Journal of Welding Science

In this research, tensile strength of ultrasonic welded parts made of thermoset polymer-reinforced glass fiber with surface preparation has been investiagted. In order to elevate the adhesion of two surfaces laser grooving method has been applied. Two type of thermoplastic materials including Plymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and polypropylene (PP) have been used as interlayers. Influences of main welding parameters were investigated. The results show that the force and compression parameters in these joints have been ineffective parameters and in higher weld welds, the thermosetting resin has started thermal degradation. The pressure considered constant and set at 2 bar, welding time set at 1.6 seconds and holding time considered 3 seconds. The results showed that the minimum tensile strength of welded samples with laser surface preparation method is 1286 N, which is much more than maximum tensile strength of welded samples without any surface preapration. This indicates that laser beam surface preparation is an effective method in improving of the adhesion strength of thermoset polymeric parts.

Todays, application of composite materials has been increased in various industries due to their special strength properties and also other unique features. One of the important things during making of such materials, is their connection to each other. In this article, the Joining of heat-hardened parts with surface preparation with the help of laser, simple and rough, has been investigated. The main goal is to investigate the better surface adhesion mechanisms of the connection compared to the simple surface, as well as to create practical approaches to increase the adhesion strength of the thermosetting parts. The composites were made of heat-hardened epoxy resin (which hardens after 12 hours at room temperature) and two-dimensional woven glass fibers and were connected by glue after volume heating at a temperature of 180-200 degree Celsius. In this research, the overlapping surface of the part was engraved by laser in circular patterns. The raw parts were prepared by manual polishing and mechanical abrasion. The results show that by examining the effect of surface roughness and composite thickness, the highest value of shear strength is related to the surface roughness compared to other preparation methods. Surface preparation increases the amount of adhesive penetration in the parts and expands the tensile strength. The thickness also has a conditional effect on the strength of the connection.