Welding of Thermoplastic Composites: Fundamentals and Improvements

Presented by Dr Ali Yousefpour, Aerospace Manufacturing Technology Centre, Aerospace Research Center, National Research Council Canada
This talk presents a general overview of thermoplastic composite welding technology and briefly discusses the importance of process parameters and their influences on mechanical performance using the resistance welding process as a showcase. Also, the presentation highlights several findings and improvements from recent work on model-based process control of continuous resistance welding for joining structural thermoplastic composites.
Ali Yousefpour obtained his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Since 1995, he has been working on designing, analyzing, manufacturing, and testing polymeric and ceramic matrix composite materials and structures for marine, automotive, space, and aerospace applications. In 2002, he joined the Aerospace Research Center of the National Research Council Canada (NRC). His research focuses on developing advanced manufacturing and joining techniques for aerospace structures with an emphasis on thermoplastic and thermoset composite materials. He has numerous technical journal/conference papers in the areas of joining and advanced manufacturing of composite materials. In addition, he was a general co-chair of the 2010 International SAMPE Symposium & Exhibitions conference in Seattle. Currently, Ali is a Team Leader and Principal Research Officer of the Composite Products Team at the Aerospace Manufacturing Technology Center of NRC conducting R&D and demonstration projects in the areas of automated composite manufacturing, in-process sensing, composite forming/joining processes, simulation/digitalization, and composites repairs.