Thermal heat can provide solutions to many staking, swaging, inserting, and de-gating applications that ultrasonics cannot.
Thermal heat should be considered when working with inserts or stakes that are of various diameters, and/or located on multiple planes and must be processed in a single cycle.
Thermal heat is primarily used when limitations with ultrasonic horns (size, multiple planes, and consistency) are a factor. Other considerations include cosmetic appearance of completed swages or stakes, as well as higher tolerance for glass content and chrome plated parts.
Using thermal heat staking, swaging, and inserting processes can also eliminate particulate that is detrimental to applications such as medical, fluid filters and consumable packaging.
For many customers, the reduction in noise level from ultrasonic inserting or staking of glass filled parts is a significant advantage to switching to a thermal process.
The use of thermal heat also eliminates any vibration concerns that are associated with staking PCB’s to other components. Heat is applied directly to stakes quickly enough that components surrounding the staking post are not damaged.
Overall, when considering heat vs. ultrasonics, review all of the requirements for your application as you may find thermal heat to be the best process.