Assembly Automation

Laser welding for plastic components

Ian Jones,
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Feature
Laser welding for
plastic components
Ian Jones
The author
Ian Jones is at Advanced Materials and Processes, TWI,
Abington Hall, Abington, Cambridge, CB1 6AL, UK
Downloaded by Imperial College London At 07:52 18 January 2019 (PT)
Keywords
Lasers, Welding, Plastics, Equipment
Abstract
The latest developments in the use of lasers for welding
plastics are reviewed. Lasers were demonstrated as being
suitable for welding plastics in 1970. However, it is only
now that they are finding wide application following
technical developments in transmission laser welding and
ClearWelde, and the availability of small, economic diode
laser systems.
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Assembly Automation
Volume 22 · Number 2 · 2002 · pp. 129– 135
MCB UP Limited · ISSN 0144-5154
129
Introduction
There are more than fifteen separately
identifiable techniques for welding
thermoplastics, some of which have been
commercially available for many years. These
include manual processes such as hot gas
welding and extrusion welding, processes
using vibration and frictional heating between
the materials such as ultrasonic and linear
vibration welding and processes using an
electromagnetic heat source such as resistive
implant welding, dielectric welding (Wise,
1999). Laser welding may now be considered
as another alternative welding method for
plastics with distinct processing and
performance characteristics.
Since early in the development of lasers for
materials processing (the first multi-kilowatt
CO2 laser was developed in 1970), it has been
shown that lasers may be used for welding
plastics (Silvers and Wachtell, 1970). CO2
laser light (10.6 mm wavelength) tends to heat
most plastics from the surface down with a
very rapid heating action achievable. The CO2
laser has therefore found wide use in the
cutting of metal and plastic sheet material
with high speed and accuracy. Thin polyolefin
films (up to 0.1 mm thick) have been welded
with a CO2 laser at speeds in excess of 500 m/
min (Jones and Taylor, 1994). However, the
use of CO2 lasers for welding of plastics has
not entered wide use in production. Only after
the development of an alternative method of
applying the laser energy using diode or
Nd:YAG laser sources, has the laser found
application for welding plastic components.
Nd:YAG and diode laser light (800–
1100 nm wavelength) will transmit through
several millimetres of unpigmented polymer.
The polymer can be designed to absorb and
heat in these laser beams with the addition of
an absorbent. Transmission laser welding of
thin and thick materials is therefore possible
where a transmitting plastic overlays an
absorbing plastic. This results in a method of
welding plastics that does not use mechanical
vibration and does not mark the outer surfaces
of the component. The melting is carried out
only where it is required at the interface
between pre-assembled parts. This process
was first described in 1985 for welding
automotive components (Toyota Jidosha,
1985). The first (published) part mass
produced using transmission laser welding
q TWI Ltd
 Laser welding for plastic components
Ian Jones
was a keyless entry device for Mercedes in
1997 (Puetz et al., 1997). The absorbing
material used in the process is typically carbon
black. A further development in laser welding
in 1998 was the invention of the ClearWelde
process (Jones and Wise, 1998 and Jones et al.,
1999), which now allows two similar clear or
coloured plastics to be welded, thus further
extending the range of possible applications.
CO2 laser welding – for films and thin
plastics
The CO2 laser is a well established materials
processing tool, available in power output up
to 45 kW, and most commonly used for metal
cutting. The CO2 laser radiation (10.6 mm
wavelength) is rapidly absorbed in the surface
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layers of plastics. Absorption at these photon
energies (0.12 eV) is based on the vibration of
molecular bonds. The plastics will heat up if
the laser excites a resonant frequency in the
molecule. In practice the absorption
coefficients for the CO2 laser with most
plastics is very high. Very rapid processing of
thin plastic film is therefore possible, even
with fairly modest laser powers (, 1000 W).
The CO2 laser beam cannot be transmitted
down a silica fibre optic, but can be
manipulated around a complex process path
using mirrors and either gantry or robotic
movement.
CO2 laser welding of thin film is possible at
very high speeds as shown in Figure 1.
Clamping to keep the films in contact at the
joint line is the most important feature of a
system designed to carry out laser welding.
This technique may be applied as an
alternative to ultrasonic, hot wire, dielectric or
induction welding where a fast, clean, fully
automated joint is required. A simultaneous
cut/seal may also be carried out for packaging
Figure 1 Lap weld in 0.1 mm thick polyethylene made
with a 900 W CO2 laser at 100 m/min
130
Assembly Automation
Volume 22 · Number 2 · 2002 · 129–135
or bag making purposes by controlling the
laser beam power distribution to cut two films
in contact whilst leaving a welded region at the
edge of the cut. CO2 laser welding of plastics
greater than 0.5 mm thick is not possible at
high speeds unless the joint surfaces are
melted directly with the laser and then butted
together (Potente et al., 1995). This a
variation on hot plate welding in which the
joint surfaces are heated against a hot plate
before butting together. Despite these various
techniques for using CO2 laser for welding
plastics, they have not been used extensively
in production. Diode laser welding has been
far more successful.
