Abstract
This study aims at assessing the sensitivity of the ultrasonic welding process for joining epoxy- to thermoplastic-based composites sensitivity to the heating time. For that, carbon fibre (CF)/epoxy adherends with a co-cured PEI coupling layer were ultrasonically welded to CF/polyetheretherketone (PEEK) adherends at different heating times. Process-induced changes in the meso and microstructure of these welds were identified and correlated to the weld strength. Subsequently, a processing interval, i.e., a range of heating times resulting in less than 10% decrease of weld strength, was defined. As, expected, the dissimilar composite welded joints were more sensitive to the heating time than the CF/PEEK to CF/PEEK welded joints. However, this effect was less pronounced than expected, since a relatively wide processing interval could be obtained provided that the coupling layer had a sufficient thickness.
Highlights
Owing to the fact that welding of composite materials is a very attractive alternative to mechanical fastening and ad hesive bonding [1], research on welding of composites is limited to thermoplastic and thermoset composites
A processing interval was defined with respect to the shortest and longest heating times that resulted in a minimum certain weld strength for different coupling layer thicknesses
This paper presented a study on the effect of the heating time on the meso and microstructure of carbon fibre (CF)/epoxy to CF/PEEK joints ultrasonically welded through a pol yetherimide (PEI) coupling layer and its relationship with the weld strength
Summary
Owing to the fact that welding of composite materials is a very attractive alternative to mechanical fastening (drilling holes) and ad hesive bonding (excessive surface pre-treatment, long curing cycles) [1], research on welding of composites is limited to thermoplastic and thermoset composites. Fusion bonding techniques to join TSC parts have been successfully applied by different research groups and include co-consolidation in an oven [3,4,5], resistance welding [6,7,8], induction welding [9,10], vibra tion welding [11] and ultrasonic welding [2,10,12,13,14]. Ultrasonic welding is an excellent technique for joining composites, as it can provide strong joints in a rather fast and cost-effective way [15]
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