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Seminar Final Anand
Seminar Final Anand
A SEMINAR REPORT
Submitted by
BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY
in
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
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BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE
Certified that this project report LASER BEAM WELDING OF PLASTIC is
the bonafide work of ANAND GARG who carried out the seminar work
under my supervision.
(Prof. G. D. Bassan)
HEAD
Mechanical Engineering Department
Sir Padampat Singhania University
Udaipur
(Prof. X. Y. Zha)
SUPERVISOR
Assistant Professor
Mechanical Engineering Department
Sir Padampat Singhania University
Udaipur
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ABSTRACT
.
The laser was invented in 1960. So new was the tool that our
thinking had not caught up with the possibility William M. Steen. New
possibilities are still arising as a consequence and cause of the laser's
increasing reliability, decreasing price and the diversification of laser
characteristics.
The demand for consumer goods, namely, food and medical products,
to be conveniently packaged in plastic materials in order to preserve quality
and hygiene, is constantly increasing, as are the number of packaging styles
and materials.
The replacement of traditional tools, used to cut or weld in the plastic
packaging industry (hot knives, ultrasonic heads or hot air), by laser tools,
can be justified by the increase in the reproducibility of the process (no tool
wear), simplicity of processing moving parts (no need to `stop and start a
production lines) and increase in productivity moving the laser beam over
the material faster than the mechanical counterpart. Not to mention the wellknown general advantages of laser materials processing, as a non-contact,
non-contaminant process, flexible and easy to control and automate.
The first few communications on plastic welding by laser appeared in
the literature
in 1972, welds of low-density polyethylene sheets up to 1.5mm thick were
achieved with a 100W CO2 laser at speeds of 10mms~1. However, it has
been during the last decade that research in this subject has seen greater
development, regarding increasing speed, new laser sources mathematical
modelling and industrial applications. It is very likely that much more
proprietary industrial work has been done, but not published. The
component-conserving and clean process offers numerous advantages and
enables welding of sensitive assemblies in automotive, electronic, medical,
human care, food packaging and consumer electronics markets. Diode lasers
are established since years within plastic welding applications
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Table of Contents
Title Page.. (i)
Acknowledgement.... (iii)
Abstract..(iv)
Table of Contents. (v)
List of Figures... (vi)
List of Tables.... (vii)
List of Abbreviation. (viii)
1. Introduction.... 1
3. CONCLUSION... 49
4.
REFERENCES.... 51
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LIST OF FIGURES
Sr. No.
1.1
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
3.1
3.2
4.1
4.2
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4
5.5
Title of Figure
Worlds demand for selected constructional
materials (Hyla 2004)
The Process of Transmission Laser Welding
Method of Welding Plastic Component
Assembly of Automobile Light
Material Compatibility
Equipment for Light Laser Welding using
Nd:YAG or CO2 laser
Hybrid Welding Equipment by LPKF Company
Principle of novel infrared radiation welding
procedure with a transparent heat sink
Transmission Spectra of Plastics
Galvo pyro combination
Melt Collapse
Reflection Diagnosis Concept
Camera view of flaw
Cycle Time Comparison
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Page Number
2
6
8
17
17
24
26
29
30
33
35
36
37
39
LIST OF TABLES
Sr. No.
2.1
2.2
2.3
Title of Table
Comparison with Bonding
Main technical characteristics of the individual
lasers used for welding plastics
Weld-ability of different plastics
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Page Number
11
12
15
1. Introduction
Plastic materials form such a large and varied group, characterised by so
wide a range of properties that it is now normal to call them mass material. It
is difficult to conceive of plastics being substituted for by other materials. In
certain circumstances, this group of materials is a substitute for traditional
materials, such as steels and non-ferrous metals. The high level of experience
that is associated with current methods of manufacture of semi-fabricates in
plastic materials provides designers with unlimited possibilities to produce new
products, often of complicated shapes. Modern bonding methods, such as laserwelding, make it possible to widen the range, and this in turn, gives a chance to
free selection of shape to be made, and properties of new product to be
developed.
The constantly growing utilisation of plastics in the industry creates new
possibilities for constructional solutions, lowering of cost and mass of
fabricates, and also for the rising of durability levels, resistance to corrosion and
action of many chemical agents (Hyla 2004). All of the above listed factors lead
to call for more plastics and for their participation in the worlds production of
constructional materials to rise at a high rate (see Figure). Over1000 various
types of such materials are currently available on the world markets. From the
point of view of bulk, they constitute over half of the production of steels.
According to data produced in 2000, the use of these materials in the world in
1993 amounted to 90 m tons. It rose in 1999 to about a 100 m, and is expected
to reach over 120 m tons by 2020 (Zuchowska 2000).
