Welding of Dissimilar Polymers

Welding of Dissimilar Polymers | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Welding of Dissimilar Polymers Miranda Marcus, Matt Nitsch, Lance Cronley, Maggie Gottfried, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3024419/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 5 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Welding of dissimilar polymers is becoming more common. While joining of dissimilar polymers is traditionally accomplished via the use of adhesives or mechanical methods such as fasteners, snap fits, and staking – these approaches cannot always be effectively applied. For these applications, where adhesives and mechanical bonding can’t be used, it may be possible to directly weld or bond polymers that are miscible but have different material properties via welding techniques. In this work, infrared welding was used to join acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) to polyphenylene oxide (PPO), ABS to polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and polystyrene (PS) to polycarbonate (PC) as an initial investigation into a new approach to bonding dissimilar polymers. Through the use of targeted heating to match the polymer viscosities to each other, the weld strength was improved by up to three times and, when optimized, the strength of the dissimilar bond as equivalent to that of the similar material weld. Dissimilar Plastic Polymer Welding Dissimilar Plastic Polymer Bonding Dissimilar Plastic Polymer Joining Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 Figure 9 Figure 10 Figure 11 Figure 12 Figure 13 Figure 14 Figure 15 Figure 16 Figure 17 Figure 18 Figure 19 Figure 20 Figure 21 Figure 22 Introduction Welding of dissimilar polymers is becoming more common. Many plastics products must be used in environments where adhesives cannot be easily applied, such as for medical applications. Finding adhesives that pass FDA regulations is time consuming. Additionally, adhesives do not wet out on low surface energy plastics, like polyolefins, which are commonly used in medical products. For small electronics, the need to make assemblies more compact limits space available to accommodate extra material for joining. Even a thin layer of adhesive can be a significant barrier to performance for some products. In the piping/framing industries, when an extruded piece is attached to an injection molded end cap or corner piece, the two parts have different rheological properties, even if they are the same type of polymer. This mismatch can lead to reduced weld strength using traditional processes. Similarly, an expensive highly engineered material needed for its very specific properties, such as a specialized filter or membrane, may need to be joined to a lower cost commodity polymer to provide structural support. Welding of dissimilar polymers is a significant challenge for all these applications and more. Not only must the chemical compatibility or miscibility of the two polymers be considered, so must their relative viscosity, which affects whether or not intermolecular diffusion of the polymers across the melt interface can occur. In this work, a custom weld machine was built to explore a method to match viscosity between dissimilar polymers to improve weld performance, and potentially, allow for intermolecular diffusion to occur. Literature Review Welding of polymers requires the diffusion of polymer chains across the melt interface. Without this diffusion, only a surface, adhesive-type bond is achieved. In order for polymer chain diffusion to occur, the two melts must have a similar viscosity. If they do not, then the contact time will be very low as one melt will simply flow across the other melt surface under pressure and no diffusion will occur. This can be imagined as water flowing over honey. However, if materials with similar thickness are pressed together, such as peanut butter and honey, the two viscous materials will spread at a similar rate, increasing contact time. Diffusion was first observed, and a theory developed by Voyutski, in the 1940s in relation to auto-healing of rubber ( 1 ). This concept was later expanded upon by other researchers, and several equations to describe diffusion were proposed. The most accurate of these are the Doi-Edwards and the Rouse models ( 2 ). The Rouse model is applicable when there is an excess of chain ends, such as for a polymer in a solution. The Doi-Edwards model is applicable when there is not an excess of chain ends. Therefore, this model is more useful in relation to molded plastic parts ( 1 ). According to the Doi-Edwards model, the diffusion time, τ d is given by: $${{\tau }}_{d}=\frac{{\zeta }{\text{L}}^{2}}{{{\pi }}^{2}{\text{K}}_{\text{B}}\text{T}}$$ where L is the polymer chain characteristic length, K B is the Boltzmann constant, T is temperature, and ζ is the monomeric friction factor: $${\zeta }=\frac{36{\text{M}}_{0}{\eta }}{{\rho }{\text{N}}_{\text{A}}{\text{R}}^{2}}$$ where M 0 is the monomer molecular weight, η is the viscosity, ρ is the density, N A is Avogadro’s number, and R is the characteristic length of the polymer chain. Experimentally, several polymer welding researchers have found that when the contact time between two polymer melts is at least the fourth root of the diffusion time, then the bond strength is equivalent to the bulk material strength ( 3 ) ( 4 ). Yang-Pitchumani proposed a method to describe the degree of healing of a weld (i.e., the ratio of weld strength to bulk strength) which accounts for this observed result ( 5 ). The equation proposed is: $${D}_{h}\left(t\right)={\left[{\int }_{0}^{t}\frac{1}{\left.{t}_{w}(T\right)}dt\right]}^{1/4}$$ where D h (t) is the degree of healing as a function of time (1, when fully healed), and t w (T) is welding time, defined as the time for an entire polymer chain to diffuse out of its initial tube. Notably, the viscosity is critically important to determining whether diffusion can occur. The viscosity of a material is a measure of the thickness of the melt. When welding dissimilar polymers, the viscosity will not be the same at the same temperature, preventing diffusion. This is because the difference in flow rate will limit contact time. It has been theorized that independent heating of two polymers so that they have similar viscosity when pressed together can improve the strength of dissimilar polymer bonds ( 6 ). The first material combination explored in this work is the bonding of ABS to PPO, which have been shown to be partially miscible ( 7 ). Potentially, the degree of healing equation, using the Doi-Edwards diffusion time for t w (T), could be used to predict whether the weld parameters allow for sufficient time for diffusion. However, this equation requires the temperature and viscosity history in the weld over time. While the temperature during welding can be directly