Investigation on enhancement of weld strength between PMMA and PBT in laser transmission welding—Using intermediate material

Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) are widely used in industry; however, poor compatibility between two materials lead to poor weld strength. Polycarbonate (PC) has good compatibility with PMMA and PBT. Therefore, the welding method was that PC film as intermediate material was used to enhance weld strength in laser transmission welding (LTW) of PMMA and PBT. Through the LTW experiment, the weld strength was tested by mechanical testing and it was found that the best weld strength was improved more than four times than the weld strength without intermediate material. By observing the micro morphology of the weld zone, one reason was founded that the bubbles can be used to form micro‐mechanical riveting to enhance the weld strength. The reptation time for PMMA, PC, and PBT were investigated to analyze the establishment of the weld strength. When the reptation time is much shorter than time in molten state, the higher weld strength is feasible. It can be concluded that the weld strength of PC/PBT was higher than the weld strength of PMMA/PC. The equilibrium interfacial width was calculated through Helfand's theory to analyze the compatibility of dissimilar materials. The equilibrium interfacial width for PMMA/PC and PC/PBT were similar to tube diameter. That is the reason for weld strength enhancement. And then, the response surface methodology was designed to predict the weld strength.© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 44167.     

Numerical‐simulation‐driven optimization of a laser transmission welding process under consideration of scattering

In this study, because the use of semicrystalline polypropylene (upper material) leads to the scattering of laser radiation, an integrated method for a numerical‐simulation‐driven optimization of the laser transmission welding (LTW) process was investigated through the finite element method (FEM), response surface methodology (RSM), and experiments (EX). First, EX for measuring the actual laser power and spot diameter within the weld interface were conducted; these were used to simulate the temperature field and molten pool geometric characteristic parameters of the LTW process. Then, central composite design was used to design the EX, and RSM was used to establish mathematical models. Finally, the desirability function was used to determine the optimal process parameters. The experimental results nearly agreed with the simulated and predicted values. The results illustrate that the integrated (FEM–RSM–EX) approach was an effective optimization method and could play a significant guiding role in LTW EX and in quickly optimizing the process parameters. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 40396.     

Performance and mechanism of laser transmission joining between glass fiber‐reinforced PA66 and PC

On account of the large compatibility difference between glass fiber‐reinforced Polyamide 66 (GFR‐PA66) and Polycarbonate (PC), it is difficult to weld them directly by laser. A new technology is introduced in this article by which the transparent PC is successfully welded with GFR‐PA66 using cold spraying in order to spray a 20 μm‐thick aluminum film on GFR‐PA66 as the absorbed layer. Tensile shear tests show the tensile strength of welded joints is highly enhanced. The influences of bubbles, glass fiber, and aluminum atoms on the performance of the joins are investigated via the optical microscope. X‐ray Photoelectron Spectrometer (XPS) is used to detect the chemical information of fracture sections on PC. In terms of the generation of bubbles, the influence of glass fiber, the distribution of aluminum atoms, and the formation of new chemical bonds, this article analyses the mechanism why the two different materials can be welded successfully. The micro‐anchor influence of glass giber in fiber‐reinforced polymers is important. The generation of new chemical bonding (Al–O–C) between aluminum and upper PC is the main reason why the joining strength is enhanced greatly. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 43068.     

PA6/PC基激光直接成型材料研究及其立体结构制件制备

以聚酰胺6(PA6)、聚碳酸酯(PC)及其复合材料为基材,通过熔融挤出法制备了一系列激光直接成型(LDS)合金材料,研究了其热性能、耐溶剂性、力学性能及断裂机理,并验证了其用于手机结构件制造时的可靠性和安全性.结果表明,LDS合金材料具有特殊的热性能和流变行为,PA6组分有利于提高合金的耐溶剂性,PC组分有利于提高材料...     

The vibration welding of poly(butylene terephthalate) and a polycarbonate/poly(butylene terephthalate) blend to each other and to other resins and blends

Vibration welding is used to assess the weldability of poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) and a polycarbonate/poly(butylene terephthalate) blend (PC/PBT) to each other and to other resins and blends: PBT to PC/PBT, PBT to modified poly(phenylene oxide) (M-PPO), PBT to polyetherimide (PEI) and PEI to a 65 wt% mineral-filled polyester blend (65-PF-PEB), PBT to a poly(phenylene oxide)/polyamide blend (PPO/PA), PC/PBT to M-PPO, and PC/PBT to PPO/PA. Based on the tensile strength of the weaker of the two materials in each pair, the following relative weld strengths have been demonstrated: PBT to PC/PBT,98%; PBT to PEI, 95%; 65-PF-PEB to PEI, 92%; and PC/PBT to M-PPO, 73%. PBT neither welds to M-PPO nor to PPO/PA, and PC/PBT does not weld to PPO/PA.     

