Clearweld^®

The Clearweld^® process was invented and patented by TWI. It is being commercialised by Gentex Corporation. The process uses lasers and infrared absorbing welding consumables that are commercially available.

The carbon black absorber commonly used is replaced by a colourless infrared absorbing medium, thus expanding the applicability of the technique to clear plastics. The infrared absorbing medium is either printed/painted onto one surface of the joint, encompassed into the bulk plastic, or produced in the form of a film that can be inserted into the joint. It absorbs infra-red laser light allowing an almost invisible weld to be produced between materials that are required to be clear or have a predetermined colour. The process is especially suitable where the appearance of a product is important. In the case of fabric joining, positioning of the infrared absorbing medium at the joint restricts melting to the interface rather than through the full thickness of the joint as occurs in other welding methods for fabrics. Consequently, flexible seams are produced making the process suitable for the joining of fabrics for soft trim application in vehicles.

Clearweld®: Upper left sample shows conventional transmission laser welding with carbon black as the laser absorbing material. Lower right sample shows the use of a novel infrared absorbing medium to create a low visibility joint.

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Additional information can be found on the Clearweld^® website - www.clearweld.com.

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