IR welding
Welding technique / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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IR welding is a welding technique that uses a non-contact heating method to melt and fuse thermoplastic parts together using the energy from infrared radiation.[1] The process was first developed in the late 1900s, but due to the high capital cost of IR equipment the process was not commonly applied in industry until prices dropped in the 1990s.[1][2] IR welding typically uses a range of wavelengths from 800 to 11,000 nm on the electromagnetic spectrum to heat, melt, and fuse the interface between two plastic parts through the absorption and conversion of the IR energy into heat.[1] Laser welding is a similar joining process that applies IR radiation at a single wavelength.[1]
There are many different welding techniques that use IR heating, with the three major modes being surface heating, through transmission IR welding (TTIr), and IR staking.[1] A variety of heating configurations have been applied to these techniques such as scanning, continuous illumination, and mask welding.[1] Advantages such as faster and controllable non-contact heating applicable for a wide range of simple or complex part geometries sets IR welding apart from other forms of plastic welding.[1][3] CO detectors, IV bags, and brake transmission lines are just a few of the many products that utilize IR welds.[1]