The vibration and hot‐tool welding of polyamides

The weldabilities of polyamide 6 (PA‐6), polyamide 6,6 (PA‐6,6), 33 wt% glass‐filled PA‐6,6 (33‐GF‐PA‐6,6), and amorphous polyamide (PA‐A) are assessed through 120 Hz vibration welds. Weld strengths equal to those of the base resins can easily be obtained in vibration welds of both undried and dried PA‐6 and PA‐6,6. Relative weld strengths in the range of 54–57% are demonstrated for 120 Hz welds of 33‐GF‐PA‐6.6. Relative weld strengths in the range of 90–97% are demonstrated for dried PA‐A. The highest relative weld strengths obtained in hot‐tool welds of undried and dried PA‐6,6 are only 57% and 54% respectively.     

玻璃纤维增强尼龙6振动摩擦焊接强度的影响因素

研究了玻璃纤维含量、苯胺黑色母含量、树脂相对黏度、焊接工艺(深度、振幅、压力)等因素对玻璃纤维增强尼龙6(PA6)焊接强度的影响。结果表明,玻璃纤维含量为30%的玻璃纤维增强PA6具有最大的焊接强度,为58.0 MPa;通过差示扫描量热分析发现,加入3%的苯胺黑色母能使玻璃纤维增强PA6的结晶温度从191.8℃降至173.7℃,但对焊接强度影响较小;随着树脂相对黏度从2.0提高到3.4,玻璃纤维增强PA6的结晶度从27.1%下降至16.2%,焊接强度略有提升;焊接工艺参数对玻璃纤维增强PA6的焊接强度影响较大的是振幅与焊接压力,振幅为0.4 mm时,焊接不充分,焊接强度仅为38.8 MPa,振幅为0.7 mm时,能充分焊接,焊接强度增至55.5 MPa,随着焊接压力从3.5 MPa提升到9.0 MPa,焊接强度从56.3 MPa下降至43.3 MPa。     

Glass Fiber/Polyphthalamide Composites for 3D-Molded Interconnect Devices Application: Structure and Properties

The research work was to demonstrate the feasibility of a three-dimensional molded interconnect devices concept using the injection-molding technique and to investigate the effects of weld/meld line types on the structure and properties. Two different polymers based on polyphthalamide/glass fiber composites (PA6 T/X and PA10 T/X composites) were produced by injection molding at the different processing conditions. A mold was designed in such a way that a weld and meld line can be produced at different angles by changing an insert inside the mold. The mechanical properties such as stiffness, tensile strength, and flexural strength were determined in tensile and flexural tests, respectively. The adhesive strength and electrical resistance were studied with the pull-off process and four-point measurement, respectively, and are discussed. The dispersion of the glass fiber and types of meld/weld line were inspected using scanning electron microscopy. The results were in-line with the expectation of a reduction in mechanical properties in areas where weld/meld lines occurred. The results of tensile tests clearly showed that the weld and meld lines showed a considerable influence on mechanical properties. It was found that the tensile and flexural strength of polyphthalamide/glass fiber composites with weld line type decreased approximately 58 and 62%, respectively, compared to the composites without the weld line. On the other hand, the effects of injection time and mold temperature on the tensile strength were marginal.     

Application of response surface methodology for weld strength prediction in laser welding of polypropylene/clay nanocomposite

Welding as a fabrication process can be used to join materials, including composite and nanocomposites and laser welding process due to its advantages has found wide applications in this field. Its process parameters can play a significant role in determining the weld strength of laser-welded joints in polypropylene/clay nanocomposites. In this study, the effect of laser welding parameters, such as laser power, welding speed and focal position along with the clay content in a polypropylene/clay nanocomposite on weld strength were determined using response surface methodology. This methodology was applied for developing a mathematical model which can predict the main effects of the above parameters and their impacts on tensile strength of butt-welded laser joints in 2-mm thick polypropylene/clay nanocomposite sheets. The analysis of variance was performed to check the adequacy of the developed model. A comparison was also made between the predicted and actual results. The results showed that weld strength decreased when clay content was increased from 0 to 6 %, but welding speed increased from 30 to 60 mm/s. The above parameters were also optimized to achieve a high strength welded joint.     

