Ultrasonic welding of novel Carbon/Elium® with carbon/epoxy composites

In the current research, the ultrasonic welding feasibility of carbon/epoxy composite with novel carbon/Elium (R) (thermoplastic) composites is investigated. As thermoset composites are not weldable, it is essentially required to create a thermoplastic coupling layer to necessitate the welding phenomenon. Two different co-curing methods were investigated to provide the coupling layer to the epoxy laminates, one using Elium (R) particle (ELP) and others using Elium (R) film (ELF). The weld strength of the adherends was qualified by the static lap shear test. The result showed that the adherend welded with the addition of 0.31 mg/mm(2) of ELP on the epoxy laminate was found to increase the lap shear strength by 95% as compared to the samples welded without the coupling layer. Also, the failure mode obtained with ELP configuration was found to be partially cohesive as opposed to purely adhesive failure for epoxy laminate without the coupling layer.