measured, the viscosity is dependent not only on temperature, but also shear rate. Simulation would have to be employed to predict these values. Conversely it is relatively simple, using heated after cross-section (HACS) evaluation method, to determine if diffusion has occurred in a weld ( 8 ). An example of this process is shown in Fig. 1 . The top two sections show welds with good intermolecular diffusion and a continuous microstructure in the weld zone. The bottom left image shows what a cross-section looks like after polishing, while the bottom right image shows the detail of the weld that is revealed by heat treating. In the bottom right image, there was no diffusion of polymer chains across the melt interface, which is identified by the yellow arrow. Materials Three material combinations were tested: Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) to polyphenylene oxide (PPO), ABS to polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and polystyrene (PS) to polycarbonate (PC). All materials were sourced from McMaster Carr in 6.4-mm thickness. The properties for each material are compared in Table 1 . Table 1 Comparison of ABS and PPO Materials Material ABS PPO PVC PS PC Color Natural Black Clear White Clear Fabrication Molded Extruded Extruded Extruded Extruded Maximum Use Temperature (°C) 71 104 49 68 82 Tensile Strength (MPa) 29–35 63 50 17–28 61–66 Hardness R101-R109 R119 84D R70 R118 Density (g/cc) 1.02 1.08 1.36 1.08 1.19 Flexural Modulus (MPa) 1860–2620 2550 3170 1520–1860 2210–2410 Water Absorption 0.13–0.3% 0.07% 0.03 0.05 0.15–0.2 Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (mm/mm/°C × 10 − 5) 9.0-10.1 5.9 6.7–7.4 6.7–6.8 All five materials were analyzed via Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), from room temperature up to 400°C, to find the appropriate temperature range for processing. The DSC results are shown in Figs. 2 – 6 . Based on the DSC results, a range for rheological testing was selected for all the materials. For ABS, the viscosity was measured from 200–250°C. For PPO, the viscosity was measured from 250–315°C. For PVC, the viscosity was measured from 180–230°C. For PS, the viscosity was measured from 200–300°C. For PC, the viscosity was measured from 250–350°C. All the materials were tested at a temperature ramp rate of 5°C/min and a shear rate of 1/s. The measured viscosity of the material combinations are shown in Fig. 7 – 9 . Based on the rheological data, it can be clearly seen that the viscosity of each of the material combinations are very different at the same temperature. Therefore, the only way to match their viscosities is to heat each material to a different temperature. An arbitrary viscosity of about 8,000 Pa-s was selected as the goal for the first combination, which occurs for ABS at 225°C and for PPO at 260°C. For the second combination, an arbitrary viscosity of about 4,000 Pa-s was selected, which occurs for ABS at 240°C, and for PVC at 215°C. For the third combination, an arbitrary viscosity of about 2,000 Pa-s was selected, which occurs for PS at 240°C, and for PC at 255°C. The extruded sheet polymers were cut into 25-mm x 76-mm samples to be joined end to end. This follows the standard size specified for metal to metal adhesion in ASTM D1002. AWS G1.1, a standard for welded polymers, was used to determine the test speed. This standard references ASTM D638, from which a test speed of 50 mm/min was selected. Equipment A welder was custom built to enable the heating of two materials to different temperatures so that their viscosities can be matched before pressing them together to be bonded. The system was designed to allow for both infrared (IR) and hot plate heating of the polymers, as shown in Fig. 10 . Each hot plate and IR lamp has dedicated power control to allow for individual temperature control. Thermocouples are used to track the temperature of each heater and control power to each separately to adjust temperature. The parts are held in contact with, or near the heating element for a set amount of heating time, then the heating element is removed, and the parts are pressed together to a mechanically set distance. The closing velocity and holding force are controlled by the air pressure on the pneumatic cylinders. Tooling has been made to accommodate standard size test plaques that are 25-mm wide, 76-mm long, and about 3-10-mm thick, as shown in Fig. 11 . Experimental Procedure The temperature of the polymer surface vs. time during IR heating was measured for the first set of materials, ABS and PPO, in order to set the welding parameters. These measurements are plotted in Fig. 12 . The temperature was measured using a thermocouple that was mechanically attached to the face of the sample during IR heating. For both materials, the temperature was measured with the IR lamp set to 50 using a potentiometer with a max setting of 60 which is the full 550 W of the IR lamp. The PPO material was expected to heat up faster under IR heating due to the black colorant in the parts that absorb IR energy, and that was observed in the results. The ABS material was natural, and contained no colorant. Based on this data, initial welding parameters were selected, then the settings were adjusted until the melt displacement on each part was matched, as a visual indicator of similar viscosity. A second group of parts were run with lower IR power on the PPO side to simulate welding at the same temperature, and thus with unmatched viscosities. For all the parts, the IR heating time was 170 seconds and the clamping pressure used was 80 psi, while the IR power was adjusted to achieve different viscosities. The parts during the heating and hold phase are shown in Fig. 13 . The flash appearance after joining provides a good indication of the relative viscosities of the materials, as shown in Fig. 14 . This physical observation is similar to a common way to measure viscosity, melt flow index (MFI). MFI testing is performed by pushing the melt through an aperture at a constant load and temperature for a set amount of time and measuring the mass of the displaced material. If the displacement under the same load and time is the same, the viscosity is the same, or very close. Thus, even displacement of weld flash can be used as a visual check for whether viscosity is similar when the melt layers are pressed together. In addition to the visual assessment of the flash amount, the melt displacement was observed by the final position of the part holders on the linear slide. Where the final position showed equivalent displacement of both samples, the viscosity was considered ‘matched.’ When the displacement was skewed to one side, the viscosity was considered ‘unmatched.’ The visual melt displacement on the samples correlated with the final position of each fixture. The black PPO heats ups much faster than the natural ABS during IR heating, so while the difference in IR power setting is minimal, the temperature achieved is significantly different, as shown in Fig. 12 . The part on the right (unmatched viscosity) in Fig. 14 was welded with an IR potentiometer setting of 46/60 for ABS and 30/60 for PPO, to bring the PPO temperature down closer to that of the ABS. For the second (ABS to PVC) and third (PS to PC) material combinations, the viscosity match was assessed visually by checking the relative displacement to set the IR heating. For these combinations, the material temperature was not measured with a thermocouple prior to testing. Because of the need to match IR heating time, the measurement of heating rate at a particular IR setting was not useful to find the appropriate welding parameters, unless the measurement could be done at a wide range of power settings, which would be prohibitively time consuming. For all material combinations, a heating time of 20 seconds and a holding time of 1 minute was used. Results Three parts each were welded at the matched and unmatched viscosity settings for the first material combination, ABS to PPO. For the second (ABS to PVC) and third (PS to PC) material combinations, only a “matched” viscosity set was welded. However, for these combinations, the base materials were also welded to themselves at each setting. These parts were then tensile tested, as shown in Fig. 15 – 17 . The results of the first material combination (ABS to PPO) show that when the viscosity of the two materials is matched, the bond strength is two to three times greater than when unmatched. The results of the second (ABS to PVC) and third (PS to PC) material combinations show that, when viscosity is matched, the bond strength can be as strong as that of the weaker material when bonded to itself. Specifically, for the second combination (ABS to PVC), the dissimilar weld strength was roughly the same as the ABS to ABS welds. For the third combination (PS to PC), the dissimilar weld strength was about 60% of the PS to PS welds. The average load results are summarized in Table 2 . Table 2 Average Load Data for All Trials Load (N) ABS-PPO Matched 2233 ABS-PPO Unmatched 898 PC-PS 1595 PS-PS 2607 PC-PC 7307 ABS-PVC 5389 ABS-ABS 5445 PVC-PVC 6390 For the second and third material combinations, the fracture surfaces showed good material transfer at the joint, as shown in Fig. 18 . A cross-section was performed on all three dissimilar polymer combinations, as shown in Figs. 19 – 21 . For the first material combination (ABS to PPO), it can be seen that the heating of the part was uneven on both parts, leading to uneven melt displacement. This issue with the welding approach was fixed before welding the second (ABS to PVC) and third (PS to PC) material combinations. For all three material combinations, there is a distinct line of separation across the joints, which is typically associated with a lack of intermolecular diffusion. Additionally, the base material welds were cross-sectioned, as shown in Fig. 22 . Interestingly, while the ABS to ABS and PVC to PVC weld show signs of intermolecular diffusion, the PS to PS and PC to PC welds do not. This means there is room for improvement in the weld process settings for the PS to PC welds, which only achieved 60% of the base material strength. At the same time, it’s interesting to note that ABS to PVC welds achieved 100% of the base material strength, but do not show intermolecular diffusion. This may mean that the HACS analysis process is not suited to showing diffusion for dissimilar material welds. While the heated after cross-section (HACS) process, works extremely well to discern diffusion in welds between similar polymers, it may not be suited for dissimilar polymer welds. This is because the process works by heating the top layer of polymer chains to allow thermal recovery and show the boundaries between microstructures. In a similar polymer weld, when there is good diffusion, the weld area forms a single microstructure. This may not be the case for dissimilar material welds, even if diffusion occurs. Conclusions The use of direct heating of the polymer via IR allows for dissimilar materials to be heated to different temperatures in order to target a matched viscosity. In this work, it was observed that by matching the viscosity of dissimilar polymers, strength can be improved up to three times over unmatched viscosity. Additionally, the strength of the matched viscosity dissimilar weld can reach the base material weld strength, when the process is properly optimized. Declarations Acknowledgements EWI would like to thank Heraeus for the donation of the IR Lamps used. Funding All work was funded internally by EWI. Conflict of Interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. References Doi, M. Edwards, S. Dynamics of Concentrated Polymer Systems Part 1 - Brownian Motion in the Equilibrium State. Journal of the Chemical Society. 1978 12, 1789-1801. Bousmina, M. Qiu, H. Grmela, M. Klemberg-Sapieha, J. Diffusion at Polymer/Polymer Interfaces Probed by Rheological Tools. Macromolecules. 1998 31, 8273-8280. Grewell, D. Benatar, A. Semi-Empirical, Squeeze flow, and Intermolecular Diffusion Model. II. Model Verification Using Laser Microwelding. Polymer Engineering and Science. 2008 1543-1549. Bastien, L. Gillespie, J. A non‐isothermal healing model for strength and toughness of fusion bonded joints of amorphous thermoplastics. Journal of Polymer Engineering Science. 1991 31, 1720-1730. Yang, F. Pitchumani, R. Healing of thermoplastic polymers at an interface under non-isothermal conditions. Macromolecules. 2002 35, 3213-3224. Volkov, S. Gibus, G. Remizov, A. Ultrasonic Welding of Dissimilar Plastics. Russian Engineering Research. 2018 38:4, 281-284. Tran, T. Mai, H. Do, C. Nguyen, T. Do, T. Nguyen, D. Trinh, D. Luong, H. Nguyen, G. Preparation and study on the properties of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene/polyphenylene oxide polymer blend. Vietnam Journal of Chemistry. 2021 59:2 235-238. Marcus, M. Methods of Polymer Weld Quality Evaluation. ANTEC. 2018. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewers agreed at journal 14 Jun, 2023 Reviewers invited by journal 14 Jun, 2023 Editor invited by journal 13 Jun, 2023 Editor assigned by journal 09 Jun, 2023 First submitted to journal 05 Jun, 2023 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-3024419","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":209812166,"identity":"13a53e41-1dfb-418f-8b50-ff6f543e015c","order_by":0,"name":"Miranda Marcus","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAApUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBADOQYGxgbStBiTriWRePW60w4/+/CzrS69XyK5geHjnlrCWsxupxnP7G07nDtzRmID44xnx4nRkmDMzNh2IHfD7cQGZp4Dx4jRkv4ZqKUu3Z4ELTkgW5gTDKTBWmqI0lLM2HPusOGM+w8bDs44cIAoh21m+FFWJ8/fc/zhgw8H6ghrQQFAKw6TqAUISLVlFIyCUTAKRgIAAOoIPdl8aimSAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6498-1480","institution":"EWI: Edison Welding Institute","correspondingAuthor":true,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Miranda","middleName":"","lastName":"Marcus","suffix":""},{"id":209812167,"identity":"9fd36334-3b3a-407e-875b-7c64a1791e74","order_by":1,"name":"Matt Nitsch","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Edison Welding Institute","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Matt","middleName":"","lastName":"Nitsch","suffix":""},{"id":209812168,"identity":"7f4535fc-8758-4dfe-9216-0e51e52484a1","order_by":2,"name":"Lance Cronley","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Edison Welding Institute","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Lance","middleName":"","lastName":"Cronley","suffix":""},{"id":209812169,"identity":"525b4888-8645-4954-8f98-f77a849aefd4","order_by":3,"name":"Maggie Gottfried","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Edison Welding Institute","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Maggie","middleName":"","lastName":"Gottfried","suffix":""},{"id":209812170,"identity":"1b2eb9e9-76a5-497c-8e0e-075b22493c93","order_by":4,"name":"Jeff Ellis","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Edison Welding Institute","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jeff","middleName":"","lastName":"Ellis","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2023-06-05 12:05:42","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3024419/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3024419/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":38675524,"identity":"06fccb17-5356-4694-b265-8d103ecd83c8","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-06-16 15:27:09","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":1009256,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eExample of HACS evaluation method\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3024419/v1/35c9d2feaf50bfa19c490a2e.png"},{"id":38676767,"identity":"8bdd2e7d-566b-478a-af1d-f83b1951ed49","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-06-16 15:35:09","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":47428,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDSC of ABS\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3024419/v1/51c84fff22894e6438816ac0.png"},{"id":38675520,"identity":"77f168ea-af38-4019-a17d-a28a6bbce0d7","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-06-16 15:27:08","extension":"png","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":31914,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDSC of PPO\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3024419/v1/c06cd8c019bbbaebbe5f6066.png"},{"id":38676766,"identity":"25f850ac-3017-4267-b4a6-94ba7268e9d1","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-06-16 15:35:08","extension":"png","order_by":4,"title":"Figure 4","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":32354,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDSC of PVC\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"4.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3024419/v1/31aa439e907cc61afb5a89eb.png"},{"id":38675522,"identity":"b63e263e-94ba-41a5-9420-e8b707d41e5f","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-06-16 15:27:09","extension":"png","order_by":5,"title":"Figure 5","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":31416,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDSC of PS\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"5.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3024419/v1/e08d953c7cb001b5b25e9480.png"},{"id":38677142,"identity":"b3f623fb-4aea-4686-a1fa-9bf2b23bcc88","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-06-16 15:43:09","extension":"png","order_by":6,"title":"Figure 6","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":23693,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDSC of PC\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"6.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3024419/v1/a72eee7bd5d31712b632364f.png"},{"id":38675527,"identity":"0a12e58b-3104-4d11-9092-3ae05b02006f","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-06-16 15:27:09","extension":"png","order_by":7,"title":"Figure 7","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":40333,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eViscosity vs. Temperature for ABS and PPO\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"7.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3024419/v1/063e85dbdf0b5740491263d7.png"},{"id":38677143,"identity":"8fa6b753-e6a9-479a-8caa-a443053ac395","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-06-16 15:43:09","extension":"png","order_by":8,"title":"Figure 8","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":43182,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eViscosity vs. Temperature for ABS and PVC\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"8.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3024419/v1/7d6b2269240dc9fd28fe9721.png"},{"id":38676771,"identity":"5b1a83c8-2843-430c-8a52-09d195213102","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-06-16 15:35:09","extension":"png","order_by":9,"title":"Figure 9","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":39831,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eViscosity vs. Temperature for PS and PC\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"9.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3024419/v1/7dd6ad41a496000168016dcd.png"},{"id":38675530,"identity":"4922088d-690d-4443-b95f-98352e434449","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-06-16 15:27:09","extension":"png","order_by":10,"title":"Figure 10","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":397851,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWelder designed to enable viscosity matching\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"10.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3024419/v1/dcaaa08e81349ac267182a48.png"},{"id":38676773,"identity":"4426dfa6-9f71-4856-a0a8-4904ee1f0119","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-06-16 15:35:09","extension":"png","order_by":11,"title":"Figure 11","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":163621,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSample fixturing\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"11.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3024419/v1/e46b251be7dce77628be56d1.png"},{"id":38676770,"identity":"32e95493-f26c-4c14-94bc-89c63dfc785c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-06-16 15:35:09","extension":"png","order_by":12,"title":"Figure 12","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":33282,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTemperature due to IR heating\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"12.