Diode and Nd:YAG laser welding – for
film, sheet and moulded components
High power diode lasers (. 100 W) have been
available since early 1997. They are now
available up to 6 kW and are competitively
priced compared to CO2 and Nd:YAG lasers.
The production of the diode laser light is a far
more energy efficient process (30 per cent)
than CO2 (10 per cent), Nd:YAG (3 per cent)
or excimer (, 1 per cent) lasers. High power
diode lasers are available with wavelengths of
810 nm, 980 nm and 940 nm. The degree of
energy absorption at this wavelength depends
largely on the presence of additives in the
plastics. If no fillers or pigments are present in
the plastic, the laser will penetrate a few
millimetres into semi-crystalline plastics,
further through unpigmented amorphous
plastics. So if two unpigmented plastics are
clamped together and irradiated with a diode
laser, typically no welding would occur. An
absorbent must be added at the interface to
allow welding to be carried out.
The absorption coefficient of plastics can
be increased by means of additives such as
pigments or fillers, which absorb and resonate
directly at this photon energy or scatter the
radiation for more effective bulk absorption
(Seredenko, 1994). A diode or Nd:YAG laser
may therefore be used for welding plastics if
the upper material transmits energy and an
absorptive medium is present at the joint
interface or in the bulk of the lower material.
Typically carbon black is used as an absorbent
for the laser beam, in which case the lower
part of the component has to be black (see
Figure 2a). If the ClearWelde absorbent is
used applied at the interface the lower part of
 Laser welding for plastic components
Ian Jones
Figure 2 Test samples in which the top was welded using a scanning diode
laser. a). black to clear PC using carbon black absorbent, b) clear to clear ABS
using ClearWelde absorbent, c) clear to clear PP using ClearWelde
absorbent
the joint can be the same as the upper part.
The ClearWelde absorbents used have very
little visible colour and so do not affect the
appearance of welds, even in clear plastics (see
Figures 2b and c).
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Equipment variations
The diode laser source can be used in a
number of different ways due to its small size
and weight. The different equipment
variations being considered for application are
shown diagrammatically in Figure 3. The
choice of equipment for a given application
will depend on a number of factors, including
the size and weight of the component being
welded, the rigidity of the material, whether it
is film based or moulded, and the number of
components that are required in a given
design.
(a) Fixed laser moving workpiece – This
equipment generally operates as a single
pass process, with the joint heated as the
workpiece passes beneath the laser
source. It may be used with a two-axis flat
bed table to weld small to medium sized
flexible components with a 2-D joint line
or in the form of a continuously moving
substrate for welding thin films or textiles
for packaging applications for example. A
rotary axis can also be used in order to
weld completely circular pieces.
(b) Moving laser, fixed workpiece – This
equipment generally operates as a single
pass process, with the joint heated as the
laser beam passes over the workpiece.
The laser may be manipulated by a robot
for 3-D processing or attached to a
moving gantry over a flat bed for 2-D
processing. This type of equipment is
most suited to large relatively flexible
components.
131
Assembly Automation
Volume 22 · Number 2 · 2002 · 129–135
(c) Fixed diode array and fixed workpiece –
In this case the laser diodes are mounted
in a frame designed to match the shape of
the component being welded, rather than
being put into a singular laser source. The
process therefore operates with the whole
of the joint irradiated for a given time.
This procedure is suitable for small rigid
moulded components that may not fit
exactly at the joint line. The welding time
would be set to heat and soften the weld
line, which will flow under the clamping
pressure and close any slight gaps.
(d) Scanning beam, fixed workpiece – The
mirrors are programmed to move the
laser beam around the joint line of the
fixed component. The beam movement
can be very fast (in excess of 2 m/sec), and
the joint can therefore be scanned many
times per second. This effectively heats
the whole joint line simultaneously and
therefore the procedure acts in the same
way as the laser diode array, and is
suitable for small, rigid, moulded
components. This equipment also has the
added advantage that the weld line profile
can be easily altered by loading a different
program in to the scanning unit.
