RESISTANCE WELDING OF THERMOPLASTIC COMPOSITESTHE INFLUENCE OF THE METAL MESH HEATING ELEMENT

摘要

The heating element plays a key role in the process of resistance welding. It supplies the necessary welding energy to the joint and is one of the main contributors to the joint quality and controllability. This paper presents an experimental study on the influence of the metal mesh heating element on the quality of the welds. Stainless steel meshes with different geometries were used to study the influence of the wire diameter and the mesh opening. Meshes from different metals were used in order to determine the influence of the mesh material. Mechanical testing and microscopic scanning were used to evaluate the quality of the bond and matrix adhesion to the metal wire.