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MANUFACTURING OF ULTRASONIC HORN FOR BONDING NON-WOVEN

MATERIALS

Conference Paper · November 2015

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National Conference on Machines and Mechanisms 2015, Ho Chi Minh City

MANUFACTURING OF ULTRASONIC HORN FOR BONDING

NON-WOVEN MATERIALS

Thanh Hai Nguyen1,*, Quang Thanh Le2, Phuong Minh Luu1, Huu Loc Nguyen1

1
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Viet Nam
2
Mechanical Engineering, HCMC University of Transport, Viet Nam

Email: haint@hcmut.edu.vn

ABSTRACT

In ultrasonic welding, design of horn is one of the most important steps. Horns are usually
made of Titan alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) because of its excellent characteristics in sound transportation.
Titan alloy is so expensive, therefore, it has been replaced by Aluminum alloy or high strength
steel. However, these materials are also expensive in Viet Nam because of importing charges. In
this paper, design and manufacturing ultrasonic welding horns using carbon steels is proposed and
discussed. Finite element analysis (FEA) is utilized to investigate the working performance of
ultrasonic horn in bonding thermoplastic materials.

Keywords: ultrasonic welding, horn, thermoplastic materials, FEA

1. INTRODUCTION

High-power ultrasonic technology is applied in packaging, welding, sonochemistry,

degassing, homogenizing, disintegration, and cleaning, especially for bonding thermal plastic
materials. In general, ultrasonic system is designed based on specific application, Fig. 1.

In this paper, ultrasonic welding is studied for welding some non-woven materials used in
medical face masks, non-woven bags, filters and geotextiles. Some researchers have tried to study
the effects of processing parameters, the mechanics and temperature transform during ultrasonic
welding process. In Shi’s paper, the heating and bonding mechanisms of ultrasonic welding
process in non-woven materials were investigated [1]. At there, cotton, nylon, polyester and
polyurethane fabrics were bonded ultrasonically. The effects of weld pressure, welding time,
amplitude of vibration, and temperature profile were examined. Besides, bonding behavior of non-
woven during ultrasonic bonding process is predicted [2]. Mechanics and vibration of the horn,
viscoelastic behavior, heat generation and transfer were discussed based on FEM results.
Processing parameters includes amplitude, pressure and time were roughly established by trial and
error and then finally adjusted to meet the needs of specific application. Amplitude is determined
by selection of the booster and horn. Pressure is generated by a pneumatic pressure system and
time is the dwelling time of fiber under the ultrasonically vibrating horn. In every ultrasonic
system, horn design is carefully considered due to its critical parameters.
National Conference on Machines and Mechanisms 2015, Ho Chi Minh City

Therefore, many researchers have tried to investigate the effected parameters in horn design.
Oanca and his colleagues investigated [3] the horn failure made of titan alloy with micro and
macro structural material determination, nondestructive testing of cracks and sound propagation
speed. Main parameters of the horn like magnification coefficient, amplitude size, stress curve,
dimension and shape of the horn were investigated numerically. Besides, stress zone concentrator
and the maximum stress values in the horn were shown based on simulation results. Kim and his
partners [4] designed spool and bar horns, Fig. 2, for ultrasonic bonding in a systematic way to
obtain high amplitude uniformity. Natural frequency, amplitude, displacement and stresses of the
horns were predicted considering the effects of the groove and slot.

Fig. 1: Ultrasonic process system

Behera and his colleagues [5] used FEA, Fig. 3, to design the various stepped horn profiles
and materials to conduct with ultrasonic vibration in different direction. Resonant frequency and,
nodal plane position and amplitude at the top of the horn were determined. In Patel’s work [6],
horn material and shape, frequency and amplitude of vibration was considered. Various kinds of
horn shapes such as conical, stepped, exponential were investigated. A stepped shape horn
produced large amplitude due to large vibration stress. Conical and exponential shaped horns are
better than any other shaped horns. Besides, amplitude of exponential shaped horn is better than
that of conical horn. Stanesel designed exponential ultrasonic horn by assuming a calculation
program that supplies the coordinates in different cross-section of the horn.
National Conference on Machines and Mechanisms 2015, Ho Chi Minh City

Fig. 2: Configurations and parameters of the cylinder horn: (a) cylinder horn and (b) spool horn.

Fig. 3: (a) Modeling of the horn, (b) mesh generation in pre-processor, (c) 3D-10 mode solid 92
element, (d) nodal analysis of aluminum horn and (e) nodal analysis of plain carbon steel horn.

In this paper, wide-blade horn of carbon steel is designed using finite element analysis and
manufactured for bonding some non-woven materials. The wave propagation, stress and
amplitude is investigated.
National Conference on Machines and Mechanisms 2015, Ho Chi Minh City

2. HORN DESIGN

The main purpose of ultrasonic horn is to amplify the amplitude of vibration at the working
surface. Besides, it transfers mechanical energy from the transducer via the booster to the horn
surface. The molecules of the horn expend and contract longitudinally along its length so the horn
expend and contract at the natural frequency. Therefore, horn must be in resonant with booster
and transducer. As a result, the design of transducer, booster and horn must be carefully considered
to reduce the damage to the generator. The natural frequency of the horn depends on the horn
length in one – dimensional wave equation, Eq. (1.1):
c 1 E
λ= = = 2l (1.1)
fn fn ρ
Where l is the horn length, λ is the wave length, f n is the natural frequency, c is the sound
velocity, E and ρ are the elastic modulus and mass density of the horn, respectively. The
amplitude uniformity, Eq. (1.2) on the working surface of the horn is defined as the ratio of the
minimum to the maximum displacement.
u 
Uniformity =  min  x100 (1.2)
 umax 
Where umin , umax are the minimum and maximum displacement, respectively.

