Open Source Laser Polymer Welding System: Design and Characterization of Linear Low-Density Polyethylene Multilayer Welds
The use of lasers to weld polymer sheets provides a means of highly-adaptive and custom additive manufacturing for a wide array of industrial, medical, and end user/consumer applications. This paper provides an open source design for a laser polymer welding system, which can be fabricated with low-c...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2016-07-01
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| Series: | Machines |
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| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2075-1702/4/3/14 |
| _version_ | 1819231045450465280 |
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| author | John J. Laureto Serguei V. Dessiatoun Michael M. Ohadi Joshua M. Pearce |
| author_facet | John J. Laureto Serguei V. Dessiatoun Michael M. Ohadi Joshua M. Pearce |
| author_sort | John J. Laureto |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The use of lasers to weld polymer sheets provides a means of highly-adaptive and custom additive manufacturing for a wide array of industrial, medical, and end user/consumer applications. This paper provides an open source design for a laser polymer welding system, which can be fabricated with low-cost fused filament fabrication and off-the-shelf mechanical and electrical parts. The system is controlled with free and open source software and firmware. The operation of the machine is validated and the performance of the system is quantified for the mechanical properties (peak load) and weld width of linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) lap welds manufactured with the system as a function of linear energy density. The results provide incident laser power and machine parameters that enable both dual (two layers) and multilayer (three layers while welding only two sheets) polymer welded systems. The application of these parameter sets provides users of the open source laser polymer welder with the fundamental requirements to produce mechanically stable LLDPE multi-layer welded products, such as heat exchangers. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-23T11:38:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e16c4a57dcb54be792e391a6cc5686b9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-1702 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-23T11:38:43Z |
| publishDate | 2016-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Machines |
| spelling | doaj.art-e16c4a57dcb54be792e391a6cc5686b92022-12-21T17:48:34ZengMDPI AGMachines2075-17022016-07-01431410.3390/machines4030014machines4030014Open Source Laser Polymer Welding System: Design and Characterization of Linear Low-Density Polyethylene Multilayer WeldsJohn J. Laureto0Serguei V. Dessiatoun1Michael M. Ohadi2Joshua M. Pearce3Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Michigan Technological University, 601 M&M Building, 1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, MI 49931-1295, USASmart and Small Thermal Systems Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USASmart and Small Thermal Systems Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USADepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, Michigan Technological University, 601 M&M Building, 1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, MI 49931-1295, USAThe use of lasers to weld polymer sheets provides a means of highly-adaptive and custom additive manufacturing for a wide array of industrial, medical, and end user/consumer applications. This paper provides an open source design for a laser polymer welding system, which can be fabricated with low-cost fused filament fabrication and off-the-shelf mechanical and electrical parts. The system is controlled with free and open source software and firmware. The operation of the machine is validated and the performance of the system is quantified for the mechanical properties (peak load) and weld width of linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) lap welds manufactured with the system as a function of linear energy density. The results provide incident laser power and machine parameters that enable both dual (two layers) and multilayer (three layers while welding only two sheets) polymer welded systems. The application of these parameter sets provides users of the open source laser polymer welder with the fundamental requirements to produce mechanically stable LLDPE multi-layer welded products, such as heat exchangers.http://www.mdpi.com/2075-1702/4/3/14polymer weldinglaser weldingpolymer laser weldingadditive manufacturingopen hardwarelinear low density polyethyleneLLDPEheat exchangers |
| spellingShingle | John J. Laureto Serguei V. Dessiatoun Michael M. Ohadi Joshua M. Pearce Open Source Laser Polymer Welding System: Design and Characterization of Linear Low-Density Polyethylene Multilayer Welds Machines polymer welding laser welding polymer laser welding additive manufacturing open hardware linear low density polyethylene LLDPE heat exchangers |
| title | Open Source Laser Polymer Welding System: Design and Characterization of Linear Low-Density Polyethylene Multilayer Welds |
| title_full | Open Source Laser Polymer Welding System: Design and Characterization of Linear Low-Density Polyethylene Multilayer Welds |
| title_fullStr | Open Source Laser Polymer Welding System: Design and Characterization of Linear Low-Density Polyethylene Multilayer Welds |
| title_full_unstemmed | Open Source Laser Polymer Welding System: Design and Characterization of Linear Low-Density Polyethylene Multilayer Welds |
| title_short | Open Source Laser Polymer Welding System: Design and Characterization of Linear Low-Density Polyethylene Multilayer Welds |
| title_sort | open source laser polymer welding system design and characterization of linear low density polyethylene multilayer welds |
| topic | polymer welding laser welding polymer laser welding additive manufacturing open hardware linear low density polyethylene LLDPE heat exchangers |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/2075-1702/4/3/14 |
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