Fiber-reinforced thermoplastics coupled with laser transmission welding are beginning new possibilities of functionalization and design in lightweight vehicle construction, according to German firm LIMO Lissotschenko Mikrooptik GmbH (Dortmund). The organization recently developed an incredibly compact laser processing head capable of reducing processing prices by up to 30% and enabling processing components previously considered too complex.
Laser polymer welding is an enterprise-like-minded and product-friendly bonding era that produces brutal yet aesthetically beautiful weld seams. Processing is easy and contactless. The bonding surface does not have to be pre-cleaned, put up-cured, or processed in any manner. It is mainly suited for touchy substances, optically demanding surfaces, precise weld seams, or short cycles. Packing containers synthetically using laser welding (e.g., to preserve fluids or to house sensors) shows an excessive density with a burst strain of 10-30 bar. The welding technique doesn’t impair electronic components. Furthermore, various mixtures of materials may be processed, including acrylic and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (PMMA/ABS), polycarbonate, and polybutylene terephthalate (Laptop/PBT), polypropylene and thermoplastic elastomer (PP/TPE), as well as glass fiber-reinforced polymers.
The LPH-L laser processing head reportedly offers a unique mixture of 5 capabilities: newly designed, the LPH-L processing head is less complicated and might lessen processing costs by way of up to 30% in contrast to comparable systems; measuring just 153 x 90 mm; it’s miles as much as 50% extra compact than equal processing heads; four welding geometries are viable the use of an unmarried multifunctional laser head (spot welding, surface welding, contour welding, and continuous cloth bonding). Accordingly, the LPH-L head gives a vast range of welding options without the need for imposing scanner generation; temperature-regulated processing and statistics logging are already incorporated into the laser system; and weighing best 1.2 kg, the compact and robust head may be deployed on lightweight robotic fingers;
Peter Bruns, Director of Utility and Customer Service at LIMO summarizes the blessings of the brand new head as follows: “With LIMO’s new compact line processing head, suppliers of lightweight car additives can now serve the center and coffee-value market segments as well as the excessive-quit segment.”
The compact LPH-L processing head can generate a 12 x 2 mm welding line with a fiber-coupled industrial laser device. By rotating the processing head, the welding line may be adjusted to a minimum of 5 mm. Similarly, mounting the lead on a robotic arm makes it more feasible to reap numerous welding geometries using the best tool. Further, the processing head can make amends for degree differences inside the thing of up to 12 mm.
The LPH-L head also allows welding spots to be carried out inside short traces of around 10 mm. These “line spots” are more pressure-resistant than popular spots. The laser head can also weld a s2 x X mm, surface wherein “X” denotes a variable floor size. In this way, feelings are faster bonded than is feasible with, for instance, a laser scanner. The gadget can also create a third beam.
