Job knowledge 61:

Welding processes Others

Ultrasonic welding of injection moulded
components - Part 1 Process and equipment

Process overview
Ultrasonic welding, for thermoplastic injection
moulded components, is a process that uses
mechanical vibrations above the audible range. The
vibrations, produced by a welding sonotrode or horn,
as it is generally known, are used to soften or melt
the thermoplastic material at the joint line. The
components to be joined are held together under
pressure and subjected to vibrations, usually at a
frequency of 20 or 40 kHz.
The ability to weld a component successfully is
governed by the design of the equipment, the
mechanical properties of the material to be welded
and the design of the components and joint.
Ultrasonic welding times are short (typically less
than one second), which makes the process ideal for
mass production. The process is widely accepted in
many applications ranging from automotive light
clusters to consumer electronics products, such as
mobile telephone casings.
An ultrasonic welding machine is shown in Fig.1.
Ultrasonic welding equipment
Ultrasonic welding equipment consists of a machine press, generator, converter or
transducer, booster, sonotrode or horn, and component support tooling. A schematic
of an ultrasonic welding machine is shown in Fig.2.

Fig.1. Ultrasonic welding
machine



Fig.2. Schematic of ultrasonic welding
machine
Generator
The generator converts electrical power from the single-phase mains to the correct
frequency and voltage for the transducer to convert into mechanical vibrations. The
microprocessor unit controls the welding cycle and feeds back key welding
information to the user, via the user interface. The user interface also allows the
operator to enter the required welding parameters.
Machine press
The machine stand is designed to hold the welding system or stack and apply the
force necessary for welding. It consists of a base-plate, to hold the tooling jig, and a
pneumatic cylinder to apply the force.
The machine has a pressure gauge and regulator for adjustment of the welding
force. It should be noted that a particular gauge pressure set on one piece of
ultrasonic welding equipment will not necessarily provide the same welding force
as another machine set at the same gauge pressure.
Welding force should be calibrated using a load cell so that direct comparison of
welding forces can be made from machine to machine.
There is also a flow control valve to allow adjustment of the speed at which the
welding head approaches the component being welded. Some equipment
manufacturers have introduced an electromagnetic force application system in
place of the traditional pneumatic cylinder. This gives better control of the
approach rate, and can be beneficial when welding small or delicate components.
Welding stack
This is the part of the machine that provides the ultrasonic mechanical vibrations. It
is generally a three-part unit consisting of transducer, booster and welding horn,
mounted on the welding press at the centre-point of the booster section. The stack is
a tuned resonator, rather like a musical instrument tuning fork. In order to function,

the resonant frequency of the tuned welding stack must closely match the frequency
of the electrical signal from the generator (to within 30Hz).
Transducer
The transducer, also known as the converter, converts the electrical energy from the
generator to the mechanical vibrations used for the welding process. It consists of a
number of piezo-electric ceramic discs sandwiched between two metal blocks, usually
titanium.
Between each of the discs there is a thin metal plate, which forms the electrode.
As the sinusoidal electrical signal is fed to the transducer via the electrodes, the
discs expand and contract, producing an axial, peak-to-peak movement of 15 to
20m.
Transducers are delicate devices and should be handled with care. Once the
elements are broken, the transducer will not function.
Booster
The booster section of the welding stack serves two purposes, primarily to amplify
the mechanical vibrations produced at the tip of the transducer and transfer them to
the welding horn. Its secondary purpose is to provide a location for mounting the
stack on the welding press.
The booster expands and contracts as the transducer applies the ultrasonic
energy. Figure 3 shows a range of ultrasonic welding boosters.

Fig.3. Ultrasonic welding boosters
The booster, like other elements in the welding stack, is a tuned device therefore
it must resonate at a specific frequency in order to transfer the ultrasonic energy
from the transducer to the welding horn. In order to function successfully, the
booster must be either one half of a wavelength of ultrasound in the material from
which it is manufactured, or multiples of this length. Normally, it is one half wave
length.
Welding horn
The welding horn is the element of the welding stack that supplies energy to the
component being welded. A typical welding horn is shown in Fig.4. Design of the
welding horn is critical to successful welding. It is strongly recommended that

welding horn manufacture should only be carried out by companies specialising in
ultrasonic welding.

Fig.4 Ultrasonic welding horn
The welding horn, like the booster element, is a tuned device, which, in the
majority of applications, also provides mechanical gain. It is typically
manufactured in either aluminium or titanium. Aluminium welding horns tend to
be used for low volume applications since wear can be a particular problem with
this material. Some welding horns have specially hardened tips to reduce wear
during welding.
As with the booster element, the length of the welding horn must be either one
half of a wavelength of ultrasound in the material from which it is manufactured,
or multiples of this length. This ensures that there is sufficient amplitude at the
end of the welding horn to effect welding.
The amplitude is typically between 30 and 120m. The shape of the welding horn
is important since stress, caused by the axial expansion and contraction of the
horn, could lead to cracking in high amplitude applications. In some applications
the welding horn is manufactured with slots in the axial direction. This is to
ensure that the maximum vibration amplitude is in the longitudinal direction.
The tip of the welding horn delivers the ultrasonic energy to the component being
welded. The tip should be specifically designed to match the component. This will
ensure that maximum energy transfer between the horn and the component is
achieved. Usually, the tip of the horn is profiled to match the contours of the
component.
Support tooling
Finally, the base of the machine press supports the tooling that supports the
components during the welding operation. The support tooling is designed to prevent
movement of the lower component while the ultrasound is applied. It is often
machined to match the contours of the component surface intimately.
The next article will cover component design and welding parameters.
Ian Froment. E-mail: ian.froment@twi.co.uk Copyright 2004 TWI Ltd
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