Joint designs
The joint designs appropriate for laser
welding have flat abutting faces where the
weld will be generated. The weld area is
defined by the structural performance
requirements of the joint balanced with the
time and thermal energy required to complete
the weld. Preferably there also needs to be a
minimal thickness of material between the
laser source and the joint line, particularly if
the polymers are semi-crystalline of if they are
heavily filled. In many cases it is appropriate
to limit the edges of the weld by a change in
the profile of the joint. This can be used to
assist in the generation a small weld bead and
can reduce stress concentrating features that
may otherwise develop between two flat
pieces.
A number of potential joint designs are
shown in Figure 4.
The design shown at the right end of the
middle row represents the use of two laser
beams with different wavelengths, and two
absorbing mediums placed at the two joint
interfaces. The beams are matched to the laser
 Laser welding for plastic components
Ian Jones
Figure 3 Equipment variations
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wavelengths such that they will pass through
one absorbent and be absorbed by the other.
There is great potential for multi-layered
structures and components with joints
required within a cavity. Diode laser welding
has also been shown to be very useful for films,
textiles and joining films to rigid components.
Figure 4 Joint designs for laser welding (arrow represents the laser beam direction)
132
Assembly Automation
Volume 22 · Number 2 · 2002 · 129–135
The clearwelde laser welding process
The ClearWelde process was developed for
laser welding so that components did not have
to incorporate a black part. It allows two
similar clear or coloured parts to be welded by
using an interface absorbent that has very little
 Laser welding for plastic components
Ian Jones
visible appearance. The absorbent is designed
to absorb strongly only at the wavelength of
the laser being used, which is, in this case,
infrared and therefore beyond the range of
human vision. The absorbent needs to applied
or incorporated at the joint interface at some
stage before the welding process.
ClearWelde consumable application
methods
Given that the weld is generated only where
the laser and absorbent positions coincide and
that the generation of heat is dependent on the
amount of absorbent applied, the placement
of the infrared absorbent is of great
importance to the performance of the welding
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process. An application method should allow
for deposition of controlled amounts of
absorbent to controlled positions at the joint
interface. There are a number of application
methods available (Jones et al., 1999) some of
which are ready for commercial use, and
others that may be of use for future
applications:
Commercially available:
.
Surface application by ink jet printing
.
Surface application by spraying or needle
dispensing
Potential future use:
.
A thin film incorporating absorbent
placed at the joint.
.
In the bulk of the polymer (typically this is
the method used with carbon black as the
absorbent).
.
Use of an absorbent laden film used as a
mould insert.
.
Surface application by dip coating,
infusion, painting, pad printing, dry
burnishing, paste application, gravure,
etc.
.
Co-extrusion.
.
Overmoulding.
The method which is employed would depend
on the particular application and the balance
of performance, cost, colour and extra
manufacturing steps.
Process definition and control
The basic requirements for welding plastics
are heat, time and pressure to ensure that
there is sufficient interdiffusion of polymer
133
Assembly Automation
Volume 22 · Number 2 · 2002 · 129–135
molecules at the component interface to
generate the strength required. A certain
energy/unit area can be defined
experimentally for a weld, which will be
dependant on the material thermal properties
and the amount of melt needed to close any
gaps at the joint. The heating required may
range from 0.1 – 5 J/mm2.
In laser welding the main welding
parameters are:
.
Laser power
. Laser beam size/beam uniformity
.
Welding speed or time
.
Absorption properties of material at
interface
.
Clamping pressure
Process control may be used to maintain these
machine parameters within the required
specification. Alternatively methods are
currently being developed to monitor the weld
as it forms. These may either sense the weld
temperature, or monitor the changes that take
place in the appearance of the joint. In
addition it must be ensured that the joint has
developed sufficient contact area following
completion of the weld process.
Experimental demonstration
The samples shown in Figure 2 were welded
with a 50 W scanning diode laser system
(supplied by Fisba Optik AG). The joint faces
for the ClearWelde process were prepared by
applying absorbent with a paint brush. The
laser beam was moved round the circular joint
profile at the rate of 20 revolutions per second.
Welding times of 3 –6 seconds were used and
the energy applied was 0.6 J/mm2 for the clear
to black samples and 0.75 – 1.5 J/mm2 for the
clear to clear samples depending on the
materials used. Leak tight joints were
produced.
The form of the heated zone can be seen in
Figure 5. This sample was made using a
circular beam profile, which results in a
lenticular shaped weld, and with absorbent
applied in the form of a thin film, which can
just be picked out at the joint area. The heat
affected zone is indicated by the change in
birefringent colour viewed between crossed
polarising optics. This is indicating a change
in the orientation of polymer molecules,
probably due to residual stress generation as a
result of a heating cycle in constrained
material.
