Thin-Film Processing of Polypropylene and Polystyrene Sheets by a Continuous Wave CO2 Laser with the Cu Cooling Base.

Nobukazu Kameyama,Mitsutaka Fukuda,Kotaro Yamada,Hiroki Yoshida,Hitoshi Fukagawa

doi:10.3390/polym13091448

Abstract

Carbon dioxide (CO2) laser is widely used in commercial and industrial fields to process various materials including polymers, most of which have high absorptivity in infrared spectrum. Thin-film processing by the continuous wave (CW) laser is difficult since polymers are deformed and damaged by the residual heat. We developed the new method to make polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS) sheets thin. The sheets are pressed to a Cu base by extracting air between the sheets and the base during laser processing. It realizes to cut the sheets to around 50 µm thick with less heat effects on the backside which are inevitable for thermal processing using the CW laser. It is considered that the boundary between the sheets and the base is in thermal equilibrium and the base prevents the sheets from deforming to support the backside. The method is applicable to practical use since it does not need any complex controls and is easy to install to an existing equipment with a minor change of the stage.

Highlights

Since carbon dioxide (CO2) laser was developed by C.K.N
We developed the new method to make PP and PS sheets partially thin with a continuous wave (CW) CO2 laser by attaching a Cu cooling base to the backside of the sheets during laser processing
We developed the new method of thin-film processing of the PP and PS sheets by cooling the backside of the sheets by the Cu base

Summary

Introduction

Since carbon dioxide (CO2) laser was developed by C.K.N. Patel in 1964 [1], it has been widely utilized in many fields including industry and medical. Laser processing is one of the most useful application of CO2 laser in industry because it is easy to obtain high power beams with reasonable cost and has many advantages of, for example, less consumables like drills and cutters, and clear kerf with no burrs, compared with mechanical processing. There are many classifications of laser processing: cutting, drilling, welding, marking, annealing, and so on. CO2 laser is applicable to process various materials including steels, woods, polymers, etc. Since most polymers are opaque in infrared spectrum, they are effectively processed by CO2 laser

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Results

Conclusion