The effect of axial force and contact angle on the welded area of plastic tube welded by ultrasonic welding

Abstract

This study was aimed to apply the use of ultrasonic welding to weld round plastic tubes. The ultrasonic welding machine was designed to be able to work with a normal ultrasonic welding transducer by rotating the tube while it is being welded. The specimens used in this study were round plastic tubes (PMMA) with diameter of 35 mm and 2 mm thickness. End of each tube was machined to have angle of 2.8, 3.8 and 5.7 degree in order to create contact angle at the interface. The specimens were welded with frequency of 28 kHz and tube rotational speeds of 25 rpm, 45 rpm and 100 rpm. The axial force was applied to the tube in order to enhance the quality of joint. The experimental result revealed that the modified ultrasonic welding machine can generate the welded area around the circumference of tube. It was found that the axial force and contact angle have some effect to the quality of joint. The contact angle of 2.8/2.8 provided highest welded area compared to 3.8/3.8 and 5.7/5.7 degree of contact angle. In addition, the axial force between 80 N -120 N provided high value of welded area. The pattern of welded area is also presented and discussed in the paper.