Plastic welding

Plastic welding is welding for semi-finished plastic materials, and is described in ISO 472[1] as a process of uniting softened surfaces of materials, generally with the aid of heat (except for solvent welding). Welding of thermoplastics is accomplished in three sequential stages, namely surface preparation, application of heat and pressure, and cooling. Numerous welding methods have been developed for the joining of semi-finished plastic materials. Based on the mechanism of heat generation at the welding interface, welding methods for thermoplastics can be classified as external and internal heating methods,[2] as shown in Fig 1.

Fig. 1. Classification of welding methods for semi-finished polymeric materials.[2][3]

Production of a good quality weld does not only depend on the welding methods, but also weldability of base materials. Therefore, the evaluation of weldability is of higher importance than the welding operation (see rheological weldability) for plastics.

  1. ^ "Plastics-Vocabulary". ISO 472 International Organization for Standardization. Switzerland. 1999. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. ^ a b Balkan, Onur; Demirer, Halil; Ezdeşir, Ayhan; Yıldırım, Hüseyin (2008). "Effects of welding procedures on mechanical and morphological properties of hot gas butt welded PE, PP, and PVC sheets". Polymer Engineering and Science. 48 (4): 732. doi:10.1002/pen.21014. ISSN 1548-2634.
  3. ^ Vijay K. Stokes (1989). "Joining methods for plastics and plastic composites: An overview". Polymer Engineering & Science. 29 (19): 1310. doi:10.1002/pen.760291903. ISSN 1548-2634.