Ultrasonic Welding of Thermoplastic Composite Coupons for Mechanical Characterization of Welded Joints through Single Lap Shear Testing

The overall goal of this procedure is to produce thermoplastic composite joints for basic mechanical testing using simplified energy directors, rapidly defined optimal welding parameters, and displacement control for consistent weld quality. This method helps answer key questions in the area of joining of composites such as what is the strength that can be expected from a welded joint and from a plastic composite. The main advantage of this technique is that it produces consistent high-quality welded coupons after fast definition of optimum welding parameters.

For this procedure, have a microprocessor controlled ultrasonic welder that can operate at a constant amplitude. The welder must output process data such as dissipated power and displacement of the sonotrode versus time to a computer. This demonstration uses a custom-built jig designed to accurately position and clamp single-lap sheer samples.