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3024419/v1/a9e1465f2db2e6293e1b99d6.png"},{"id":38675536,"identity":"ec7747a2-b346-488f-bdd6-543b5eda8814","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-06-16 15:27:09","extension":"png","order_by":13,"title":"Figure 13","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":782454,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHeating Phase (left) and Holding Phase (right)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"13.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3024419/v1/80e925af6239a5e9a2f44cfb.png"},{"id":38675529,"identity":"78d47844-2039-45f6-a2dd-7a56f405f1ad","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-06-16 15:27:09","extension":"png","order_by":14,"title":"Figure 14","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":767622,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAppearance of Flash on Welded Samples\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"14.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3024419/v1/ecf2879a99f72eefba02d469.png"},{"id":38675533,"identity":"f41ef7c5-8f84-423f-9d33-1bf0b422010c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-06-16 15:27:09","extension":"png","order_by":15,"title":"Figure 15","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":15826,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eStrength of ABS to PPO Matched vs. Unmatched Viscosity Welds\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"15.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3024419/v1/80ede3318131ea3028a080f1.png"},{"id":38675534,"identity":"04642e33-d620-4922-bc26-af0c31d18ded","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-06-16 15:27:09","extension":"png","order_by":16,"title":"Figure 16","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":15752,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eStrength of ABS to PVC Dissimilar vs. Similar Material Welds\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"16.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3024419/v1/f3e3e22c9c1a30dd3ca71015.png"},{"id":38676772,"identity":"42462bff-d1e6-42e6-9fad-14c5fcc98c0d","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-06-16 15:35:09","extension":"png","order_by":17,"title":"Figure 17","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":13762,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eStrength of PS to PC Dissimilar vs. Similar Material Welds\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"17.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3024419/v1/08c87e920c31a00e6afc515f.png"},{"id":38675537,"identity":"76336c3a-12b2-443a-819d-dd64bc2f4729","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-06-16 15:27:09","extension":"png","order_by":18,"title":"Figure 18","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":1818218,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFracture Surface of Second Material Combination (ABS to PVC) Above and Third Material Combination (PS to PC) Below\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"18.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3024419/v1/62f07b15c5f83fe3ff730776.png"},{"id":38675540,"identity":"4cefcce2-68a7-4faf-92fe-a9edf99a6302","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-06-16 15:27:09","extension":"png","order_by":19,"title":"Figure 19","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":695866,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCross-section of PPO (left) welded to ABS (right)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"19.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3024419/v1/a4b946171bdeef864b282b97.png"},{"id":38675541,"identity":"49c5e883-1cb3-479d-bea0-5da602493d86","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-06-16 15:27:09","extension":"png","order_by":20,"title":"Figure 20","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":877541,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCross-section of PVC (left) welded to ABS (right)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"20.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3024419/v1/1f87d5693a0fd2de0358c521.png"},{"id":38675542,"identity":"fb99886d-2bf5-477a-bc7e-e67c71f7d810","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-06-16 15:27:09","extension":"png","order_by":21,"title":"Figure 21","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":1037452,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCross-section of PC (left) welded to PS (right)\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"21.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3024419/v1/e572bd1b3a4c7d80695d94dd.png"},{"id":38675538,"identity":"e5d88ecd-b2bc-4b40-8357-c817889cc8c0","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-06-16 15:27:09","extension":"png","order_by":22,"title":"Figure 22","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":4189763,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCross-Sections of ABS-ABS (upper left), PVC-PVC (upper right), PS-PS (lower left), and PC-PC (lower right) welds\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"22.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3024419/v1/91706cc02dc5729c56318fb8.png"},{"id":38677688,"identity":"5766be36-1fb6-4463-8e42-0ab5e2a49f31","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-06-16 15:51:16","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":10951968,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3024419/v1/6cd65b61-75fe-438c-9720-f5fd0847de3f.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"","formattedTitle":"Welding of Dissimilar Polymers","fulltext":[{"header":"Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eWelding of dissimilar polymers is becoming more common. Many plastics products must be used in environments where adhesives cannot be easily applied, such as for medical applications. Finding adhesives that pass FDA regulations is time consuming. Additionally, adhesives do not wet out on low surface energy plastics, like polyolefins, which are commonly used in medical products. For small electronics, the need to make assemblies more compact limits space available to accommodate extra material for joining. Even a thin layer of adhesive can be a significant barrier to performance for some products.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn the piping/framing industries, when an extruded piece is attached to an injection molded end cap or corner piece, the two parts have different rheological properties, even if they are the same type of polymer. This mismatch can lead to reduced weld strength using traditional processes. Similarly, an expensive highly engineered material needed for its very specific properties, such as a specialized filter or membrane, may need to be joined to a lower cost commodity polymer to provide structural support.