TWI Industrial Member Report Summary 361/1988
N S Taylor
Scope
This report considers the vibration welding of thermoplastic materials, and forms part of a series of reports being produced by The Welding Institute, on each of the welding techniques currently available for such materials.
The two part bumper is a common example of the application of vibration welding for joining thermoplastic materials. This report outlines the development of the process and equipment. Weldability trials on semicrystalline and amorphous materials investigate the effect of welding parameters on weld quality by considering welds in four thermoplastics; polypropylene, polyamide 6, polyoxymethylene and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene.
The welds were evaluated by tensile and impact strength and microexamination. The characteristics of the vibration welding mechanism are discussed and reviewed with respect to the relationship between weld displacement and time.