Page 24 - Plastics News September 2022

Lanxess Installs Laser Transmission Welding System Sabic Launches New Short-
For Plastics Development Glass Fiber-Filled Pp

Compounds With Enhanced
Performance Materials (HPM) business Performance For Automotive
unit at Lanxess.
Laser transmission welding involves Structural Applications
passing a laser beam through a laser-
transparent component. The beam is
then absorbed by a second, usually
carbon black, component underneath.
The beam’s energy causes localized
melting on the surface of the second
component. The heat generated by the
process plasticizes the surface of the first
component, as well, forming a material
weld. ABIC, a global leader in the
The procedure is normally used for Schemical industry, today in-
troduced SABIC® PP compound
welding covers onto housings. Compared G3430X and SABIC PP compound
with traditional joining techniques such G3440X grades, two new short-
as vibration and ultrasonic welding, the
advantage of laser transmission welding glass fiber-reinforced polypropylene
is that the electronic components in (PP) compounds offering enhanced
the housing are subjected to almost no performance and processing for de-
thermal or mechanical stress. Krause manding automotive under-hood,
Modern cars increasingly are equipped notes: “It also enables very small exterior and interior applications.
with advanced driver-assistance systems, components with complex geometries The two advanced grades surpass
a trend that is accelerating demand to be mass-produced cost-efficiently high-performing standard short-
for plastic housings to accommodate and, therefore, meets the growing trend glass fiber materials in melt flow,
electronic parts and components such toward miniaturization of electrical and tensile and flexural strength, and
as sensors, antennas, and control units. electronic functions.” The new machine flexural modulus. SABIC PP com-
Laser transmission welding is becoming uses an ytterbium fiber laser with a pound G3430X and G3440X grades
popular as a joining method during the wavelength range of 1,080 nanometers give customers new opportunities to
production of these housings. and 300 watts of power. raise the performance bar for auto-
Consequently, Lanxess is upgrading its Lanxess has already developed test motive structural components such
technical center in Dormagen, Germany, specimens that can be used to reproduce as brackets, seat structures and cent-
with a laser welding machine featuring typical conditions during the laser er consoles. Furthermore, thanks to
an extensive range of equipment transmission welding of small and their thin-wall capability, both ma-
and state-of-the-art technology from large electronics housings to define, terials can be used to design parts
PolyMerge GmbH, a provider of for example, the weld line geometry with lower mass and weight.
welding machines for plastics based in and wall thickness of the translucent “SABIC’s world-class development
Geretsried, Germany. “With this highly component. “These test specimens capabilities and dedication to con-
versatile equipment, we want to develop allow us to help our customers with tinuous portfolio improvement
new laser-welding materials and make many sorts of questions and problems. have yielded these two exceptional
them series-ready more quickly. We will But we’re also supporting them with materials, which can empower au-
also be able to emulate our customers’ a range of additional laser-welding- tomotive customers to significantly
production environment and help related services such as simulation-based increase the performance of end ap-
them more quickly and with tighter warpage optimization designed to make plications,” said Abdullah Al-Otaibi,
focus,” says Frank Krause, an expert in joining processes safer and more stable,” general manager, ETP & Market So-
plastics joining processes in the High says Krause. lutions, SABIC.

24 PLASTICS NEWS September 2022 25 PLASTICS NEWS September 2022