The market demand prospect of laser plastic welding technology

Laser plastic welding is a new type of welding technology, which uses laser beam to heat and melt plastic materials, and then quickly cool and solidify to realize the connection of plastic materials. It has the advantages of fast speed, convenient processing, wide range of adaptation and easy to realize precision numerical control. Widely used in automotive, aerospace, transportation, medical, electronic products and other industries, the demand for laser plastic welding technology is also growing.

First, plastic laser welding market application

   At present, the global plastic laser welding market is expanding. The maturity of plastic laser welding technology and the expansion of application areas are one of the major factors driving the market growth. With the continuous development of plastic laser welding technology, its application in automotive, electronics, medical equipment, home appliances and other fields is also more and more extensive. Especially in the medical field, many medical devices, such as medical syringes, infusion bags, catheters, etc., are made of plastic materials. Laser plastic welding technology can be used in the manufacture and assembly of these instruments to achieve efficient and precise welding. Medical devices have very high requirements for welding quality and sealing. Laser plastic welding technology can meet these requirements to ensure the sealing and stability of the equipment.

Second, plastic laser welding technical requirements

   However, the plastic laser welding market also faces some challenges. First of all, there are many kinds of plastic materials, different materials have different hot melt properties, and different process parameters need to be set according to the characteristics of the material to achieve successful welding. This has high technical requirements for equipment manufacturers and operators. Secondly, the price of laser equipment is relatively high, and the investment cost of equipment is large, which is a problem for some small and medium-sized enterprises. Laser welding process will produce high heat, easy to cause plastic deformation or thermal damage around the welding area, so the need for appropriate process control.

  From the material point of view, we also need to note that:

   1. Laser welding is also affected by the compatibility of the two polymers and the difference in melting temperature, the better the compatibility of the two or the closer the melting temperature, the easier it is to carry out laser welding process and obtain higher quality welding strength. As shown in the figure, PC/ABS and PMMA or PC, PC and PBT, ABS and PBT can be welded well.

  2. When the absorption layer polymer converts the laser energy into heat energy and melts, the volume will expand, so it is necessary to apply a certain clamping force on the upper and lower layers through the fixture to avoid the welding interface deformation due to expansion. In addition, the clamping force also ensures that the heat energy is better conducted between the two layers, ensuring that the two polymers can melt at the same time to obtain higher welding strength.

In addition, in the selection of the laser welding process, the laser power is too high or the welding time is too long, which is easy to cause excessive melting of the material leading to degradation, in order to achieve the ideal welding quality should choose the appropriate laser power, scanning speed and welding time.

 Different from the traditional plastic welding process, laser welding uses laser radiation energy to weld two kinds of polymers, which not only has a wide range of applicability in polymer selection, but also has the characteristics of beautiful weld, flexible welding and high welding strength.

 Main advantages of Songsheng photoelectric laser plastic welding:

1) The use of laser heat sources with high energy density to optimize the temperature of the plastic joint surface to ensure the high speed and precision of the plastic laser welding process.

2) By changing the shape and size of the laser beam, the heat affected zone and the joint area can be controlled to a small extent. The external surface of the welding area can not see the marks formed by welding, nor can you see the damage formed by welding.

3)976nm/2μm multi-band welding head is optional, with CCD coaxial temperature measurement interface, can real-time monitoring of solder joint constant temperature welding.

4) There is no limit to the shape and size of the parts, so that the design freedom of the parts has a leap.

5) There is no vibration during the welding process, which is very advantageous for vibration-sensitive parts such as electronic components and medical devices.

6) Non-contact processing (connected parts and heat sources have no physical contact), easy to maintain the health and safety of medical and food equipment.

7) Laser beam transmission high degree of freedom, easy to achieve automation.