Welding of polymers using a 2 mu m thulium fiber laser

    Authors

    I. Mingareev; F. Weirauch; A. Olowinsky; L. Shah; P. Kadwani;M. Richardson

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Opt. Laser Technol.

    Keywords

    Polymer welding; Fiber laser; Laser materials processing; Optics; Physics, Applied

    Abstract

    Absorber-free transmission and butt-welding of different polymers were performed using thulium fiber laser radiation at the wavelength 2 mu m. The relations between the laser process conditions and the dimensions and quality of the seam were investigated by means of optical and phase-contrast microscopy. Mechanical properties of the weld joints were studied in tensile strength tests. Laser-welded polyethylene samples revealed a tensile strength of greater than 80% of the bulk material strength. Transmission welding of different polymer combinations featured the formation of different joint classes depending on the spectral properties. The experiments demonstrate new application areas of mid-IR fiber laser sources for materials processing. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

    Journal Title

    Optics and Laser Technology

    Volume

    44

    Issue/Number

    7

    Publication Date

    1-1-2012

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    2095

    Last Page

    2099

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000305371800017

    ISSN

    0030-3992

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