We have all seen a movie where someone’s voice is so high, that it breaks a glass in half, right? The science behind it says that high-pitched or high-frequency sounds have the ability to break materials apart, but that’s not the end of it. You can also use high-frequency vibrations and friction to bond materials together. That’s what Ultrasonic Welding is, in a nutshell.
History of Ultrasonic Welding
Ultrasonic welding was invented in the 1940s and used for bonding thermoplastics. It wasn’t patented until 1965 when Robert Soloff found out that sound waves would travel around plastic and allow the joint area of the thermoplastics to be welded. The industry was changed even further when he combined a drill press and this ultrasonic welder, to make a new machine that he would pitch to Ideal Toy Co. Plastic toys saw massive growth as well as other industries due to plastics no longer requiring heat for bonding.
How Does It Work?
Have you ever had rug burn? It really hurts, doesn’t it? You can actually feel the heat as your skin grazes the carpet leaving behind a burn. That burn is from the friction. The same way rubbing your hands together warms them up, is the same idea behind ultrasonic welding. Sounds waves cause the two materials to vibrate at insane speeds, causing them to heat up and bond together. That rapid frictional heat is the key to success to bind the materials together. Here is a video of the process.
Why Use It?
There are some advantages to using ultrasonic welding or the traditional methods of welding.
- Welding occurs at a lower temperature compared to other methods. This means that the manufacturer doesn’t need as much energy to reach the temperatures needed for bonding.
- The process is significantly faster, often processing in fractions of a second to seconds. Faster than glues and more efficient.
- A safer process that doesn’t require flammable fuel or open flames. Workers aren’t exposed to the materials and there isn’t a need to store dangerous materials on-site. Although hearing issues may occur if proper safety measures and precautions aren’t taken.
- It’s cheaper. Given some of the statements above, you can see the cost for this process would be less than that of some traditional methods, which is why this method soared to popularity quickly.
The Future
In 2019, the market size of Ultrasonic Welding Machine is 456.2 million US$ and it will reach 565.3 million US$ in 2025, growing at a CAGR of 3.1% from 2019, according to Downey Magazine. Their article presented the Ultrasonic Welding Machine production, revenue, market share, and growth rate for each key company, and also covers the breakdown data (production, consumption, revenue, and market share) by regions, types, and applications. history breakdown data from 2014 to 2019, and forecast to 2025.
Looking for an Ultrasonic Welder?
HGR is one of the leaders in selling used machinery and surplus supplies. With 12 acres of industrial equipment under one roof, you can believe we also have Ultrasonic Welders available now. Use this link to see what we have in stock. If you don’t see anything now, check back in a week or so. We have hundreds of new items arriving daily, so you never know what will come in next.