In order to join two thermoplastic materials, plastic welding is a common and highly developed joining technique. There are a variety of different processes available, these work either on a no contact basis (heating element, ultrasound, laser, infrared, gas convection welding) or by contact (friction, vibration welding). Depending on the process used, certain design guidelines must be observed during the design phase in order to guarantee optimum joining.
In the case of high temperature plastics, it should be noted that an extremely high input of energy is required for plastification of materials. The welding method to be used depends on the following factors:
Common welding techniques used for processing plastics are:
The following graph shows Ensinger's materials and their suitability for the different welding processes.