In line with the popularisation of plastics as constructional materials
comes the development of bonding methods and the provision for selection of
welding techniques correct from the point of view of the level of yield and the
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economy of bonding.
The need for effective and reliable bonding methods and requirements for
improved quality of products are undoubtedly reasons for the development of
new processes of bonding plastics (Boron 2000), which also include laserwelding. Not only does this method provide high efficiency, the highest possible
levels of quality and strength of bonds, but also the maintenance of high
manufacturing precision and cleanliness of the joint area.
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can also be used to join components with complicated geometry which are
difficult or impossible to weld by other methods. Engineers often note special
advantages of laser technologies which will result in the active growth of the
number of industrial applications the absence of contact of welding equipment
with the welded components; very low labour content; the possibility of joining
materials of different composition and colour; high quality of welded joints;
only slight heating of components and minimum deformation; possibility of
welding in areas of difficult access and different spatial position; simple
automation and robotization; efficient use of electric energy and filler materials;
comfortable working conditions and ecological efficiency.
Laser welding is used extensively in electronics in assembling keyboards
for different systems, mobile telephones, a large number of contact devices, etc.
and also in the car industry in the production and assembly of automatic door
locks, devices for keyless access, heating models, the bodies of transmissions,
sensors of sections of engines, the bodies of the driver cabins, the oil tanks of
the hydraulic systems, filter casings and many other systems. In medicine, laser
welding is used for assembly of containers and filters for liquids, joining of
pipes, bags for patients with intestinal problems, implants and micro jet
elements used for analysis, etc. The technology of melting the edges of thin
plastic films for hermetic packing items is used widely.
Laser welding of plastics is a very young technological process. As a
result of the development by technologists and also rapid advances in laser
technology, the methods of laser welding are being constantly improved. The
authors of the present article have already discussed this subject many times. At
the same time, it is believed that the laser welding of plastics is an independent
section of laser technology and has a considerable scientific and industrial
potential. It is therefore convenient to consider separately in this article the
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current state and dynamics of investigations and developments and also the
prospects of this advanced technological process.
Traditional methods of welding plastics
Plastics are used as structural materials in engineering, the car industry,
aviation, instrument making, electrical engineering, shipbuilding, etc. Polymer
materials are used as films, adhesives and fibres. The process of welding of
plastics consists of the formation of a permanent joint as a result of the
formation of interatomic (intermolecular) bonds between the surface atoms of
two welded components. Thermoplastics are welded using the heat of secondary
sources (gas heat carriers, heated filler material and heated tools) or by the
generation of heat inside the plastic material in conversion of different types of
energy (friction welding, high-frequency current welding, ultrasonic welding,
welding with infrared radiation, etc.). Thermosetting plastics (thermosets) are
welded by the method based on the chemical interaction between the surfaces
directly or with participation of filler material (the so-called chemical welding).
As in the welding of metals, in welding of plastics it is necessary to
ensure that the mechanical and physical properties of the material of the welded
joints and the weld zone differ only slightly from those of the parent material.
The strength of the welded joints in the plastics is greatly affected by the
chemical composition, the orientation of macromolecules, the temperature of
the environment and other factors. The most widely used methods of welding
plastics include welding with a gas heat carrier with or without a filler, with an
extruded filler, contact-thermal welding, welding in a high-frequency electric
field, ultrasonic welding, friction welding, beam and chemical welding.
It is well known that not all the types of plastics can be welded. In
particular, the thermally hardened plastics (which do not melt under heat) cannot
be welded. On the other hand, thermoplastic materials (melting during heating)
can be welded by a large number of methods. It is believed that only plastics of
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the same type can be welded because every type of plastic material has its own
typical molecular structure and welding temperature. The joining of plastics by
welding takes place if the three constant conditions are fulfilled:
.
Higher temperature which should reach the level of the viscous-fluid state
of the welded materials. The transition of the polymer to the viscous-fluid
state should not be accompanied by thermal degradation of the material.
Every plastic melts within a specific temperature range;
ANAND GARG/ME/SPSU/Seminar/2025-16Page 12
.
Tight contact of the welded surfaces. Pressure enables the molecules of
the plastics to mix with the formation of the welded joints. The quality of
the welded joint decreases when the pressure is reduced below or is
higher than the optimum pressure for every pair of materials;
.
Optimum holding time because the plastic material requires a certain
period of time for melting and a certain period of time for cooling. It
should be mentioned that the temperature coefficient of linear expansion
of plastic materials is several times higher than that of the metals and,
therefore, welding and cooling are accompanied by the formation of the
residual stresses and strains which reduce the strength of the welded
joints in the plastics. In this case, acceleration of the welding process may
cause higher stresses in the region of the welded joint.
