Can ABS and PMMA plastic materials be welded using lasers? What is the welding effect?

ABS plastic, as a kind of thermoplastic material, has the advantages of good welding quality and easy control in laser projection welding, and can weld tiny parts, etc., which is loved by the general public. Especially in the application of automotive thermoplastic materials, plastic laser welding has become a popular and preferred processing method. Unfortunately, plastic laser welding is still very rarely used in China, and both research and industrialization cannot be compared with foreign countries. Therefore, the application and promotion of thermoplastic materials using laser welding is very meaningful.

The welding schemes for different materials are different, for example. Today we will talk about whether ABS and PMMA plastic materials can be laser welded? What is its welding effect?

First, we need to consider the interaction between light and polymer, and also consider that the thermal properties of plastics (glass transition temperature, viscosity, thermal conductivity, thermal expansion, etc.) are different from those of metals, so it is more appropriate to use overlap.

Secondly, we need to determine the welding scheme between the materials, including the selection of lasers, welding materials, fixtures, etc., which affect the quality of laser welding. Experiments have shown that for plastic welding tests of ABS and PMMA materials, under the condition of clamping, energy density can be used for quantitative judgment. When the weld width 桅=5mm, welding speed v=5mm/s, and energy density ED=0.364j/mm2, the welding strength between the materials is the highest and the welding quality is the best. When ED锛?.364j/mm2, the two materials are stuck together by van der Waals molecular forces at the interface and are not welded firmly. When ED鈭?0.368,0.376)J/mm2, it is generally considered to be welded firmly, but because the welding power is greater than the optimal welding power, a small amount of ABS is thermally decomposed, and a small part of the cracking products are burned, thus forming small black voids, so the welding strength decreases. When ED is greater than 0.376J/mm2, due to the excessively high laser power, a large amount of ABS is thermally decomposed, and many black voids connected together are formed in the weld, resulting in the weld not being welded firmly and the welding strength decreasing significantly.

In the test, we found that in different power and heat energy conversion data tests, different power and speed will affect the strength of ABS and PMMA plastic materials when using laser welding. Of course, different colors will also affect the welding strength, so many materials developed abroad will use absorption pairs to help ABS materials and other materials better perform laser welding strength.

This article quotes the paper "Research on the Mechanism and Process of Laser Transmission Welding of PMMA/ABS Thermoplastic Plastics". For more details, please search the original text for study.