The microstructure and mechanical properties of ultrasonically welded AA6111-T4 specimens are discussed. The effects of welding time on the mechanical properties of welded joints are investigated. A longer welding time results in a more continuous welded interface and higher yield and fracture strengths. Accordingly, fatigue properties of the welded specimens with longer welding times are improved. The results of electron microscopy on the cross section of ultrasonically welded joints show three distinct zones: weld zone, weld affected zone and compression zone each with a distinct microstructure. TEM results show nanocrystalline grains along with second phase particles in the range of 15–25 nm in the weld zone. Flow patterns consistent with the geometry of weld–tip were observed at the weld interface.
Issue Section:
Technical Papers
Keywords:
aluminium alloys,
yield strength,
fracture toughness,
crystal microstructure,
fatigue,
stress-strain relations,
tensile testing,
ultrasonic welding,
transmission electron microscopy
Topics:
Aluminum,
Compression,
Fatigue,
Flow (Dynamics),
Fracture (Materials),
Mechanical properties,
Optical microscopy,
Particulate matter,
Stress,
Strips,
Transmission electron microscopy,
Welded joints,
Welding,
Shear (Mechanics),
Deformation,
Shapes,
Fatigue testing,
Focused ion beams,
Fracture toughness,
Geometry,
Fracture (Process),
Ultrasonic welding,
Aluminum alloys,
Electron microscopy,
Tensile testing
1.
Yabunaka, K., 1980, “Connecting armature coil to core-bending lead wires and connecting to commutator segments by ultrasonic welding process,” WO-8002479 A.
2.
Bokarev, D. I., Zenin, V. V., and Segal, Y. E., 2002, “Internal termination ultrasonic welding in power semiconductors,” Presented in Tekhnika Mashinostroeniya, Izdatel’stvo ‘Virazh-Tsentr,’ pp. 30–33.
3.
“Ford goes for ultrasonic weld,” Prof. Eng., Anon., 2003, 16, p. 48.
4.
Devine, J., 1984, “ULTRASONIC WELDING OF ALUMINUM ALLOY SHEET METAL,” Presented in Sheet Metal Welding Conference: The Latest Technology for Sheet Metal Joining-Conference Proceedings., Miami, FL, USA, AWS.
5.
Heinz
, A.
, Haszler
, A.
, Keidel
, C.
, Moldenhauer
, S.
, Benedictus
, R.
, and Miller
, W. S.
, 2000
, “Recent development in aluminum alloys for aerospace applications
,” Mater. Sci. Eng., A
, 280
(1
), pp. 102
–107
.6.
Renshaw, T., Curatola Jr., and Sarrantonio, A., 1979, “Developments in Ultrasonic Welding for Aircraft,” presented in 11th National SAMPE Technical Conference, pp. 681–685.
7.
Renshaw
, T.
, Wongwiwat
, K.
, and Sarrantonio
, A.
, 1983
, “Comparison of Properties of Joints Prepared by Ultrasonic Welding and other Means
,” J. Aircr.
, 20
, pp. 522
–556
.8.
Huo, L., Wang, D., and Zhang, Y., 2002, “Piezoelectric-type ultrasonic impact gun with high power and less energy consumption,” CN-1359777 A.
9.
Huo, L., Wang, D., and Zhang, Y., 2002, “Multineedle impact head for ultrasonic impact gun with improved efficiency and high impact force,” CN-1359780 A.
10.
Kubel
, E. J. J.
, 1986
, “How Aluminum Welding Stands on the Metal’s 100th Birthday.
,” Metal Progress
, 130
, pp. 44
–50
.11.
Tsujino, J., Ueoka, T., and Oyaide, M., 1983, “Studies on the ultrasonic metal welding-on the limit of ultrasonic spot welding and on the trial of ultrasonic butt welding,” presented in Ultrasonics International 83. Conference Proceedings, Sevenoaks, UK, Halifax, NS, Canada, Butterworths, pp. 358–363.
12.
Born
, C.
, Kuckert
, H.
, Wagner
, G.
, and Eifler
, D.
, 2003
, “Ultrasonic Torsion Welding of Sheet Metals to Cellular Metallic Materials
,” Adv. Eng. Mater.
, 5
, pp. 779
–786
.13.
Ueoka
, T.
, and Tsujino
, J.
, 2002
, “Welding characteristics of aluminum and copper plate specimens welded by a 19 kHz complex vibration ultrasonic seam welding system
,” Jpn. J. Appl. Phys., Part 1
, 41
(5B
), pp. 3237
–3242
.14.
Cunningham
, D. D.
