WeldMAX™ Ultrasonic Spot Welding System

The WeldMAX™ ultrasonic spot welding system is Sonobond’s most powerful welder, delivering up to 10,000 watts of output power for large nonferrous metal assemblies. It produces strong, highly conductive solid-state bonds between heavy-gauge wires, terminals, busbars and other electrical components.

It joins similar or dissimilar metals—including copper, aluminum and nickel—without melting the materials or requiring external heat, electrical current, fluxes, fillers or other consumables. Most welds are completed in less than three seconds, although actual cycle time depends on the materials, thicknesses and weld area.

The system can be tooled to join stranded copper wires with cross-sectional areas up to 200 mm². It can also weld an equivalent area when joining stranded copper wire to a terminal.

What Is Ultrasonic Spot Welding?

Ultrasonic spot welding is a solid-state metal-joining process that uses high-frequency mechanical vibration and controlled clamping force to form a metallurgical bond. The process disperses oxides and surface films at the interface between the components, allowing the metals to bond without reaching their melting temperatures.

Because ultrasonic metal welding does not melt the base materials, it minimizes thermal distortion and preserves the electrical properties of conductive metals. It can also join dissimilar materials that may be difficult to bond using conventional fusion or resistance-welding processes.

The WeldMAX system performs ultrasonic spot welding using Sonobond’s patented Wedge-Reed System, which applies low-amplitude ultrasonic vibration under high clamping force to produce repeatable, dependable welds.

High-Power Ultrasonic Spot-Welding Applications

WeldMAX is engineered for applications that require greater power, larger weld areas or heavier materials than conventional ultrasonic welding systems can accommodate.

Heavy-Gauge Wire-to-Wire Welding

WeldMAX can join stranded copper wires with cross-sectional areas up to 200 mm². The process creates a solid-state bond between the wire strands without solder, flux or filler materials. Typical applications include:

• High-voltage cable assemblies
• Electric-vehicle wiring
• Battery and energy-storage systems
• Industrial power-distribution equipment
• Grounding and bonding cables
• Heavy electrical harnesses

Heavy-Gauge Wire-to-Terminal Welding

The system can weld stranded copper wire to terminals over an equivalent weld area of up to 200 mm². The resulting metallurgical bond provides high electrical conductivity and mechanical strength. Because the process requires little or no pre-cleaning, WeldMAX can also join many tinned stranded-wire assemblies.

Electrical Busbar Fabrication

WeldMAX performs ultrasonic spot welding on copper, aluminum and other nonferrous busbar materials. It can join similar or dissimilar metal combinations without adding excessive heat to the assembly. Applications include:

• Electric-vehicle battery packs
• Charging infrastructure
• High-capacity energy-storage systems
• Power-distribution equipment
• Electrical control panels
• Industrial battery systems
• Renewable-energy equipment

Automated Electrical Assembly

WeldMAX can be integrated into automated production equipment and configured with special tooling, fixtures, rotary tables or material feeders. This flexibility helps manufacturers incorporate high-power ultrasonic welding into repeatable production processes.

Metals Welded With WeldMAX

WeldMAX can join similar and dissimilar nonferrous metals, including copper, aluminum, nickel, tinned copper, copper-to-aluminum and copper-to-nickel combinations.

Weldability depends on material properties, component thickness, weld area, part geometry and tooling. Sonobond can test customer-supplied components to determine the appropriate equipment, tooling and process settings.

Patented Wedge-Reed Welding Technology

The WeldMAX system uses Sonobond’s patented Wedge-Reed System to deliver high vibratory force at low amplitude. The welding tip directs high-frequency mechanical energy to the interface between the components while the system maintains high clamping force. This creates a true solid-state metallurgical bond without melting the workpieces.

Replaceable Taper Lock Tips

The WeldMAX system uses heat-treated tool-steel Taper Lock Tips designed to perform up to 50,000 welds, depending on the application and operating conditions. The tips are easily removed and replaced, helping reduce maintenance time. Sonobond can custom-design tooling to match specific materials, part geometries, weld areas, production volumes, automation systems and quality requirements.