Saturday, November 8, 2008

Stud Welding Overview

When a bolt or a nut needs to be welded onto a different metal part, stud welding is used; this is another form of the process known as spot welding. Spot welders are usually automatically fed the bolds. These types of weld nuts have a flange and the flange has a smaller nub that is able to melt and create the weld. On studs there is also a part that is un-threaded and necked down which also helps in the melting of the stud.

Stud welding is another form of arc welding and it brings a piece of metal and a stud to join together. In most cases there is a flat plate that the stud is joined to and the stud works as an electrode. There are different polarities for this process that are determined by the type of metal that you are going to use. The different steels tat you use will require a different type of current.

The way that this is done is through a weld gun where you place the stud against the metal and then an arc is created and it melts the stud and part of the area where the metal is located. The stud is pushed into the pool of molten metal and it stays in place until the two materials are solid again. This happens within milliseconds and makes a very strong connection weld.

This can be a portable process with the help of a portable stud welding machine. This is a very flexible type of welding and can be used in automobiles to work on the bodies, it can be used to weld electrical panels and in construction of ships or buildings.

There is one type of stud welding that is different than the regular type because it doesn't need flux to make it work. This type is called capacitor discharge stud welding. Because this type doesn't need to have the heat concentrated it lets the weld happen quickly and there it has eliminated most of the oxidation.

The capacitor discharge stud welding is most often used when you have small diameters that need to be fastened to a thinner base metal. The arch stud welding is usually used for the larger diameters that need to be fastened to metals that have a thicker base or that are rougher in texture.

There are many advantages to using stud welding and some of it is for appearance. With stud welding you can produce a uniformed look because the energy that is used to create the weld is monitored and controlled meticulously so that the amount of the energy used is consistent. This makes the weld strong and consistent.

You can also use stud welding with a variety of steels including aluminum, stainless steel, copper, brass and even zinc. Some of the more exotic steels can also be used in this process. This process also eliminates the need to do anything extra to the holes like drilling or tapping and the surface metal will not have to be touched up by polishing; this method does it all. This makes a very strong connection.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=William_Walley

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Ultrasonic Welding Overview

Ultrasonic Welding is a process where the high frequency vibrations of an ultrasound are applied to a piece that is to be welded. The pieces are put under pressure and held together until they create what is know as a solid state weld. Usually there needs to be a frequency between 20 and 40kHz in order for this to work. This type of welding is used for plastics and for joining two different materials.

By using an ultrasonic vibration there is no need for bolts, nails, soldering or adhesives to keep the materials together. By using these vibrations on thermoplastics melting occurs on the plastic as it pulls in the energy of the vibration, which is pulled across the joint that needs to be welded. On metals, ultrasonic welding happens when the material is taken through friction welding.

The vibrations from the ultrasonic welding machine are produced by a welding sonotrode (horn) and they soften the thermoplastic material along the line of the joint. The equipment that is used will determine how strong the weld is and this will depend on how the equipment is designed, the materials to be welded and their properties and how the joint is designed.

The time it takes ultrasonic welding to happen is very short and for mass production this type of welding works very effectively. This type of welding will be used in the automotive industry for light clusters of things that need done and in producing electronic products like the casings in mobile phones.

Ultrasonic welding is used to weld both hard plastics and soft plastics and some metals. Today the machines are able to even do semi crystalline types of plastics. There is research and testing going on to see how this process works because not everyone has understood the power of this process. They are studying areas like how the process parameters of something to be welded with relate to the quality of the weld.

The process has needed to be studied because there has been more of a demand for different types of plastics and for electronic pieces which are best made by this process. In many respects it is still a developing field.

Ultrasonic welding is made up of several components. Some of these components are:

It needs a press that can hold two different parts that will be put under pressure.

An anvil to put the parts in place to take on the elevated frequency vibration that is needed to hit the pieces.

Something called an ultrasonic stack that has a converter that holds the horn that needs to be tuned to the specific frequency.

An electronic ultrasonic generator that can deliver a higher power AC signal that can match the frequency that matches the resonance of the stack.

A controller that can control the movement that the press will make and how it delivers the ultrasonic energy.

Ultrasonic welding can be found in many different areas beyond electronics and the automotive industry. This process is also used in the electrical area, with computers, with aerospace and with the packing and medical industries.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=William_Walley

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