A new approach to increase weld line strength of incompatible polymer blend composites: selective filler addition

A ternary blend composite composed of two immiscible organic phases, polypropylene (PP) and polyamide-6 (PA), and talc as inorganic filler is studied in terms of weld line properties and morphology. Effects of different filler levels as well as compatibilizer on weld line strength under tensile loading condition of each polymeric phase are investigated. Special attention is paid to relate the nature of dispersed domains especially in weld line regions with final performance. It is observed from scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies that addition of talc filler which is selectively wetted by dispersed PA phase dramatically reduces the elongated domain size in the weld line region and causes to much more homogeneous microstructure. The selective wetting of talc particles by PA phase, therefore, seems to be beneficial in increasing weld line strength via increasing the viscosity of the PA dispersed phase and consequently decreasing the elongated domains at weld line region. Compared to uncompatibilized blend composites, compatibilized ones represent much higher weld line strength for all levels of talc loading.     

高含量玻璃纤维增强阻燃聚酰胺材料的制备与性能

采用双螺杆挤出机制备了聚酰胺6(PA6)/50%（质量分数,下同）玻璃纤维（GF）、PA66/50%GF、PA56/50%GF 3种高含量GF增强阻燃PA复合材料,对比研究了红磷、溴系、磷氮3种阻燃体系下复合材料的力学性能、阻燃性能和激光打标性能。结果表明,不同阻燃体系对复合材料的力学性能有明显影响,吸水平衡后,PA66复合材料的力学性能保持率最高;PA56复合材料在3种阻燃体系中均表现出比PA6、PA66复合材料更好的阻燃性能;红外激光和紫外激光的打标效果存在明显不同,而在阻燃体系和激光光源相同的条件下,PA6、PA66和PA56 3种PA复合材料的激光打标效果没有明显差异。     

纤维增强PA66注塑熔接线拉伸性能的研究

通过对相同工艺条件下PA66(Zytel 70G33L)熔体绕过不同障碍物数值和实验研究，发现决定熔接线强度的主要因素是两股熔体相遇时的熔接角，熔接线强度会随着熔接角的增大而加强。而通过对不同成型温度条件下熔接线试样的拉伸实验研究，发现随着熔体温度的升高，有或无熔接线的试样拉伸强度都会随着温度的升高而升高，但变化的程度不同。     

Diode Laser Welding of Polyethylene

A high-power diode laser (HPDL) was used to weld high-density polyethylene (HDPE) sheets. Laser-welded joints were fabricated with different values of laser power and scan speed. Hot-tool welding was also employed to fabricate joints to make a comparison between this consolidated technology and HPDL welding. Initially, laser heating tests were carried out to study the laser–material interaction. Furthermore, welding tests were carried out and tensile mechanical tests were performed to characterize joints and sound specimens. A similar material behavior was recognized for all the specimens. While the laser process resulted in lower strength and ductility, in comparison to the tool-welding process, the aesthetics of the laser-welded joints were remarkable. The best values of the process parameters were individuated for the laser welding and were used to fabricate a closed structure having sharp edges. The same geometry cannot be obtained by any other welding technology.     

马来酸酐接枝ABS的增容改性研究

研究了增容剂马来酸酐接枝ABS对PC／ABS合金、PA6／ABS合金及ABS／GF复合材料力学性能的影响。结果表明，该增容剂的加入明显提高了PC／ABS合金的冲击强度和断裂伸长率，使PA6／ABS合金的各项力学性能均明显提高，使ABS／GF复合材料的拉伸强度和断裂伸长率也有较大提高。     

Effects of calcium carbonate,talc, mica,and glass‐fiber fillers on the ultrasonic weld strength of polypropylene

The objective of this work was to study the differences in the ultrasonic weld strength of polypropylene compounds with different fillers. The fillers were calcium carbonate, talc, mica, and glass fibers. The welder parameters were varied to determine the optimum set. These welder parameters were the weld time, weld force, trigger force, and amplitude. The results indicated that the weld time had the greatest effect on the weld strength of each of the filled compounds. Unfilled polypropylene had the highest weld strength under the optimum welding conditions, which were used as the baseline welding conditions. For each given filler, the weld strength was reduced as the filler loading increased. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 94: 1986–1998, 2004     

Effects of polyamide 6 incorporation to the short glass fiber reinforced ABS composites: an interfacial approach

The properties of 30 wt% short glass fiber (SGF) reinforced acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) terpolymer and polyamide 6 (PA6) blends prepared with extrusion were studied using the interfacial adhesion approach. Work of adhesion and interlaminar shear strength values were calculated respectively from experimentally determined interfacial tensions and short beam flexural tests. The adhesion capacities of glass fibers with different surface treatments of organosilanes were evaluated. Among the different silanes tested, γ-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APS) was found to be the best coupling agent for the glass fibers, possibly, because of its chemical compatibility with PA6. Tensile test results indicated that increasing amount of PA6 in the polymer matrix improved the strength and stiffness of the composites due to a strong acid–base interaction at the interface. Incorporation of PA6 to the SGF reinforced ABS reduced the melt viscosity, broadened the fiber length distributions and increased the toughness of the composites. Fractographic analysis showed that the incorporation of PA6 enhanced the interactions between glass fibers and the polymeric matrix.     

