Product Code: ICA12_M506

The Impact of Thermal Strain Rate on Laser Bonding of Polymer Films
Authors:
Colin Dowding, Lincoln School of Engineering, Univ. of Lincoln; Leicestershire Great Britain
Presented at ICALEO 2012

Laser bonding has great potential in numerous industries where process flexibility is required in combination with bond durability, consistency and repeatability. Previously, it has been shown that lasers are ideal for activating the bonding adhesive which then offers a bond force that is independent of laser power. This new work extends our understanding by characterising the bond strength response of the adhesive with respect to laser scan speed. This work confirms that the adhesive requires a threshold level of laser energy per unit time to arrive at a specific point before bonding occurs. However, this relationship is more complex than that of the bond-power relationship, since the scan speed must remain large enough to prevent burning, cutting, or film distortion.