Electromagnetic Welding of Thermoplastics and Specific Design Criteria 940622
Electromagnetic (EMA) bonding of thermoplastics provides a simple, rapid and reliable assembly technique to produce structural, hermetic or high pressure seals on most thermoplastic materials. It employs the basic principles of induction heating by developing fusion temperature at the abutting interface of parts to be welded using a thermoplastic electromagnetic intertayer.
The process is so versatile it can weld almost any thermoplastic, filled or unfilled, to itself plus certain dissimiliar thermoplastics and non-thermoplastic materials, such as paper to thermoplastics. The EMA process can easily weld engineering, high performance resins and such difficult-to-weld materials as polyolefins and nylons.
Understanding the design criteria for the electromagnetic bonding is essential to the new product designer. It involves an understanding of the process itself, the work coil designs, and the joint designs. The purpose of this paper is to relate some of these fundamentals and apply them to specific applications.
