What are the advantages of laser welding plastics?

The characteristics of plastic laser welding are very different from those of metal laser welding. Do you know the basic principles of plastic laser welding, laser equipment, welding technology, and the application of plastic laser welding in industrial production? When people thought that lasers could weld metals, few people considered using lasers to weld plastics.

What is plastic laser welding:

Plastics absorb the CO2 laser beam too much, and in order to form a lap weld, the top plate usually melts too much when trying to melt the bottom layer. Due to the installation requirements and the support of the plastic solution, it is difficult to weld. However, plastics can be welded if the right plastic and laser parameters are selected.

Laser welding can weld thermoplastic parts with different absorption properties. Before welding begins, the parts to be joined are in contact with each other, but not under the external pressure required by other welding methods (the pressure required to weld the parts is generated by the thermal expansion of the plastic melt). The laser penetrates the transparent parts and seems to be transparent. The laser beam activates the surface of the absorbing material and is converted into heat in the absorbing part. The absorption of the laser beam forms a very small amount of heat, which wets the absorbing part and increases the thermal contact points between the two parts. The parts passing through the laser are also heated and melted by the heat conduction of the absorbing part, and finally form an instantaneous penetration weld between the two parts.

Adding suitable absorbents and selecting suitable plastics and laser parameters can achieve laser welding of plastics. Compared with other plastic welding methods, plastic laser welding method has the advantages of strong adaptability, high efficiency, good welding quality, no edges, no residues, etc., and is a better plastic welding method. With the rapid development of laser technology and the emergence of efficient absorbents, plastic laser welding will be widely used in more and more industries.