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWelding of dissimilar polymers is a significant challenge for all these applications and more. Not only must the chemical compatibility or miscibility of the two polymers be considered, so must their relative viscosity, which affects whether or not intermolecular diffusion of the polymers across the melt interface can occur. In this work, a custom weld machine was built to explore a method to match viscosity between dissimilar polymers to improve weld performance, and potentially, allow for intermolecular diffusion to occur.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Literature Review","content":"\u003cp\u003eWelding of polymers requires the diffusion of polymer chains across the melt interface. Without this diffusion, only a surface, adhesive-type bond is achieved. In order for polymer chain diffusion to occur, the two melts must have a similar viscosity. If they do not, then the contact time will be very low as one melt will simply flow across the other melt surface under pressure and no diffusion will occur. This can be imagined as water flowing over honey. However, if materials with similar thickness are pressed together, such as peanut butter and honey, the two viscous materials will spread at a similar rate, increasing contact time.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDiffusion was first observed, and a theory developed by Voyutski, in the 1940s in relation to auto-healing of rubber (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e). This concept was later expanded upon by other researchers, and several equations to describe diffusion were proposed. The most accurate of these are the Doi-Edwards and the Rouse models (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e). The Rouse model is applicable when there is an excess of chain ends, such as for a polymer in a solution. The Doi-Edwards model is applicable when there is not an excess of chain ends. Therefore, this model is more useful in relation to molded plastic parts (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e). According to the Doi-Edwards model, the diffusion time, τ\u003csub\u003ed\u003c/sub\u003e is given by:\u003cdiv id=\"Equa\" class=\"Equation\"\u003e\u003cdiv format=\"TEX\" class=\"mathdisplay\" id=\"FileID_Equa\" name=\"EquationSource\"\u003e\n$${{\\tau }}_{d}=\\frac{{\\zeta }{\\text{L}}^{2}}{{{\\pi }}^{2}{\\text{K}}_{\\text{B}}\\text{T}}$$\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ewhere L is the polymer chain characteristic length, K\u003csub\u003eB\u003c/sub\u003e is the Boltzmann constant, T is temperature, and ζ is the monomeric friction factor:\u003cdiv id=\"Equb\" class=\"Equation\"\u003e\u003cdiv format=\"TEX\" class=\"mathdisplay\" id=\"FileID_Equb\" name=\"EquationSource\"\u003e\n$${\\zeta }=\\frac{36{\\text{M}}_{0}{\\eta }}{{\\rho }{\\text{N}}_{\\text{A}}{\\text{R}}^{2}}$$\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ewhere M\u003csub\u003e0\u003c/sub\u003e is the monomer molecular weight, η is the viscosity, ρ is the density, N\u003csub\u003eA\u003c/sub\u003e is Avogadro\u0026rsquo;s number, and R is the characteristic length of the polymer chain.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eExperimentally, several polymer welding researchers have found that when the contact time between two polymer melts is at least the fourth root of the diffusion time, then the bond strength is equivalent to the bulk material strength (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e) (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e). Yang-Pitchumani proposed a method to describe the degree of healing of a weld (i.e., the ratio of weld strength to bulk strength) which accounts for this observed result (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e). The equation proposed is:\u003cdiv id=\"Equc\" class=\"Equation\"\u003e\u003cdiv format=\"TEX\" class=\"mathdisplay\" id=\"FileID_Equc\" name=\"EquationSource\"\u003e\n$${D}_{h}\\left(t\\right)={\\left[{\\int }_{0}^{t}\\frac{1}{\\left.{t}_{w}(T\\right)}dt\\right]}^{1/4}$$\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ewhere D\u003csub\u003eh\u003c/sub\u003e(t) is the degree of healing as a function of time (1, when fully healed), and t\u003csub\u003ew\u003c/sub\u003e(T) is welding time, defined as the time for an entire polymer chain to diffuse out of its initial tube.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNotably, the viscosity is critically important to determining whether diffusion can occur. The viscosity of a material is a measure of the thickness of the melt. When welding dissimilar polymers, the viscosity will not be the same at the same temperature, preventing diffusion. This is because the difference in flow rate will limit contact time. It has been theorized that independent heating of two polymers so that they have similar viscosity when pressed together can improve the strength of dissimilar polymer bonds (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e). The first material combination explored in this work is the bonding of ABS to PPO, which have been shown to be partially miscible (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePotentially, the degree of healing equation, using the Doi-Edwards diffusion time for t\u003csub\u003ew\u003c/sub\u003e(T), could be used to predict whether the weld parameters allow for sufficient time for diffusion. However, this equation requires the temperature and viscosity history in the weld over time. While the temperature during welding can be directly measured, the viscosity is dependent not only on temperature, but also shear rate. Simulation would have to be employed to predict these values.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eConversely it is relatively simple, using heated after cross-section (HACS) evaluation method, to determine if diffusion has occurred in a weld (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003e). An example of this process is shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e. The top two sections show welds with good intermolecular diffusion and a continuous microstructure in the weld zone. The bottom left image shows what a cross-section looks like after polishing, while the bottom right image shows the detail of the weld that is revealed by heat treating. In the bottom right image, there was no diffusion of polymer chains across the melt interface, which is identified by the yellow arrow.