Preparation and properties of polyamide 6 fibers prepared by the gel spinning method

Polyamide 6 (PA6) fibers were prepared by CaCl₂ complexation and the gel spinning technique. PA6 was partially complexed with CaCl₂ for the purpose of suppressing interchain amide group hydrogen bonding. The fibers were characterized with scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. In the gel spinning process, a mixed tetrachloroethane and chloroform solution was chosen as the coagulation bath after a comparison of different types of solutions. From our investigation of the morphology, structure, and mechanical properties of gel‐spun and hot‐drawn fibers, it was indicated that the modulus and tensile strength increased with increasing draw ratio, the orientation of the fibers was improved, and the cross section of the PA6 gel fibers became more smooth and tight. The results from the XRD, DSC, and FTIR tests indicated that calcium metal cations complexed with the carbonyl oxygen atoms of PA6. The maximum modulus and tensile strength values obtained in this study were 28.8 GPa and 413 MPa, respectively, at a draw ratio of 8. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011     

Comparison of orbital and linear vibration welding of thermoplastics

This work was conducted to determine if there were any benefits with orbital vibration welding compared to linear vibration welding. The experiments were conducted using standard full‐factorial designs with each process and each material. Four materials, polypropylene/polyethylene copolymer (PP/PE), polycarbonate (PC), acrylonitrile‐butadiene‐styrene (ABS) and Nylon (PA), were studied with each process. The equipment used was a modified Branson VW‐4 with an orbital head that had isolated magnets. The same machine was used to weld with both linear and orbital motions. This was achieved by modifying the controlling parameters of the drive. It was found that compared to linear vibration welding, orbital welding had a reduction of cycle time by 36% and 50% in Phase I and Phase III, respectively. It was also found that orbital welding dissipated 56% and 100% more power than linear vibration welding in Phase I and Phase III, respectively. In addition, it was seen that orbital welding was able to universally join unsupported walls with higher strengths and better consistency compared to linear welding. Other benefits included: a difference in the appearance of weld flash and small increase in weld strength. Some of the limitations of orbital welding that were identified included the effects of disengagement and residual stresses. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2009. © 2009 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Selective laser sintering of clay‐reinforced polyamide

An experimental investigation has been carried out to study the feasibility of processing blended powder of polyamide (PA) and organically modified nanoclay using selective laser sintering. The effect of nanoclay on the sintering parameters and mechanical properties of the sintered specimen have been studied. This article presents the details of preprocessing studies required and conducted to find suitability of the blended powder material to be processed on SLS machine. A suitable part bed temperature has also been found to avoid curling as well as to ensure the powder reusability. In this work, laser power, beam speed, scan spacing have been considered as influential operating process parameters and are explored using Taguchi's L₉ orthogonal array. Tensile specimens of PA and PA/clay composite have been fabricated as per ASTM D638 standard and tested for ultimate tensile strength, elongation at break, and Young's modulus using universal testing machine. Ultimate tensile strength and elongation at break are found to be decreased in case of PA/clay composite when compared with virgin polyamide. To understand the sintering insight and to explain the behavior of obtained mechanical properties, further investigations have been carried out using material characterization techniques like X‐ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. POLYM. COMPOS., 2010. © 2009 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Influence of epoxy resin on the properties of maleic anhydride functionalized acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene copolymer toughened polyamide 6 blends

Maleic anhydride functionalized acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene copolymer (ABS‐g‐MA) was used as an impact modifier of polyamide 6 (PA6). Epoxy resin was introduced into PA6/ABS‐g‐MA blends to further improve their properties. Notched Izod impact tests showed that the impact strength of PA6/ABS‐g‐MA could be improved from 253 to 800 J/m with the addition of epoxy resin when the ABS‐g‐MA content was set at 25 wt %. Differential scanning calorimetry results showed that the addition of epoxy resin made the crystallization temperature and melting temperature shift to lower temperatures; this indicated the decrease in the PA6 crystallization ability. Dynamic mechanical analysis testing showed that the addition of epoxy resin induced the glass‐transition temperature of PA6 and the styrene‐co‐acrylonitrile copolymer phase to shift to higher temperatures due to the chemical reactions between PA6, ABS‐g‐MA, and epoxy resin. The scanning electron microscopy results indicated that the ABS‐g‐MA copolymer dispersed into the PA6 matrix uniformly and that the phase morphology of the PA6/ABS‐g‐MA blends did not change with the addition of the epoxy resin. Transmission electron microscopy showed that the epoxy resin did not change the deformation mechanisms of the PA6/ABS‐g‐MA blends. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011