Fiber-reinforced thermoplastics coupled with laser transmission welding are beginning up entirely new possibilities of functionalization and design in light-weight 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 the processing of 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 synthetic using laser welding (e.G. To preserve fluids or to house sensors) show a excessive density, with a burst strain of 10-30 bar. Electronic components aren’t impaired by way of the welding technique. 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 a 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 is 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 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.”
With a fiber-coupled industrial laser device, the compact processing head LPH-L processing head can generate a 12 x 2 mm welding line. Using rotating the processing head, the welding line may be adjusted to a minimum of 5 mm. Similarly, using mounting the lead on a robotic arm, It’s far 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 the form of short traces of around 10 mm. These “line spots” are more pressure-resistant than popular spots. The laser head can also weld a surface of 12 x X mm, wherein “X” denotes a variable floor size. In this way, feelings are extra fast bonded than is feasible with, for instance, a laser scanner. The gadget can also create a third beam.