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eMaterials\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThree material combinations were tested: Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) to polyphenylene oxide (PPO), ABS to polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and polystyrene (PS) to polycarbonate (PC). All materials were sourced from McMaster Carr in 6.4-mm thickness. The properties for each material are compared in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eComparison of ABS and PPO Materials\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"6\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMaterial\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eABS\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePPO\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePVC\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePS\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePC\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eColor\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNatural\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBlack\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eClear\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhite\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eClear\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFabrication\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMolded\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eExtruded\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eExtruded\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eExtruded\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eExtruded\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMaximum Use Temperature (\u0026deg;C)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e71\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e104\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e49\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e68\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e82\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTensile Strength (MPa)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e29\u0026ndash;35\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e63\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e50\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e17\u0026ndash;28\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e61\u0026ndash;66\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHardness\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eR101-R109\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eR119\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e84D\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eR70\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eR118\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDensity (g/cc)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.02\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.08\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.36\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.08\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.19\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFlexural Modulus (MPa)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1860\u0026ndash;2620\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2550\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3170\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1520\u0026ndash;1860\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2210\u0026ndash;2410\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eWater Absorption\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.13\u0026ndash;0.3%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.07%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.03\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.15\u0026ndash;0.2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCoefficient of Thermal Expansion (mm/mm/\u0026deg;C \u0026times; 10\u0026thinsp;\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;5)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9.0-10.1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5.9\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.7\u0026ndash;7.4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.7\u0026ndash;6.8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAll five materials were analyzed via Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), from room temperature up to 400\u0026deg;C, to find the appropriate temperature range for processing. The DSC results are shown in Figs.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig6\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBased on the DSC results, a range for rheological testing was selected for all the materials. For ABS, the viscosity was measured from 200\u0026ndash;250\u0026deg;C. For PPO, the viscosity was measured from 250\u0026ndash;315\u0026deg;C. For PVC, the viscosity was measured from 180\u0026ndash;230\u0026deg;C. For PS, the viscosity was measured from 200\u0026ndash;300\u0026deg;C. For PC, the viscosity was measured from 250\u0026ndash;350\u0026deg;C. All the materials were tested at a temperature ramp rate of 5\u0026deg;C/min and a shear rate of 1/s. The measured viscosity of the material combinations are shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig7\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig9\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e9\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBased on the rheological data, it can be clearly seen that the viscosity of each of the material combinations are very different at the same temperature. Therefore, the only way to match their viscosities is to heat each material to a different temperature. An arbitrary viscosity of about 8,000 Pa-s was selected as the goal for the first combination, which occurs for ABS at 225\u0026deg;C and for PPO at 260\u0026deg;C. For the second combination, an arbitrary viscosity of about 4,000 Pa-s was selected, which occurs for ABS at 240\u0026deg;C, and for PVC at 215\u0026deg;C. For the third combination, an arbitrary viscosity of about 2,000 Pa-s was selected, which occurs for PS at 240\u0026deg;C, and for PC at 255\u0026deg;C.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe extruded sheet polymers were cut into 25-mm x 76-mm samples to be joined end to end. This follows the standard size specified for metal to metal adhesion in ASTM D1002. AWS G1.1, a standard for welded polymers, was used to determine the test speed. This standard references ASTM D638, from which a test speed of 50 mm/min was selected.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec4\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eEquipment\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eA welder was custom built to enable the heating of two materials to different temperatures so that their viscosities can be matched before pressing them together to be bonded. The system was designed to allow for both infrared (IR) and hot plate heating of the polymers, as shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig10\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e10\u003c/span\u003e. Each hot plate and IR lamp has dedicated power control to allow for individual temperature control. Thermocouples are used to track the temperature of each heater and control power to each separately to adjust temperature. The parts are held in contact with, or near the heating element for a set amount of heating time, then the heating element is removed, and the parts are pressed together to a mechanically set distance. The closing velocity and holding force are controlled by the air pressure on the pneumatic cylinders.