Biomaterial Database

Laser welding of thermoplastic materials. 2001

F A Chipperfield, and I A Jones

TWI Ltd, Great Abington, UK.

The capabilities of the three main types of laser are compared and a new technique is introduced, which laser welds plastics using an infrared absorber to create a joint that is almost invisible to the human eye.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007834	Lasers	An optical source that emits photons in a coherent beam. Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation (LASER) is brought about using devices that transform light of varying frequencies into a single intense, nearly nondivergent beam of monochromatic radiation. Lasers operate in the infrared, visible, ultraviolet, or X-ray regions of the spectrum.	Masers,Continuous Wave Lasers,Pulsed Lasers,Q-Switched Lasers,Continuous Wave Laser,Laser,Laser, Continuous Wave,Laser, Pulsed,Laser, Q-Switched,Lasers, Continuous Wave,Lasers, Pulsed,Lasers, Q-Switched,Maser,Pulsed Laser,Q Switched Lasers,Q-Switched Laser
D010969	Plastics	Polymeric materials (usually organic) of large molecular weight which can be shaped by flow. Plastic usually refers to the final product with fillers, plasticizers, pigments, and stabilizers included (versus the resin, the homogeneous polymeric starting material). (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed)	Plastic
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D014896	Welding	Joining metal pieces or parts together by melting the adjoining surfaces with heat, using a heat source such as a blowtorch or electric arc. The melted surfaces are then pressed together by hammering.