Vibration welding compared to other welding technologies

Vibration welding is characterised by its high energy efficiency. It is a welding technology that is suitable for achieving very strong and tight joints that are resistant to pressure or vacuum processes. Vibration welding is particularly suitable for large components. You will find out what it is and how it differs from other welding techniques in this article.

Welding in general

Welding is an action aimed at joining construction materials, whether metal or plastic. It is performed by heating the contact surfaces of the materials, plasticising these contacts and applying pressure to them. Welding technology today knows the following types of this process (according to the Wikipedia encyclopaedia):

• z. electric resistance,
• with. hot. air,
• z. focal,
• z. crush,
• z. explosive,
• z. friction,
• z. ultrasonic,
• z. inductive,
• z. diffusion,
• z. short circuit,
• z. spark,
• with. high. frequency. currents,
• with. a. hot. plate,
• z. vibratory.

Vibration welding

In this type of technology, heat is generated by the oscillating and frictional movement of one of the elements to be bonded, which is subjected to a pressure force applied to it. It should be noted that the other element is stationary. Friction takes place at the interface between the two elements. As a result of this type of welding process, the effect of melting and fusion of the materials is obtained. The diameter (pitch) of the oscillation of the moving element is between 0.2 mm and 2.0 mm and the frequency of the oscillation is usually between 100 Hz and 240 Hz.

On the differences between welding techniques

The various methods of welding technology differ from one another. The reason for these differences is, in the main, the sequence in which the clamping force and the heat input occur one after the other. In vibration welding, the pressure comes first and the heat is generated. The process takes place in phases.

The method most similar to vibration welding is friction welding, or more precisely, friction-rotation welding. The difference here lies in the mobility of the two parts to be welded and their parallel influence on the thermal energy generated in the friction process.

More about the advantages and disadvantages of vibration welding

In the introduction to this article, we have already mentioned some of the advantages, i.e. energy efficiency, the possibility of using it on large workpieces and obtaining strong joints. The vibration welding process also does not emit any fumes. However, it does have its disadvantages. These include the inapplicability of vibration welding to plastics with different melting points and its many limitations for thermoplastic materials. Another disadvantage is the fact that the implementation of this type of process initially requires a large investment.

Application of vibration welding

Due to the advantages described, this type of welding is widely used in mass production. It is mainly used in the white goods industry (e.g. in the production of dishwasher pumps) and in the automotive industry (car parts, i.e. fuel tanks, manifolds and lighting systems).