flame retardants on the hot‐plate welding of talc‐filled polypropylene

The effect of a flame retardant on the weldability of polypropylene with two different talc loadings was studied by microscopy and mechanical tests on hot‐plate welded injection molded tensile test bars. Welding changes the orientation of the talc particles, which align parallel to the weld interface, and can cause voiding of the material with a consequent decrease of weld strength. Welds of the material containing a flame retardant, which melts and volatizes at the temperatures used in welding, exhibited higher voiding and lower relative weld strengths on welding than the grade without a flame retardant. Voiding may be reduced using lower hot plate temperatures and higher welding displacements, but that results in an increase in the transverse orientation of the talc particles in the weld zone. The relative weld strength, which is affected by the composition of the material, was about 50% for the 20% talc‐filled polypropylene and about 45% for the 30% talc‐filled grade containing a flame retardant.     

Experimental Studies on Thermo-Mechanical Behavior of Ultrasonically Welded PC/ABS Polymer Blends

This research paper attempts to investigate the performance of blended PC/ABS joints using the ultrasonic material joining process. The key focus is on examining the thermal aspects during the joining of PC/ABS blends using ultrasonic welding and the subsequent mechanical testing to determine the strength of the weldments. Thermal behavior of the blends during welding may govern or alter the mechanical properties and integrity of the joints. Hence, investigations on thermal characteristics involved in PC/ABS blends when subjected to high vibrational heat generated during the ultrasonic welding process is imperative. DSC is used to measure the glass transient temperature (T_g) after subjecting it to welding. Mass loss is calculated with TGA. TGA and DSC results indicate change in T_g which are attributed to the molecular alignment occurring when the specimens are subjected to ultrasonic vibrations. Initially, two step mass losses occur that is contributed by ABS in which long single chains are associated and alters PC. SEM images reveal the absence in intermolecular compounds or impurities that tend to weaken weld joints. The diffusion of these molecules is uniform in the welded region. The amorphous nature enhances the integrity of weld joints. Molded part illustrates the higher strain rate in comparison with the welded specimens. The RSM model proposed is sufficient and has limited possibility for violating the independence or the assumption of constant variance.