TECHNOLOGY | LASER WELDING
Enabled by laser welding
Many plastics applications today need precise and leak-free joining of complex mating surfaces. Laser
weldable compound combinations can do just that, writes Peter Mapleston
Main image: Automotive radar sensors are just one emerging application sector where laser welding is delivering results
Precision, speed, flexibility, and reliability are prime considerations for joining plastic parts in many applications today. There are many plastics joining techniques available but laser transmission welding stands out for offering precise and economical energy input, low thermal delay and high weld strength together with the ability to join three-dimensional mating geometries in a single process step. Laser transmission welding is well suited to
cost-effective, low stress production of small components with complex geometries, making it near ideal for the trend toward miniaturised electrical and electronic functions. The technique is simple in principle — a laser beam passes through a laser-transparent component and is absorbed by a second component, usually black-pigmented, beneath. The heat created melts the surface of the second component and, in turn, conducted heat softens the surface of the first. Once cooled, a strong weld seam is formed. Laser welding is becoming one of the top
cost-effective technologies for deep welding polymer materials and many polymer producers and compounders now offer laser-weldable materials. Among them is German masterbatch producer AF-Color, which offers optimised and customised additives from its LT (laser transparent) product line to cover the different laser welding process variants.
60 COMPOUNDING WORLD | July 2022 In the “black-on-black” arrangement, for
example, the base component is usually made absorbent by colouring with carbon black. The challenging task is to make the upper part also look black to the human eye while being transpar- ent to laser light. AF Carbon PA 950575 LT black is formulated to meet this requirement.
Sensor opportunities A number of LNP Thermocomp compounds were launched last year by SABIC with the aim of improving design options for production of ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) radar covers. The LNP Thermocomp WFC06I and WFC06IXP compounds are said to have been developed for enclosure covers (WFC061 for the front and WFC061XP for the back) for next-generation radar units. The glass fibre-reinforced polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) grades offer a low dissipation factor and dielectric constant to help support the transmission of higher-frequency (>75 GHz) millimetre-wave (mmWave) radar signals. They also feature extra-low warpage to enable production of thinner covers to improve signal transmission. The LNP Thermocomp WFC06I compound
features a laser transmission rate of over 60%, which SABIC says is 20% higher than the nearest competitive product. The company says customers can use its wide laser window and low laser power requirement to potentially increase yield rates. LNP
www.compoundingworld.com
IMAGE: LANXESS
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