, 2002
, “Integration of compressed and composite immobilized enzyme membranes into an injection molded pin format by ultrasonic welding
,” Sens. Actuators B
, 87
, pp. 371
–378
.15.
Grewell, D. A., 1998, “ ‘Expert’ system for ultrasonic welding of plastics,” Annual Technical Conference-ANTEC, Conference Proceedings, 1, pp. 1040–1044.
16.
Grewell
, D. A.
, 1999
, “A prototype ‘expert’ system for ultrasonic welding of plastics
,” Plast. Eng. (N. Y.)
, 55
, pp. 33
–37
.17.
Moskala, E. J., Eiselstein, B. T., Morrow, M. C., and Free, D. A., 2003, “Ultrasonic welding of copolyester resins,” Annual Technical Conference-ANTEC, Conference Proceedings, 2, pp. 2566–2570.
18.
Wagner
, G.
, Walther
, F.
, Nebel
, T.
, and Eifler
, D.
, 2003
, “Glass/glass joints by ultrasonic welding
,” Glass Technol.
, 44
, pp. 152
–155
.19.
Kuckert
, H.
, Schlicker
, U.
, Roeder
, E.
, and Eifler
, D.
, 1999
, “Residual thermal stresses in the case of the ultrasonic roll seam welding of glass/metal compounds-Part I: mathematical determination of the distribution of residual stresses
,” Schweissen und Schneiden/Welding and Cutting
, 51
, pp. E135–E138
E135–E138
.20.
Kuckert
, H.
, Schlicker
, U.
, Roeder
, E.
, and Eifler
, D.
, 1999
, “Residual thermal stresses in the case of the ultrasonic roll seam welding of glass/metal compounds-Part II: measures for their reduction
,” Schweissen und Schneiden/Welding and Cutting
, 51
, pp. E162–E165
E162–E165
.21.
Matsuoka
, S.-i.
, 1998
, “Ultrasonic welding of ceramics/metals using inserts
,” J. Mater. Process. Tech.
, 75
(1-3
), pp. 259
–265
.22.
Wagner
, J.
, Schlicker
, U.
, and Eifler
, D.
, 1998
, “Bond formation during the ultrasonic welding of ceramic with metal
,” Schweissen und Schneiden/Welding & Cutting
, 50
, pp. E199–E202
E199–E202
.23.
Volkov
, S. A.
, 2001
, “Preparation of non-woven materials by bonding of fibre cloths with ultrasonic welding
,” Russ. Ultrasonics
, 31
, pp. 105
–116
.24.
Volkov
, S. S.
, 2002
, “Ultrasonic welding of filters made of lavsan knitted fabric
,” Russ. Ultrasonics
, 31
, pp. 223
–226
.25.
Tsujino
, J.
, Hidai
, K.
, Hasegawa
, A.
, Kanai
, R.
, Matsuura
, H.
, Matsushima
, K.
, and Ueoka
, T.
, 2002
, “Ultrasonic butt welding of aluminum, aluminum alloy and stainless steel plate specimens
,” Ultrasonics
, 40
, pp. 371
–374
.26.
Hiraishi
, M.
, and Watanabe
, T.
, 2003
, “Ultrasonic welding of aluminum-magnesium alloy
,” Mater. Sci. Forum
, 426–432
, pp. 315
–20
.27.
Tsujino, J. and Ueoka, T., 2001, “Welding characteristics of various metal plates ultrasonic seam and spot welding systems using a complex vibration welding tip,” presented in 2001 IEEE Ultrasonics Symposium. Proceedings. An International Symposium, Piscataway, NJ, USA, IEEE, Vol. 661, pp. 669–674.
28.
Prilutskii
, M. A.
, and Komov
, E. M.
, 1999
, “Ultrasonic testing of welded joints in austenitic steels
,” Russ. Ultrasonics
, 29
, pp. 265
–271
.29.
Zuckschwerdt
, K.
, Greitmann
, M. J.
, Roos
, E.
, and Kussmaul
, E. h. K.
, 1999
, “Ultrasonic welding of variously coated oxide ceramics with connecting parts made of copper
,” Schweissen und Schneiden/Welding and Cutting
, 51
, pp. E211–E213
E211–E213
.30.
Watanabe
, T.
, Yoneda
, A.
, Yanagisawa
, A.
, Konuma
, S.
, and Ohashi
, O.
, 2000
, “Ultrasonic welding of Al-Cu and Al-SUS304-study on the ultrasonic welding of dissimilar metals (1st report)
,” Weld. Res. (Miami, FL, U. S.)
, 46
, p. 19
19
.31.
Leven
, D.