There are a large number of systems for welding plastics on the market but no
universal
welding technology is available.
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Fig 2.1: The process of transmission laser welding: (1) laser beam; (2)
clamping force; (3) melt;
(4) the component permeable for the laser beam and (5) heat transfer.
ANAND GARG/ME/SPSU/Seminar/2025-16Page 14
for the formation of a strong joint. On the other hand, in excessive heating the
polymers may degrade in the joint zone resulting in the formation of porosity,
charring or burning. In practice, there is a wide range of conditions for each
specific joint in which the joints of acceptable quality form. The majority of
polymers are welded using an laser energy density in the range of 0.1 2.0
J/mm2. Regardless of the fact that the energy density in the welding zone can be
used to characterize the process, many authors believe that this correspondence
is only conditional. The heat transfer from the welding zone in the welding
process should be taken into account and this makes the process non-linear. This
means that the application of the same energy density results in the same quality
of the welded joint. For example, at a constant size of the focused radiation
spot, doubling the radiation power
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usually increases the welding speed by more than 100% whereas the welding
characteristics remain the same:
where Ew is the radiation energy supply to the welding zone; P is the laser
radiation power in the vicinity of the welding zone, and v is the speed of travel
of the beam in relation to the welded components.
In cases in which the welded plastic components are not compressed to each
other or the compression pressure is not sufficiently high, the contact between
the components is not sufficiently tight. This may result either in inefficient heat
transfer from one component to the other or in limited mutual diffusion of the
polymer chains on both sides of the joints. In both cases, the strength of the
welded joint is reduced. Therefore, reliable clamping and securing of the
welded components in the weld zone is an important technical condition. The
clamps
Fig 2.2 : Methods of welding plastic components: (a) with the moving
object in welding; (b) with the moving beam; (c) with the fans shaped
distribution of radiation;
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synchronous welding with several beams, the laser radiation from, for example,
several laser diodes is directed to the contour line of the welded joint which is to
be welded resulting in simultaneous melting and welding of the entire profile
(Figures 2(b) and (d)). One of the varieties of this welding method is based on
the radiation of a single laser split into several separate beams which are
subsequently applied together on the component to improve the strength of the
effect. In some cases, it is recommended to use quasi-synchronous welding ,
which is based on the combination of welding around the contour and
synchronous welding. The mirrors direct the laser beam at a high speed (at least
10 m/s) along the component which is to be welded. The entire contour of the
component is then gradually heated and melts.
ANAND GARG/ME/SPSU/Seminar/2025-16Page 19
of the beam in space. The working zone in the systems of this type has the
transverse dimensions from 50 x 50 to 1000 x 1000mm in two-dimensional
welding. Generally speaking, the main problem when increasing the treatment
area is the appropriate increase in the difference of the working path of the laser
beam so that it is necessary to under focus the beam. An efficient method of
coordinating the focusing of the beam in different areas of the treated surface is
the application of several scanning optical systems, and the combination of the
systems increases the length of the treatment zone. As in simultaneous welding,
these welded joints overlap the entire joint zone
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The collimated radiation beam at the exit of the solid state lasers, where
the pumping of radiation from the lamp or a group of light diodes is focused
injected into the laser bar or discs, has the wavelength in the near-infrared
region (usually 1.064 mm) and is transferred to the treatment area through the
light waveguide. The solid-state lasers with lamp pumping are
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are characterized by the compact form, the relatively low initial price and
service costs, high efficiency (up to 60% on the emitter) and a large number of
variants of the radiation wavelength (e.g., 405, 640, 7901060 and 1450 nm,
which is convenient in welding different types of plastics). On the other hand, as
a result of the relatively simple design of the resonator, the laser diodes do not
have a facility for efficient adjusting of the radiation beam, which results in low
coherence and a wide radiation spectrum (sharper focusing of the beam is not
possible), and also the resultant short working distances .
The efficiency of the laser is the ratio of the emitted power to the power
required by the laser in the standard mode, the quality of the beam (Table 1) is
the possibility of sharper focusing of radiation with a high power density in the
working spot.
