Thermoplastic composite IR welding spec

Earlier published engineering notes

As shown here, a composite part with the epoxy layer is easily penetrated.

Using Kubota Research's P-Wave™ IR radiation system and ImpacGard™ process to consolidate a P-Wave™ Pseudo -prepreg onto the surface of a reinforced composite preserves the integrity of the high tenacity fiber.

A single layer of ImpacGard™ increases impact absorption of composite materials up to 40%, and dramatically improves shatter and spalling containment.

ImpacGard™ is a patent pending composite facing that absorbs impact energy to reduce the risk of major structural damage, and minimize the potential for hazardous debris.

Report language on this query

Fusion bonding, or welding, refers to heating a thermoplastic joint at the bondline, providing time and pressure as required for polymer chain reptation across the weld interface, and cooling under pressure to solidify the joint.

Several methods for welding thermoplastic composites are available however the three often used in aerospace include resistance, induction, and ultrasonic welding.

The goal of this work is to evaluate the requirements, benefits, and constraints of these three welding methods to join four candidate thermoplastic composite material systems.

Lap shear coupons were welded by each method on a per coupon basis.

The weld area was limited to the 2.54 by 2.54 cm coupon overlap region to provide an assessment of the reproducibility of each weld process and the influence of edge effects.

ly heated above the processing temperature range to the point of degradation.

The regions with dry fibers (no resin) apparently experienced temperatures high enough to vaporize the resin.

Therefore, these results suggest significant temperature gradients occurred during the welding process.

6 Concluding Remarks Thermoplastic composite welding is a candidate for future in -space and on -surface structural join ing applications.

TDEA has contributed toward this long-term objective through hundreds of welding trials and evaluations.

This report summarized the key findings from these welding trials.

Strong welds are possible as demonstrated at the coupon and subelement scale .

Working method for this table

Start from the archived language on this host, then confirm each cell against the linked report.

Commercial language stays off this page: no list price, no SKU table, no invented street door.

Spec notes for IR welding of TPC, with figures traced to NTRS. Verify every figure against the original report before a drawing release.

Source titles on this pass: NASA TM thermoplastic joining resistance induction ultrasonic; NASA TM TDEA thermoplastic composite welding; An Assessment of the Use of a Carbon Fiber Heating Element in Resistance Welding for PPS, PEI, LM-PAEK, and PEKK Thermop; Manufacture, Characterization, and Fusion Welding of Thermoplastic Composites for Space Applications; Finite Element Thermal Model for Ultrasonic Welding of Thermoplastic Composites; Thermoplastic Composite High Rate Fuselage Manufacturing Demonstrator.