Joining of thermoplastic composites is an important step in the manufacturing of aerospace thermoplastic composite structures. Therefore, several joining methods for thermoplastic composite components have been under investigation and development. In general, joining of thermoplastic composites can be categorized into mechanical fastening, adhesive bonding, solvent bonding, co-consolidation, and fusion bonding or welding. Fusion bonding or welding has great potential for the joining, assembly, and repair of thermoplastic composite components and also offers many advantages over other joining techniques. The process of fusion-bonding involves heating and melting the polymer on the bond surfaces of the components and then pressing these surfaces together for polymer solidification and consolidation. The focus of this paper is to review the different fusion-bonding methods for thermoplastic composite components and present recent developments in this area. The various welding techniques and the corresponding manufacturing methodologies, the required equipment, the effects of processing parameters on weld performance and quality, the advantages/disadvantages of each technique, and the applications are described.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0892705704045187

Fusion Bonding/Welding of Thermoplastic Composites

Joining composite materials is an issue because traditional joining technologies are not directly transferable to composite structures. Fusion bonding and the use of thermoplastic films as hot melt adhesives offer an alternative to mechanical fastening and thermosetting adhesive bonding. Fusion bonding technology which originated from the thermoplastic polymer industry has gain a new interest with the introduction of thermoplastic matrix composites (TPC) which are currently regarded as candidates for primary structures. The improvement of thermoplastic polymer matrices, with the introduction of recent chemistries such as PEEK, PEI and PEKEKK. exhibiting increased mechanical performance, service temperature and solvent resistance (for the semi-crystalline systems) also supported the growth of interest for fusion bonding. This review looks at the state of the art of fusion bonding technology and focuses particularly on the three most promising fusion bonding techniques: ultrasonic welding, induction welding and resistance welding. Physical mechanisms involved in the fusion bonding process for modelling purposes are discussed including heat transfer, consolidation and crystallinity aspects. Finally, the application of fusion bonding to joining dissimilar materials, namely thermosetting composites (TSC)/TPC and metal/TPC joints, is reviewed.

Advances in fusion bonding techniques for joining thermoplastic matrix composites: a review

A number of mechanisms have been proposed in the literature as contributors to the strength development at the polymer-polymer interface during fusion bonding of thermoplastic composites. Of these, healing and intimate contact emerge as fundamental mechanisms governing bonding. Intimate contact refers to the development of the amount of surface area that is physically contacted at the interface at any time, and healing describes the migration of polymer chains across the interface in intimate contact.This work provides a new theoretical development of a coupled bonding model that accounts for variability in initiation time for healing due to growth in the area in intimate contact. The generalized coupled bonding model is valid for any set of processing conditions and reduces to the proper controlling mechanism as dictated by the process. Analysis revealed a key dimensionless group, Q, that captures the coupled nature of the mechanisms governing fusion bonding. By evaluating Q, which is a function of mater...

An Analysis of Mechanisms Governing Fusion Bonding of Thermoplastic Composites

Experimental investigation of the resistance welding for thermoplastic-matrix composites. Part I: heating element and heat transfer

For joining and repair of continuous fiber thermoplastic composites, induction heating has been viewed a strong candidate. Induction heating employs an applied alternating magnetic field, which induces a rotational emf in a grid of conductive carbon fibers, which are then used to carry resulting currents. In continuous carbon fiber crossply composites the available paths for “eddy current” loops are along the network of conductive carbon fibers. For this to occur, an electrical transfer must take place between crossing fibers in adjacent plies. Tests involving variable thicknesses of interply neat film layers have been performed to provide insight into the mechanisms taking place. These tests indicate that the primary mechanism for heating in such laminates is dielectric losses in the polymeric region between fibers in adjacent planes that form the conductive loop. Therefore, heating is not uniform in such composites despite a uniform magnetic flux. Heating patterns were viewed using liquid crystal materials and E-type thermocouples. Several factors leading to nonhomogeneous thermal distributions have been considered, including current density effects, internal emf cancellation, and rotational field effects. Global and local considerations are addressed, a localized model is proposed, and the corresponding theory is developed qualifying the early results. Additional testing has supported the theory.

A local theory of heating in cross‐ply carbon fiber thermoplastic composites by magnetic induction

This paper describes a process that facilitates fusion bonding of thermoplastic composite components without the need for complex fixtures and without disrupting the fiber alignment in the component laminates. The dual polymer bonding process, Thermabond, requires that an interlayer polymer be fused to the surface of each laminate prior to bonding. The characteristics of the interlayer polymer allow for joining of the components at a temperature below the softening/melting point of the reinforced polymer in the composite laminates. This leads to significant processing advantages without significant loss in mechanical performance. Discussions of resin compatibility, the effect of process conditions on mechanical performance, and the application of the APC-2/PEI Thermabond system to various structural components are included.

A.J. Halbritter

Papers

Dual polymer bonding of thermoplastic composite structures

Thermoplastic interlayer bonding of aromatic polymer composites—methods for using semi-crystallized polymers