Insights into the Influence of Welding Energy on the Ultrasonic Welding of Glass FIbre-Reinforced PPS Composites

Investigations on ultrasonic welding of thermoplastic composites always focus on carbon fibre-reinforced thermoplastics so far. This study marks the first attempt at joining glass fibre-reinforced polyphenylene sulphide (GF/PPS) using ultrasonic welding. Attributed to the high observability of the glass fibre-reinforced thermoplastic, new discoveries on bonding formation and mechanism of void defect evolution were acquired. A special pattern of alternating high and low heat input regions was revealed, which was independent of welding energy variations and presented an inherent characteristic of ultrasonic welded GF/PPS joints. Squeeze-out and thermal degradation of matrix induced two primary defect types: larger voids with a size of approximately 100 μm were formed in the matrix between fibre bundles at the joint edge at lower welding energies and were diminished at excessive welding energy; smaller microvoids within 10 μm were formed within the fibre bundles voids at moderate welding energies and were increased in prevalence with higher energy levels. The research identified four distinct fracture modes that are strongly influenced by the welding energy and closely linked to the lap shear strength (LSS) of the joint. The GF/PPS joint achieved a maximum LSS of 22.6 MPa, which is the state-of-the-art welding joints, typically resulting from fracturing in the welded adherend. These findings provide valuable insights for refining the ultrasonic welding process of thermoplastic composites.