, 1972
, “The influence of the properties of materials on the question of their suitability for ultrasonic spot welding with particular attention being given to non-ferrous metals
,” Schweissen+Schneiden
, 24
, pp. 494
–497
.32.
Ibekwe
, S.
, Mensah
, P. F.
, Joshi
, G.
, Li
, G.
, and Stubblefield
, M.
, 2001
, “Experimental and analytical strength characterization of an ultrasonic welded lap shear joint
,” Proc. Eng. Technol. Conf. Energy
, B
, pp. 599
–602
.33.
Tsujino
, J.
, Sano
, T.
, Ogata
, H.
, Tanaka
, S.
, and Harada
, Y.
, 2002
, “Complex vibration ultrasonic welding systems with large area welding tips
,” Ultrasonics
, 40
, pp. 361
–364
.34.
Tsujino
, J.
, and Ueoka
, T.
, 1996
, “Ultrasonic multi-spot continuous welding of metal plate specimens using a two-vibration-system welding equipment
,” Ultrasonics
, 34
, pp. 229
–233
.35.
Tsujino, J., Ueoka, T., Sano, T., and Tanaka, S., 2000, “Ultrasonic complex vibration welding system using 100 kHz one-dimensional longitudinal-torsional vibration converter,” presented in 2000 IEEE Ultrasonics Symposium. Proceedings. An International Symposium, San Juan, Puerto Rico, edited by S. C. L. Schneider, M.; McAvoy, B. R., IEEE, Vol. 691, pp. 695–698.
36.
Tsujino, J., Ueoka, T., and Sano, T., 1999, “Welding characteristics of 27 kHz and 40 kHz complex vibration ultrasonic metal welding systems,” Proc. IEEE Ultrasonics Symposium, 1, pp. 773–778.
37.
Huo
, L.
, Wang
, D.
, Zhang
, Y.
, Jing
, H.
, and Yang
, X.
, 2000
, “Investigation of experiments to improving the fatigue strength of welded joints by ultrasonic peening method
,” Jixie Gongcheng Xuebao/Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering
, 36
, pp. 78
–82
.38.
Ibekwe
, S.
, Mensah
, P. F.
, Jana
, A.
, Li
, G.
, and Stubblefield
, M. A.
, 2002
, “Shear strength characteristics of an ultrasonic welded lap shear joint
,” Am. Soc. Mech. Eng., Petroleum Division (Publication) PD
, 2
, pp. 561
–565
.39.
Liu
, H.-K.
, Dai
, W.-L.
, and Lee
, Y.-C.
, 2000
, “Moisture effects and acoustic emission characterization on lap shear strength in ultrasonic welded carbon/nylon composites
,” J. Mater. Sci.
, 35
, pp. 3389
–3396
.40.
Watanabe
, T.
, Yoneda
, A.
, Yanagisawa
, A.
, Konuma
, S.
, and Ohashi
, O.
, 2000
, “Effect of oxide film on the strength of an ultrasonically welded joint, and welding process-study on the ultrasonic welding of dissimilar metals (2nd report)
,” Weld. Res. (Miami, FL, U. S.)
, 46
, p. 19
19
.41.
Volkov
, S. S.
, Chesnokov
, A. A.
, and Garanin
, I. N.
, 1999
, “Effect of temperature distribution over the width of a weld on the strength of butt joints in the ultrasonic welding of plastics
,” Russ. Ultrasonics
, 29
, pp. 219
–227
.42.
Janosch
, J. J.
, Koneczny
, H.
, Debiez
, S.
, Statnikov
, E. C.
, Troufiakov
, V. J.
, and Mikhee
, P. P.
, 1996
, “Improvement of fatigue strength in welded joints (in HSS and in aluminum alloys) by ultrasonic hammer peening
,” Weld. World
, 37
, pp. 72
–83
.43.
Koike
, Y.
, Hiraizumi
, K.
, Sakai
, J.
, Nakamura
, K.
, and Ueha
, S.
, 2000
, “Finite element method aided power flow mapping of an ultrasonic vibration tool
,” Jpn. J. Appl. Phys., Part 1
, 39
, pp. 2995
–2998
.44.
Korov B. V., and Kholopov, Y. V., 1976, “The effects of compressive force on the strength of ultrasonic spot welded joints in copper,” presented in Avtomaticheskaya Svarka, pp. 28–30.
45.
Abedrabbo, N. E., 2002, “Experimental and Numerical Investigations of Stamp Hydroforming and Ironing of Wrinkling in Sheet Metal Forming,” Michigan State University.
46.
M. K. W., 2000, “Impact Strength and Failure Mechanisms of Spot Welds in Automotive Materials,” University of South Carolina.
Copyright © 2005
by ASME
You do not currently have access to this content.
