Concept for a Systematic Setup of a Hot Gas Welding Process for Glasfiber Reinforced Polyamides

Hot gas welding is a joining process that melts the thermoplastic polymer without contact by convection heating and has been increasingly investigated and developed in recent years. The reason is the absence of the formation of particles during the heating process of the polymer, e.g. in friction welding or the adhesion of polymer melt in hot plate welding. Another advantage is also the free design of the weld seam. In contrast to the usual welding processes such as ultrasonic or vibration welding, three-dimensional weld seams can be produced comparatively easily. With data from welding tests with a production-capable hot gas welding system and different polyamides (PA6-GF40, PA66-GF35 and PA6T/XT-GF35) the influence of various process parameters is analyzed. Systematic investigations allow statements to be made on the correlation between the individual process parameters like heating time, temperature of the hot gas welding tool and temperature of the polymer. Furthermore, a procedure for the systematic adjustment of the hot gas welding process is developed.