 Laser welding for plastic components
Ian Jones
Figure 5 ClearWelde laser weld in PMMA made with
infrared absorbent impregnated film at the interface,
shown in transmitted light microscopy between crossed
polars. Made using a Nd:YAG laser at 100 W, 800 mm/min
with a 6 mm diameter round beam shape
m transmit a proportion of the laser
Benefits and limitations
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Transmission laser welding and ClearWelde
have the following process characteristics
when compared to other plastics welding
processes:
.
High processing rates.
.
Low heat input hence low risk of thermal
distortion or thermal damage.
.
Good melt zone temperature and
therefore depth control.
.
Accurate control of weld dimensions and
position.
.
Three dimensional joint lines can be
welded.
.
Low tooling costs.
.
In-process quality control possible
through use of a vision or a temperature
measurement system.
.
Rapid change-over to different product
designs.
.
Pre-assembly possible.
.
Little or no weld flash.
.
Equipment not component or process
specific.
.
The outer surfaces of the component or
textile remain unmelted.
.
The process is carried out without
vibration of the component as a whole.
.
The welding process can be continuous
for long welds or applied as a pulse of
energy from an array of diodes to give a
single-shot procedure. There is also a
method of rapid scanning the laser beam
with mirrors around a component to give
a quasi-single-shot process.
.
In the ClearWelde process the absorbent
imparts very little visible colour to the
components, so welds can be made
134
Assembly Automation
Volume 22 · Number 2 · 2002 · 129–135
without changing the appearance of the
polymer.
.
Components can be in the same material
and optically clear joints are possible if the
ClearWelde process is used.
.
The absorbent materials for ClearWelde
applied in the work to date have passed
cytotoxicity tests – the first stage
requirement for medical application.
Disadvantages:
.
The main limitation of the transmission
laser welding or ClearWelde process is
that at least one side of the joint must
radiation to the joint interface. This
proportion may be as low as 10 per cent,
but the danger of overheating the top
surface of the joint before welding
occurs increases as the proportion of
transmitted energy decreases. This puts a
limit of about 10 mm on the thickness
of semi-crystalline materials that may be
welded.
.
Good fit-up required.
.
Clean surfaces needed on transmitting
component.
.
The process requires that some form of
absorbent for the laser beam must be
incorporated at the joint interface. This
will always add an extra complication to
the process, whether ClearWelde
methods or methods using absorbing
materials such as carbon black are
applied.
Summary
Pre-assembled thermoplastic materials can be
welded by transmitting a laser beam through
the top part of the joint and by generating heat
at the interface in an absorbing medium
deliberately positioned there. Carbon black or
alternatively, the virtually colourless
ClearWelde infrared absorbent system, can
be used as the mechanism to produce heat and
localised melting. The welds produced are
cosmetically appealing and the upper and
lower surfaces of the material are unaffected
by the process.
The laser welding process is efficiently
achieved using the very compact diode laser
sources now commercially available, and
lends itself easily to high levels of automation
and rapid production. Potential applications
of this technology exist in a wide variety of
 Laser welding for plastic components
Ian Jones
industry sectors with plastic joining
requirements, including welding films for
packaging, moulded components, and
hermetic containers and even synthetic
textiles.
The process of laser welding using a
specific infrared absorbing material has been
given the trademark ClearWelde. TWI has
initiated patent protection for this process.
Gentex Corporation has been given exclusive
license to commercialise ClearWelde and
now has consumable products available
providing a basis for the development of
welding applications.
References
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Jones I A and Taylor N S: “High speed welding of plastics
using lasers”, ANTEC ’94 conference proceedings,
1-5 May 1994, San Francisco, CA.
135
Assembly Automation
Volume 22 · Number 2 · 2002 · 129–135
Jones I A and Wise R W: “Welding Method”, Patent
Application WO 00/20157, 1 October 1998.
Jones I A, Hilton P A, Sallavanti R and Griffiths J, “Use of
Infrared Dyes for Transmission Laser Welding of
Plastics”, Proc. ICALEO, November 1999.
Potente H, Heil M and Korte J, “Welding of plastics using
CO2 lasers”, IIW commission XVI document,
XVI-681-95, 1995.
Puetz H et al., “Laser welding offers array of assembly
advantages”, Modern Plastics International,
Sept 1997.
Seredenko, M.M. (1994), “Determining Spectral
Characteristics of Pigment Absorption and Scattering
in the Middle IR Spectral Range”, Optics and
Spectroscopy, 76 No. 3, pp. 418-20.
Silvers H J Jr and Wachtell S: “Perforating, welding and
cutting plastic films with a continuous CO2 laser”.
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