The calculation of the correct horn length is an important aspect of horn design. The horn
length should be in multiples of the haft wavelength of the system. There are three typical kinds
of horn shapes: exponential shape, conical shape and stepped shape. The design of exponential
horn, Fig. 4, is relatively simple while design of conical and stepped horns is more difficult. The
resonant length of exponential horn is calculated in Eq. (1.3):

c   N 2  c   D1 D2 2 
l= 1 +  ln  = 1 +  ln   (1.3)
fn   2π   f n   2π  
Where N is the amplitude magnification, calculated as the ratio of input and output diameter
equaling to the amplitude ratio.

Fig. 4: 3D model of the exponential horn

National Conference on Machines and Mechanisms 2015, Ho Chi Minh City

The resonant length of conical horn, Fig. 5, is the solution of the Eq. (1.4):

Fig. 5: Conically tapered horn

2
wl wcl ( D1 − D2 )
tan = 2 (1.4)
c c ( D1 − D2 )2 + w 2 l 2 D1 D2
Where ω = 2π f is the resonant frequency. The amplitude magnification is calculated as in Eq.
(1.5).

D1 ωl c ( D1 − D2 ) ωl
N= cos − sin (1.5)
D2 c ωlD2 c
The length of the stepped horn, Fig. 6, is calculated in Eq. (1.6):

Fig. 6: Stepped horn

c
l = l1 + (1.6)
4f
And the amplitude magnification is calculated in Eq. (1.7):

2
A  D1 
N = 1 = 2  (1.7)
A2  D 
National Conference on Machines and Mechanisms 2015, Ho Chi Minh City

In this paper, stepped wide-blade horn, Fig. 7, is designed and manufactured using carbon steel
in order to bond non-woven materials.

Fig. 7: Wide-blade horn shape

In wide-balde horn, slots are designed parallel to the direction of longitudinal motion
producing the effects of narrow horn, improving the heat dissipation and thus preventing the
creation of thermal “hot” spots in operation. The resonant length of wide-balde horn is
calculated in Eq. (1.8):

c c W ωa
l= + 2a − 2 tan −1 tan (1.8)
2f ω W − ( n + 1) h c
Where W is the width of the horn, h is the width of slot, a is the length.

Using carbon steel, the dimension of the designed wide-blade horn is calculated. The resonant
frequency of the system is 20kHz. The dimension of the designed wide-blade horn is 120 mm, 40
mm and 129 mm in width, thickness and height, respectively.

Using COMSOL Multiphysics, the displacement of the horn at the working frequency is simulated
in Fig. 8.
National Conference on Machines and Mechanisms 2015, Ho Chi Minh City

Fig. 8: The total displacement of the horn at working frequency

In the Fig. 8, the total displacement of the horn at its working frequency, 20kHz, is illustrated. The
maximum displacement is located at the working surface of the horn while the minimum
displacement is located at the center of the horn. The total length of the horn is designed as a haft-
wavelength. In the first half cycle, each end of the horn tends to extend out of the ending surface.
In reversed cycle, the two ending surfaces tend to contract inside the surface. Therefore, the
maximum stress occurs at the center of the horn. The more magnification amplitude is, the more
maximum stress is. After considering the FEA results, steel horn is manufactured using CNC
technology, Fig. 9.

Fig. 9: Fabricated horn using carbon steel.

 National Conference on Machines and Mechanisms 2015, Ho Chi Minh City

The horn is fabricated using CNC machine. This horn is mounted to the booster and converter
to transmitting vibration from piezoelectric ceramic plates to the working surface of the horn.
Some specimens of nonwoven materials will be used to test the bonding quality in the next work.

3. CONCLUSIONS

In this paper, the design and fabrication of the horn using carbon steel were conducted with
the wide-blade horn type. The FEA simulation was investigated to give out the suitable shape of
the ultrasonic horn. The fabrication of the horn is also conducted using CNC machine. The
amplitude magnification, the displacement of the horn were also studied.

Acknowledgement: This research is supported by Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology

under grant number 20140015.

REFERENCES

[1]. Weihua Shi, Trevor Little - Mechanisms of ultrasonic joining of textile materials,
International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology, (2000), Vol. 12, No 5, pp.
331 – 350.
[2]. Zhentao Mao and Bhuvenesh C. Goswami – Studies on the process of ultrasonic bonding
of non-woven: Part 1 – Theoretical analysis, International Non-woven Journal, (2001),
Vol. 10, No 2, pp. 38-47.

[3]. Octavian Oanca, Niculai Pasca, Ilare Bordeasu, Ion Mitelea – Horn failure analysis from
titan alloy used in ultrasonic cavitational process, Metal 2012, Brno, Czech Republic,
EU

[4]. Sun-Rak Kim, Jae Hak Lee, Choong D. Yoo, Jun-Yeob Song, Seung S. Lee, Design of
Highly Uniform Spool and Bar Horns for Ultrasonic Bonding, IEEE transactions on
ultrasonics, ferroelectrics, and frequency control, Vol. 58, No. 10, Oct. 2011
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used for Plastic Welding, Institute Of Technology, Nirma University, Ahmedabad – 382
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[7]. Iulian Stanasel, Flavius Ardelean, The parametric design of the ultrasonic exponential
horns, Nonconventional Technologies Review – No. 4, 2010
[8]. M. Nad, Ultrasonic horn design for ultrasonic machining technologies, Applied and
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