WELDING OF THERMOPLASTIC MATERIALS USING CO2 LASER

Abstract

The welding of thermoplastics using CO2 laser achieved, two different types of thermoplastic materials used which are; Perspex (PMMA) which is the abbreviation of polymethyl methacrylate and (HDPE) which is the abbreviation of high density polyethylene. Similar or different materials can be welded together by laser beam but in this work similar polymers have been welded (i.e PMMA tube to PMMA tube and HDPE plate to HDPE plate). Mechanical properties for these materials measured after welding, two CW CO2 lasers were used in the welding process have the wavelength of 10.6µm. The maximum power of the 1^st one is 16W, and for the 2^nd one is 25W. The experimental result showed that the penetration depth increases with increasing laser output when the welding speed is constant. Also a relation between spot width and depth calculated using MATLAB software program version 6.5 taken into account the effect of the following parameters, power used in welding, melting temperature of the materials, welding speed and the spot diameter of the laser beam.