SCWTEX - SPA/03 - 051/Laser cutter

13.09.2010 - 29.02.2012
Research funding project
It is the objective of the project to develop a process combining the cutting and joining of technical textiles based on thermoplastic fibres by use of high power laser technology. The welded joints will be absolutely liquid-proof. This property is a requirement for numerous applications of textiles like for instance for functional wear or industrial textiles. Laser cutting of textiles is a well established process in industry. Welding of thermoplasts is a rather new process due to the limited suitability of the classical CO2 laser. Especially laser welding of textiles is being made use of only in special cases and only recently. A combination of both processes could be commercially advantageous. A simultaneous cutting- and welding-process can be carried out by the use of one or two laser beams. The method with a single beam induces sufficient energy at the trimmed edge that the material vaporizes. A narrow strip alongside the trimmed edge will be heated up by conduction sufficiently to be molten but not pyrolysed. A critical issue could be the inhomogeneous heat conduction, preventing an overlap of areas of thermoplasticity of both layers, or an extreme temperature gradient practically reducing the area of thermoplasticity to zero.

People

Project leader

Project personnel

Institute

Grant funds

  • OeAD-GmbH - Agentur für Bildung und Internationalisierung (National) Austrian Exchange Service (OeAD)

Research focus

  • Sustainable Production and Technologies: 100%

Keywords

GermanEnglish
LaserLaser
Optikoptics
Textilientextiles
simulationsimulation

Publications