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Metals
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Ultrasonic Welding: Joining of Metals and Multi-Material Structures by Power...
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Ultrasonic Welding: Joining of Metals and Multi-Material Structures by Power Ultrasonics

A special issue of Metals (ISSN 2075-4701). This special issue belongs to the section "Welding and Joining".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2024 | Viewed by 2923

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Frank Balle

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Walter and Ingeborg Herrmann Professor for Power Ultrasonics and Engineering of Functional Materials (EFM), Department of Sustainable Systems Engineering (INATECH), Faculty of Engineering, University of Freiburg, 79110 Freiburg, Germany
Interests: engineering applications of power ultrasonics; materials science and engineering; fatigue and fracture of engineering materials; materials testing and characterization methods; hybrid materials and structures

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Ultrasonic welding technology for use with metals was invented and patented in the early 1930s. It comprises a solid-state welding technique, where the formation of the bond occurs as a result of a moderate static pressure and superimposed ultrasonic oscillation without reaching their melting points (in principle). The high-frequency relative motion between the parts to be welded forms a solid-state weld through progressive shearing and high plastic deformation between surface asperities that disperses oxides and contaminants. Consequently, an increasing area of pure metal contact and bonding of the adjacent surfaces will be realized. Regarding material and energy efficiency, automation capability and achievable mechanical as well as technological properties, ultrasonic metal welding is a very attractive sustainable alternative to existing joining techniques for multi-material systems. It is now used for selected industrial applications in the electrical industry, the automotive and aircraft sectors, and engineering in general.

The Special Issue in Metals should inform readers about the latest developments and innovations in the field of ultrasonic welding. This concerns the progress of hard- and software for ultrasonic welding systems, new, weldable materials, and in particular, their mechanical as well as physical properties. In addition to similar welds, multi-material joints are of also significant interest. New studies regarding the feasibility of innovative joints as well as topics pertaining to the mechanical properties (monotonic, cyclic) of ultrasonically welded components and micro-structural investigations to identify the bonding mechanisms are especially welcome.

Prof. Dr. Frank Balle
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Metals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • ultrasonic welding technology
  • power ultrasonics
  • hybrid materials and structures
  • multi-material joints
  • ultrasonically welded components
  • mechanical properties
  • microstructural characterization
  • spot welding
  • torsion welding
  • continuous welding
  • Al-Steels joints
  • Al-Cu-joints
  • Al-Ti-joints
  • Al-Ni-joints
  • solid-state welding
  • 20 kHz, 35 kHz
  • sonotrode
  • pressure welding

