Poole-based Telsonic UK (www.telsonic.com) has been working with the University of Warwick’s Manufacturing Group (WMG) to explore the benefits of ultrasonic metal welding as a clean, fast and controllable process that can produce joints with excellent electrical performance.

Extensive trials were carried out in Poole and at the parent company’s headquarters in Switzerland to determine the power requirements and tool face designs needed to cover the full scope of the project.

The results of these trials allowed Telsonic to determine the optimum specification and configuration for the system to be installed at WMG — a Telsonic MPX50-1 linear ultrasonic metal welder powered by the company’s SG22-series generator, which operates at 20Hz and has an output up to 6.5kW.

The MPX50-1 has an adjustable stroke of 1-50mm and can apply a force of 5,000N. An integral load cell and a linear encoder system are used to provide force and positional feedback, while the TSC5 touch-screen control offers a choice of weld modes plus statistical process control and data export.

WMG will use the system to ultrasonically weld single- and multi-layer non-ferrous laminates, which are used in a range of automotive power storage and connectivity components. Two different tool face configurations were designed, to allow comparison and evaluation of material response, strength analysis and electrical testing after welding.