This hands-on guide to choosing and using old and new technologies for joining plastics and elastomers includes detailed discussions of over 25 techniques used to join plastics to themselves or to other dissimilar materials. Advantages and disadvantages of each technique with detailed discussions of applications are presented. A second section is organized by material; it provides details on the use of different processes on over 50 generic families of plastics, explaining how different methods and operating parameters affect weld strength and other criteria.

From the Introduction: “...This volume serves to turn the vast amount of disparate information [on plastics joining] from wide ranging sources (i.e., conference proceedings, materials suppliers, test laboratories, monographs, and trade and technical journals) into useful engineering knowledge...In order to make the product most useful to users, Plastics Design Library arranges information to be easily accessible in consistent formats. Flexibility and ease of use were carefully considered in designing the layout of this book...”

Target Audience: This reference is valuable to novices and experts alike who need to determine the best joining techniques for plastics applications.

Table of Contents:

Introduction

Plastics Joining Processes:

Heated Tool Welding

Hot Gas Welding

Vibration Welding

Spin Welding

Ultrasonic Welding

Induction Welding

Radio Frequency Welding

Microwave Welding

Resistance Welding

Extrusion Welding

Electrofusion Welding

Infrared Welding

Laser Welding

Mechanical Fastening

Chemical Bonding — Adhesive and Solvent Bonding

Plastic Materials:

Thermoplastics (Including Acetal, Acrylic, Styrenic, and Vinyl Resins; Fluoroplastics, Polyamide, Polycarbonate, Polyester, Polyimide, Polyolefin, Polysulfone, Polyurethane, and More)

Thermoplastic Elastomers

Thermosets

Rubbers

Glossary

Index