Welding of plastics - Introduction into heating by radiation

Abstract

For welding of plastics, various procedures of heat transfer are presently in use. Non-contact heating by radiation allows heating, e.g., without contamination of a heated tool and makes heating faster by volume-absorption of the material. Presently infra-red lamps and infra-red laser beams are in use for welding of plastics. This paper wants to give an introduction into the physical principles of heating by infra-red radiation, wants to divide between surface and volume absorption of different materials and wants to give a survey about the advantages and disadvantages of infra-red lamps and lasers.