19 Facts About Ultrasonic welding

Ultrasonic welding is an industrial process whereby high-frequency ultrasonic acoustic vibrations are locally applied to work pieces being held together under pressure to create a solid-state weld.

Ultrasonic welding unintentionally moved the probe close to a plastic tape dispenser and observed that the halves of the dispenser welded together.

Ultrasonic welding realized that the probe did not need to be manually moved around the part, but that the ultrasonic energy could travel through and around rigid plastics and weld an entire joint.

In metals, Ultrasonic welding occurs due to high-pressure dispersion of surface oxides and local motion of the materials.

Ultrasonic welding can be used for both hard and soft plastics, such as semicrystalline plastics, and metals.

However, many aspects of ultrasonic welding still require more study, such as relating weld quality to process parameters.

Benefit of ultrasonic welding is that it is much faster than conventional adhesives or solvents.

Applications of ultrasonic welding are extensive and are found in many industries including electrical and computer, automotive and aerospace, medical, and packaging.

Ultrasonic welding is a very popular technique for bonding thermoplastics.

One of the areas in which ultrasonic welding is most used and where new research and experimentation is centered is microcircuits.

Automobiles, ultrasonic welding tends to be used to assemble large plastic and electrical components such as instrument panels, door panels, lamps, air ducts, steering wheels, upholstery and engine components.

Some advantages for ultrasonic welding are low cycle times, automation, low capital costs, and flexibility.

Ultrasonic welding does not damage surface finish because the high-frequency vibrations prevent marks from being generated, which is a crucial consideration for many car manufacturers,.

Ultrasonic welding is generally utilized in the aerospace industry when joining thin sheet gauge metals and other lightweight materials.

However, it is one of the easier materials to weld using ultrasonic welding because it is a softer metal and thus a solid-state weld is simple to achieve.

Since aluminum is so widely used in the aerospace industry, it follows that ultrasonic welding is an important manufacturing process.

Ultrasonic welding is applied in the packaging of dangerous materials, such as explosives, fireworks and other reactive chemicals.

Some other food items sealed using ultrasonic welding include candy bar wrappers, frozen food packages and beverage containers.

Hazards of ultrasonic welding include exposure to high temperatures and voltages.