Advancements in Ultrasonic Consolidation Welding in Additive Manufacturing

Ultrasonic Consolidation (UC) is a cold-welding process of joining similar and dissimilar metals to form laminates and 3D build geometries.  The gross temperatures rarely exceed 300F and this feature enables many product packaging and embedding possibilities. The raw materials are tape or sheet alloys such as Al 1100, 3003, CP Ti Grade 1, Cu 045, SS304, S316, Nickel and others of thicknesses typicallu ranging from 0.002” to 0.012”.   The process involves using a rolling sonotrode to impart ultrasonic shear motions between pair or several pairs of metallic junction’s simultaneously.  When the process is applied to laminate 3D builds, the process is termed Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing (UAM) which like other Additive Manufacturing methods, is capable of CNC automation with tape/sheet layup, welding, and milling build cycles at a rapid rate.  Originally patented by Solidica, Inc in 2003 by Ms. Dawn White, the process is currently being researched via funding by DARPA and other Govt. agencies at Solidica, several universities, national laboratories, and by the Edison Welding Institute.   Current challenges of increasing bond strength and metallurgical sealing are being met by combining tape/sheet/tool metallurgy, process knowledge, machine design experience, and vibration dynamics modeling.  Ultrasonic power is being increased from 2-3KW to 9KW with a larger build envelope with the world’s largest  – Very High Powered UAM machine being developed jointly by Edison Welding Institute and Solidica under Ohio’s Wright State Program. This presentation will cover an overview of Solidica,Inc, the company, followed by various product applications made possible by UC/UAM, the fundamentals of UC and material systems tested, and status of on-going DARPA funded projects at Solidica, Inc to advance ultrasonic welding.