Ultrasonic soldering bonds glass titanium stainless steel ceramics

Ultrasonic soldering bonds glass titanium stainless steel ceramics

Ultrasonic soldering can bond glass, titanium, stainless steel, and ceramics. The principles and related information are as follows:

Principle of Ultrasonic Soldering

Vibration and Cavitation:Ultrasonic soldering uses ultrasonic vibration. The transducer in the ultrasonic soldering equipment converts electrical energy into mechanical vibration energy. When high-frequency current passes through the transducer, the piezoelectric crystal inside deforms and expands, generating ultrasonic vibration. This vibration is transmitted to the solder and the surface of the material to be welded through the welding head. In the molten solder, ultrasonic vibration causes cavitation, generating shock waves when bubbles burst. These shock waves remove the oxide film on the surface of the molten solder and the dirt, oil, and dust on the surface of the base material.
Chemical Reaction of Active Solder:Special active solders like Cerasolzer are used in ultrasonic soldering. These solders contain metals that easily combine with oxygen, such as zinc, titanium, silicon, aluminum, and rare earth elements. During the soldering process, these elements combine with oxygen in the air to form oxides, which chemically bond with the oxide layers on the surfaces of materials like glass, ceramics, and metals, achieving bonding.

Excellent Wetting Ability: It can significantly improve the wetting effect of the solder on the workpiece surface. In conventional soldering, it may be difficult to achieve good wetting on some materials with poor solderability. However, the ultrasonic soldering iron can overcome this problem, ensuring a more uniform and complete solder joint.
High-Quality Solder Joints: By promoting better solder penetration and adhesion, ultrasonic soldering helps to form solder joints with higher strength and better electrical conductivity. This is particularly important in applications where high reliability is required, such as in the electronics industry for manufacturing printed circuit boards.
Reduced Thermal Damage: Compared to traditional soldering methods that rely mainly on high temperatures to melt the solder, ultrasonic soldering can achieve good soldering results at relatively lower temperatures. This helps to reduce the risk of thermal damage to the workpiece, especially for heat-sensitive components and materials.
Suitable for Various Materials: It can be used for soldering a wide variety of materials, including some difficult-to-solder metals like aluminum and copper. The ultrasonic vibrations can break down the oxide layers on these materials, enabling successful soldering.

Applications

Electronics Manufacturing: It is widely used in the production of printed circuit boards (PCBs), for soldering components such as resistors, capacitors, integrated circuits, etc. onto the PCB. The high precision and reliability of ultrasonic soldering ensure the quality of electronic products.
Automobile Industry: In the manufacturing of automotive electronics, such as the production of engine control units, power electronics modules, and automotive wiring harnesses, ultrasonic soldering is used to achieve reliable connections between different components.
Aerospace and Defense: Due to its high reliability and ability to handle high-performance materials, ultrasonic soldering is used in the production of aerospace and defense electronics, where the quality and reliability of solder joints are of utmost importance.
Jewelry Making: It is also employed in the jewelry industry for soldering precious metals and gemstones. The precise control and gentle soldering process of ultrasonic soldering help to avoid damage to the delicate materials and ensure the quality of the jewelry.

Structure

Ultrasonic Generator: This is the core component that generates high-frequency electrical signals to drive the ultrasonic transducer. It usually has functions such as frequency adjustment and power control to adapt to different soldering requirements.
Ultrasonic Transducer: As mentioned earlier, it converts electrical energy into mechanical vibrations. The transducer is typically made of piezoelectric materials that exhibit the piezoelectric effect, which means they can deform when an electric field is applied and generate an electric field when deformed.

Soldering Iron Tip: The tip of the soldering iron is designed to transmit the ultrasonic vibrations to the solder and workpiece. It is usually made of heat-resistant and electrically conductive materials such as copper or tungsten alloy. The shape and size of the soldering iron tip can be customized according to different soldering applications.
Handle and Cooling System: The handle of the ultrasonic soldering iron is designed for easy operation and grip. It may also incorporate a cooling system to prevent overheating of the transducer and other components during operation. This is usually achieved through air cooling or water cooling methods.

Application Examples

Electronics Manufacturing:In the production of electronic components, it is used to solder electrodes on glass and ceramic substrates, connect superconducting materials and components, and bond leads in hybrid integrated circuits.
Optical Devices:It is used in the manufacturing of glass ornaments and the metallization of optical glasses, such as bonding metal hoops to optical glass fibers and sealing glass tubes.
Solar Energy Industry:It is used for the electrode wiring of solar cell glass, simplifying the production process and reducing costs.