SYNRAD, INC. - http://www.synrad.com  
Thursday, January 2, 2003
Issue 53
 
Cutting PVB Welding Stainless Steel Sealing Glass Tubes

SYNRAD's sealed CO2 lasers are used in a variety of industrial processes including cutting, welding, drilling, and marking. This news brief showcases some of the interesting materials and products that are processed daily by Synrad's line of CO2 lasers and marking heads.

Cutting PVB Material

 

      Polyvinyl butyral (PVB) is one type of material used in the manufacture of laminated glass for aircraft, automotive, and architectural uses. The PVB layer provides penetration resistance and sound isolation in addition to buffering infrared (IR) and filtering ultraviolet (UV) rays. After the glass layers have been bonded to the PVB layer, the next step in the manufacturing process is trimming. The CO2 laser cuts PVB plastic cleanly, leaving a transparent polished edge. A 2.5" positive meniscus lens with its corresponding 0.004" focused spot size was used to cut through the PVB layer at a speed of 270 inches per minute (IPM) using 100 W of laser power. 


0.06"-thick PVB material was cut at a speed of 270 IPM using 100 W of power.

Welding Stainless Steel

  The photo on the left shows a cross-sectional view of two 0.037" stainless steel tabs that were butt-welded using an Evolution 240W CO2 laser. After welding, the tab was cut perpendicular to the weld and cleaned up with an abrasive pad. The photo clearly illustrates the complete penetration achieved during the weld; the welded section is virtually indistinguishable from the rest of the tab. 

   The weld was made using 240W at a speed of 16 inches per minute (IPM) with argon as a shield gas. No filler wire was used, or was required, in the laser welding process.

 

Butt-weld of 0.037" stainless steel. The welds were made with a Synrad Evolution 240W laser.
 

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Click on photo for video! (1.7MB)

Sealing Borosilicate Glass Tubes

 

    A large spot size, a rotary stage, and 10 W of laser power were used to seal this glass (borosilicate) pipette, producing a smooth, sealed end. In order to reduce localized stress on the pipette, a rotary stage turning at 350 RPM and a large 0.04" spot size (created by intentionally defocusing a five inch focal length lens a full 0.25" from the point of focus) was set up to heat the glass slowly. While the 0.075" diameter borosilicate pipette was rotating, it was heated for approximately four seconds by a Synrad J48-2 CO2 laser firing at 20% duty cycle, which delivered 10 W of CO2 laser energy into the glass. 
This 0.075"- diameter borosilicate glass pipette was sealed using 10W of CO2 laser power.
 

Browse Synrad's Applications Database

Search our online library for more applications of Synrad's sealed CO2 laser technology. Sort by material, process, or industry.

http://www.synrad.com/search_apps/Default.htm

Contact Us:

 

Synrad, Inc.

4600 Campus Place

Mukilteo, WA  98275

Tel:  1-425-349-3500

Fax: 1-425-349-3667

E-mail: synrad@synrad.com

 

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SYNRAD and Synrad product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of SYNRAD, Inc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.