Laser processing technique is now gradually being increasingly used in industrial manufacturing business and becomes a trending and novel technique. Among all the materials that involve laser processing, metal materials accounts for more than 85% and the remaining 15% include different kinds of non-metals like wood, paper, fabrics, leather, fiber, plastic, glass, semiconductor and so on. Lasers of different wavelength have different working efficiency and absorption rate on different materials. That is to say, we can always find the most ideal laser that can be absorbed by the specific material.
For the time being, laser processing in metal has been fully developed, including laser cutting, laser welding, laser cladding, laser cleaning and so on. The next development point will be non-metals laser processing, including glass, plastic, wood and paper which are the most commonly seen materials. Among these materials, plastics is the most representative one, for it features great flexibility and has huge applications. However, the joining of the plastic had always been a challenge.
Plastic welding technique
Plastic is a kind of material that is easy to join when it is heated and becomes soft and melted. But different methods have huge different joining performance. Currently, there are 3 kinds of plastic joining. The first one is using glue to paste it. But industrial glue generally has toxic smell, which can not meet the environmental standard. The second one is to add the fasteners on the two pieces of plastic that is going to join. This is very easy to take apart, for some kinds of plastics doesn’t need to be joined together forever. The third one is using heat to melt and then connect the plastic. This include induction welding, hot-plate welding, vibration friction welding, ultrasonic welding and laser welding. However, induction welding, hot-plate welding, vibration friction welding and ultrasonic welding are either too noisy or the performance is less satisfactory. And laser welding as a novel welding technique that features superior welding performance is gradually becoming trending in the plastic industry.
Plastic laser welding
Plastic laser welding uses the heat from the laser light to connect two pieces of plastic together permanently. Before welding, two pieces of plastic needs to be pushed tight by external force and adjust the laser wavelength that can be absorbed by the plastic best. Then the laser will run through the first piece of plastic and then absorbed by the second piece of plastic and become thermal energy. Therefore, the contact surface of these two pieces of plastic will melt and become welding area and welding job is achieved.
Laser plastic welding is characterized by high efficiency, fully automation, high precision, excellent weld sealing performance and little damage to the plastic. At the same time, it doesn’t produce any noise and dust, making it a very ideal plastic welding technique.
Laser plastic welding application
Theoretically, laser plastic welding can be applied in all the industries that involve plastic joining. Currently, laser plastic welding is mostly used in plastic of industries like automobile, medical equipment, home appliance and consumer electronics.
In terms of automobile industry, laser plastic welding technique is often used to weld car dashboard, car radar, automatic lock, car light and so on.
As for medical equipment, laser plastic welding technique can be used in medical hose, blood analyse, hearing aid, liquid filter tank and other sealing welding that requires high level of cleanness.
As for consumer electronics, laser plastic welding can be used in mobile phone shell, earphone, mouse, sensor, mouse and so on.
Cooling system for laser plastic welding
With laser plastic welding technique becomes more and more mature, its application will be wider and wider. This provides great development opportunity for the laser welding equipment and also its accessories.
S&A Teyu is a high-tech enterprise that has been developing and manufacturing laser cooling system for 19 years. For laser plastic welding with different powers, S&A Teyu can provide the related air cooled water chiller to meet specific needs. All of S&A Teyu chillers are compliant with CE、ROHS、CE and ISO standard and very friendly to the environment.
The market of laser plastic welding still has great potential. S&A Teyu will continue to keep an eye on this market and develop more new products to meet the laser plastic welding market’s need.
