[TECHNOLOGY OPPORTUNITY 2001-011]

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Method and Apparatus for Welding Reinforced Polymers
2001-011

Vibration welding glass reinforced nylon compounds is a commonly used joining technique. The butt joint strength achievable with these compounds is significantly lower than that of the bulk compound and is most often comparable to the strength of the polymer matrix. These lower properties are attributed to little glass fiber orientation perpendicular to the weld interface.

Researchers at Royal Military college recently discovered that joint weld strength could be significantly enhanced by the introduction of a secondary vibratory motion perpendicular to the weld plane during welding. It was found that by introducing such motion, the glass fibers were much more likely to be oriented normal to the weld plane. The work was performed using 3.2 mm thick plates composed of 33 % glass filled nylon 6 and 66. These plates were butt welded on a lab scale linear vibration welder and then cut into strips before tensile testing. These process modifications resulted in strengths 20% higher than those of samples welded using the standard vibration welding process.

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