Ultrasonic Welding of PBT-GF30 (70% Polybutylene Terephthalate + 30% Fiber Glass) and Expanded Polytetrafluoroethylene (e-PTFE)

Abstract

The ultrasonic welding of polymeric materials is one of the methods often used in practice. However, each couple of material subjected to ultrasonic welding is characterized by different values of technological parameters. Therefore, the main objective of the research presented in this paper is to optimize the parameters for the ultrasonic welding of two materials, namely PBT-GF30 (70% polybutylene terephthalate + 30% fiber glass) and expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (e-PTFE). In this sense, the research was carried out considering a plate-type part made of PBT-GF30, which had a thickness of 2.1 mm, and a membrane-type part made of e-PTFE, with a thickness of 0.3 mm. The condition imposed on the welded joints made, namely to correspond from a technical point of view, was that the detachment pressure of the membrane should be at least 4 bar. To this end, a test device was designed. Additionally, the topography of the material layer from the plate-type part was analyzed, as well as the chemical composition and surface condition for the membrane-type part. The obtained results allowed the optimization of the following parameters: The welding force; welding time; amplitude; and holding time. All experimental results were processed using STATISTICS software, which established how each parameter influences the characteristics of welded joints.