Tip-replaceable Horn with Full Wavelength for Ultrasonic Welding

Abstract

Ultrasonic welding is faster, environmental friendly, and more efficient than conventional welding. Ultrasonic welding stack, the key part in ultrasonic welding equipment, is composed of transducer, booster, and horn. In the case of ultrasonic welding, wear in the welding tips or breakage of horn occurs because ultrasonic vibration of tips is transmitted directly to the welding material. If grinding of the tips is repeated several times, the mass of horn is reduced and the frequency characteristic is changed. So, there is a limit to refurbishment. In additions, as materials of horn are relatively expensive, some cost problems could be occurred for replacing horns. This study, in order to reduce the manufacturing cost of horn, devised a tip-replaceable ultrasonic horn so that its tip can be easily replaced whenever it is worn. For the designed shape, natural frequency and vibration mode are analyzed using FEA. Through the FEA, the optimal tip-replaceable horn with resonance frequency of 40 kHz is proposed.