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 10641 KiB  
Article
Morphological Evolution of Single-Core Multi-Strand Wires during Ultrasonic Metal Welding
by Andreas Gester, Dmitrii Ozherelkov and Guntram Wagner
Metals 2024, 14(3), 362; https://doi.org/10.3390/met14030362 - 20 Mar 2024
Viewed by 675
Abstract
Ultrasonic metal welding (USMW) finds widespread utilization in automotive industries, where it is used for connecting the wire harness of the vehicle, consisting of stranded wires, to the terminals. However, the behavior of the strands during the compaction process is still understudied and [...] Read more.
Ultrasonic metal welding (USMW) finds widespread utilization in automotive industries, where it is used for connecting the wire harness of the vehicle, consisting of stranded wires, to the terminals. However, the behavior of the strands during the compaction process is still understudied and often overlooked. Therefore, this work focuses on the investigation of the wire compaction behavior from a morphological point of view. A newly developed method for investigating cross-sections of such joints is introduced, facilitating area quantification of the strands for a microscale examination of compaction variations for every single strand as a function of welding time. It is shown that the deformation in the wire is not homogenous throughout the wire cross-section; instead, the formation of distinct zones is observed. Three distinct regimes dominating the welding process were observed: (i) linear reduction in nugget height with primary compaction of the nugget and sealing of the interstitial spaces between the strands for weld times from 0 s up to 1.3 s; (ii) accelerated loss of nugget height due to strong plastic deformation of the strands for weld times between 1.3 s and 1.7 s; and (iii) comprehensive welding of the individual strands and strong loss of nugget height. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the deformation of the wire during the USMW process originates in the coupling area of the horn and the wire and not in the interface of the wire and the terminal. Therefore, it can be assumed that the temperature of the interface between the horn and the wire must be significantly higher than that of the interface between the wire and the terminal. The presented approach and new insights into the behavior of ultrasonically welded joints of stranded wires and terminals provide guidance for improving the welding process. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ultrasonic Welding: Joining of Metals and Multi-Material Structures by Power Ultrasonics)
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15 pages, 4239 KiB  
Article
Development of a High-Frequency Test System to Study the Wear of Ultrasonic Welding Tools
by Junqi Li, Michael Rienks and Frank Balle
Metals 2023, 13(12), 1935; https://doi.org/10.3390/met13121935 - 25 Nov 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 746
Abstract
In current automotive lithium-ion battery manufacturing, Ultrasonic Metal Welding (USMW) is one of the major joining techniques due to its advantages in welding multiple thin sheets of highly conductive materials. The sonotrode, serving as the welding tool, transmits high-frequency oscillation to the joining [...] Read more.
In current automotive lithium-ion battery manufacturing, Ultrasonic Metal Welding (USMW) is one of the major joining techniques due to its advantages in welding multiple thin sheets of highly conductive materials. The sonotrode, serving as the welding tool, transmits high-frequency oscillation to the joining parts. Due to the high frequency of thermal-mechanical loading, the knurl pattern on the sonotrode wears with an increasing number of welds, which significantly influences the welding process, resulting in poor joint quality. In this study, a high-frequency test system was developed to investigate the wear mechanisms of the sonotrode. Based on the comparable relative motion to the welding process, the thermal-mechanical loadings on the contact area were analyzed. As the oscillation amplitude of the sonotrode increased, the estimated frictional force between the sonotrode and the copper counter body remained constant, while an increase in the sliding distance was observed in the contact area. Temperature development showed a strong correlation with mechanical loading. A first approach of continuous testing was performed but was limited due to the failure of the copper counter body under ultrasonic stimulation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ultrasonic Welding: Joining of Metals and Multi-Material Structures by Power Ultrasonics)
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17 pages, 56914 KiB  
Article
Local Plastic Deformation and Quality of Cu-Cu Joints Obtained by Ultrasonic Welding
by Mariya A. Murzinova, Elvina R. Shayakhmetova, Aygul A. Mukhametgalina, Aygul A. Sarkeeva and Ayrat A. Nazarov
Metals 2023, 13(10), 1661; https://doi.org/10.3390/met13101661 - 28 Sep 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 773
Abstract
Joints of copper sheets with a thickness of 0.8 mm were produced by ultrasonic welding. To assess the quality of the joints, tensile lap-shear strength, area fraction of bonding, distributions of normal strains in the cross sections of welded samples, linear weld density [...] Read more.
Joints of copper sheets with a thickness of 0.8 mm were produced by ultrasonic welding. To assess the quality of the joints, tensile lap-shear strength, area fraction of bonding, distributions of normal strains in the cross sections of welded samples, linear weld density at a magnification of ×1000, and the microstructure and microhardness of welded samples were analyzed. It was proved that the arrangement of microbonds and length of gaps in joint zones significantly depended on the local normal strains of welded samples caused by the penetration of tool ridges under the clamping pressure. Joint regions with a linear weld density of more than 70% were observed if the local compression strains of the sample exceeded 15%. The appearance of local tensile strains was accompanied by a drop in the linear weld density of the joints in some regions, down to 5%. The distribution of normal strains depends on the mutual positions of the ridges of the welding tip and anvil. It is concluded that in order to improve the quality of joints obtained by ultrasonic welding and reduce the scatter of their strength values, welding tools should provide sufficiently high normal compression strains in the weld spot area. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ultrasonic Welding: Joining of Metals and Multi-Material Structures by Power Ultrasonics)
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