Modeling of the heating phenomena in ultrasonic welding of thermoplastic composites with flat energy directors

A model for the mechanics (oscillating deformation), heat transfer including viscoelastic heat generation and friction dissipation, and degree of adhesion (intimate contact and healing) is proposed for the initial transient heating phase. Numerical resolution was performed using a multi-physical finite element code. The predicted dissipated power evolution exhibits a good correlation with previous experimental measurement of delivered power, and shows that the apparatus has a global efficiency of 13%. The predicted degree of adhesion also confirms the experimental observation that adhesion starts at the edge of the contact area, and progressively extends to the whole contact area. The numerical model was further used to investigate the physical mechanisms occurring during the welding process. As suggested in the literature, the first heating mechanism is confirmed to be due to interfacial friction. Bulk viscoelastic dissipation becomes predominant when the interface reaches higher temperatures. The dissipated power is suddenly increased when the whole interface reaches the glass transition temperature. (c) 2014 Published by Elsevier B.V.