2.3 Welding of plastics of the same type
Laser welding of two identical or similar (as regards chemical
composition) plastics is a widely used technological process, especially if it is
necessary to produce high-quality joints with high productivity. In many cases,
laser technology is the result of optimization of the technology of joining and
selecting the material. In transition from the traditional welding technologies to
laser treatment, it is often necessary to change the materials and this may result
in considerably lower costs in comparison with the conservative process. For
example, in analysis of the production problems, the experts of Barkston
Plastics Engineering (the well-known British producer of unique elastic
components) noted the low repeatability of the characteristics of a series of
propylene bags for the storage of liquid chemical reagents in lithographic
equipment for the production of printed boards. In the technology used by the
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Fig 2.3 : Assembly of the automobile light (by the method of laser welding using
a glass sphere which focuses the laser beam and also acts as the clamping
device).
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providing further possibilities for designers have been developed. The only
condition in the pair is the coincidence of the visual colour and the large
difference in the absorptivity of the radiation wavelength of the working laser.
The very first application of the method was welding of two visually black
materials; at the present time, a large number of systems of pairs, including
white materials, are available. The project Poly Bright awarded to the scientific
and research organizations of the European Community countries has been
formulated for detailed investigations of laser welding of polymers and for the
development of technological conditions of high speed and flexible industrial
laser technologies. The key aspect of the project
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is the extensive application of the fibre lasers with the power of up to 500W
which can be used to optimize not only the thermal parameter of the welding
process but also the wavelength to increase the efficiency and speed in welding
and the quality of the joint.
New laser welding systems have been developed, the resolution of technology
has been improved by using dynamic masks in high-frequency scanning
systems for transporting and focusing the beam.
The experimental results show that the most promising results in laser
technology can be obtained by selecting laser radiation with the wavelength at
which the welded plastics have the required properties.
The latest technology and prospects for laser welding without absorption
of radiation on the example of the components of transparent PMMA polymer
films using the accurate selection of the wavelength of laser radiation and
radiation techniques have been published in research.
Regardless of the completely different physical principle of welding, the authors
have managed to obtain the highest technological parameters of the process.
The welding speed reached up to 100mm/s at the laser radiation wavelength of
1550, 1700 and 1908 nm. The best spectrometric results have been obtained at
the radiation wavelength of approximately 1700 nm which is used by many
fibre lasers. To supply the radiation to the weld boundary of the transparent
materials, the authors developed a special lens optical system in which the focal
point is situated at the interface with high geometrical accuracy.
2.6Advantage:
1. Lower Joining Cost
2. Minimal Part Stress
3. Joint Strength
4. 3d & Complex Shapes
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5. No Particulate Development
6. Precision
7. Aesthetically Pleasing Weld
8. Weld Different Material
9. Process Monitoring
2.7 Application
AUTO
MEDICAL
CONSUMER
Automotive
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The automotive industry created the foundation for laser welding. The
original use was welding housings for electronic components. A simple task, but
as electronics become more prevalent in cars (approaching 35% of the total cost
of a vehicle) protecting those electronics is becoming increasingly important.
A stress free, reliable and highly monitored process allows for tightly
sealed housings, with no additional material costs and a near perfect reject rate.
The high volume applications in the automotive industry clearly benefit from
such a process.
The flexibility of laser welding does not stop there. Through the use of
robots, laser welding was able to expand its abilities in the automotive industry
to include lamp welding. Clean, strong joints have been sought after for
automotive lamp assembly ever since plastics
replaced glass for exterior lighting. Laser welding is a stress free process and
clean, aesthetically appealing joints are easily achieved. But, possibly even
more important is its ability to work on large, free-form shapes with complex
curves, a vice of most traditional welding methods.
Other applications in the automotive industry include welding of
instrument panels, keyless entry remotes and even fuel tanks.
Medical
The medical device industry is quickly growing, requiring joining of
plastic devices ranging from catheters to microfluidic devices. The surgical
nature of laser plastic welding makes it well suited to handle the delicate
devices and precision joining.
Besides hermetic seals and a high precision requirement, medical devices
often require perfectly clean joints. This task is often difficult for other joining
methods. Adhesives can cause contamination, especially at the micro level
where many of these devices are operating and traditional welding methods
such as ultrasonic and vibration leave dust-like particulates behind that can also
ANAND GARG/ME/SPSU/Seminar/2025-16Page 37
3. Conclusions
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4.References
1. G.V. Moskvitin , A.N. Polyakov & E.M. Birger (2013) Laser Welding Of
Plastics (Review), Welding International, 27:9, 725-734, DOI:
10.1080/09507116.2012.753282
2. A. Weglowska (2008) Modern methods of laser-welding of plastics, Welding
International, 22:2,100-104, DOI: 10.1080/09507110801990819
3. Andor Bauernhuber & Tams Markovits (2014) Hybrid joining of steel and
plastic
materials
by
laser
beam,
Transport,
29:2,
217-222,
DOI:
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