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTooling has been made to accommodate standard size test plaques that are 25-mm wide, 76-mm long, and about 3-10-mm thick, as shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig11\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec5\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eExperimental Procedure\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe temperature of the polymer surface vs. time during IR heating was measured for the first set of materials, ABS and PPO, in order to set the welding parameters. These measurements are plotted in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig12\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e12\u003c/span\u003e. The temperature was measured using a thermocouple that was mechanically attached to the face of the sample during IR heating. For both materials, the temperature was measured with the IR lamp set to 50 using a potentiometer with a max setting of 60 which is the full 550 W of the IR lamp. The PPO material was expected to heat up faster under IR heating due to the black colorant in the parts that absorb IR energy, and that was observed in the results. The ABS material was natural, and contained no colorant.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBased on this data, initial welding parameters were selected, then the settings were adjusted until the melt displacement on each part was matched, as a visual indicator of similar viscosity. A second group of parts were run with lower IR power on the PPO side to simulate welding at the same temperature, and thus with unmatched viscosities. For all the parts, the IR heating time was 170 seconds and the clamping pressure used was 80 psi, while the IR power was adjusted to achieve different viscosities. The parts during the heating and hold phase are shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig13\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e13\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe flash appearance after joining provides a good indication of the relative viscosities of the materials, as shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig14\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e14\u003c/span\u003e. This physical observation is similar to a common way to measure viscosity, melt flow index (MFI). MFI testing is performed by pushing the melt through an aperture at a constant load and temperature for a set amount of time and measuring the mass of the displaced material. If the displacement under the same load and time is the same, the viscosity is the same, or very close. Thus, even displacement of weld flash can be used as a visual check for whether viscosity is similar when the melt layers are pressed together.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn addition to the visual assessment of the flash amount, the melt displacement was observed by the final position of the part holders on the linear slide. Where the final position showed equivalent displacement of both samples, the viscosity was considered \u0026lsquo;matched.\u0026rsquo; When the displacement was skewed to one side, the viscosity was considered \u0026lsquo;unmatched.\u0026rsquo; The visual melt displacement on the samples correlated with the final position of each fixture.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe black PPO heats ups much faster than the natural ABS during IR heating, so while the difference in IR power setting is minimal, the temperature achieved is significantly different, as shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig12\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e12\u003c/span\u003e. The part on the right (unmatched viscosity) in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig14\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e14\u003c/span\u003e was welded with an IR potentiometer setting of 46/60 for ABS and 30/60 for PPO, to bring the PPO temperature down closer to that of the ABS.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFor the second (ABS to PVC) and third (PS to PC) material combinations, the viscosity match was assessed visually by checking the relative displacement to set the IR heating. For these combinations, the material temperature was not measured with a thermocouple prior to testing. Because of the need to match IR heating time, the measurement of heating rate at a particular IR setting was not useful to find the appropriate welding parameters, unless the measurement could be done at a wide range of power settings, which would be prohibitively time consuming. For all material combinations, a heating time of 20 seconds and a holding time of 1 minute was used.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"Results","content":"\u003cp\u003eThree parts each were welded at the matched and unmatched viscosity settings for the first material combination, ABS to PPO. For the second (ABS to PVC) and third (PS to PC) material combinations, only a \u0026ldquo;matched\u0026rdquo; viscosity set was welded. However, for these combinations, the base materials were also welded to themselves at each setting. These parts were then tensile tested, as shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig15\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e15\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig17\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e17\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe results of the first material combination (ABS to PPO) show that when the viscosity of the two materials is matched, the bond strength is two to three times greater than when unmatched. The results of the second (ABS to PVC) and third (PS to PC) material combinations show that, when viscosity is matched, the bond strength can be as strong as that of the weaker material when bonded to itself. Specifically, for the second combination (ABS to PVC), the dissimilar weld strength was roughly the same as the ABS to ABS welds. For the third combination (PS to PC), the dissimilar weld strength was about 60% of the PS to PS welds. The average load results are summarized in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab2\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 2\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAverage Load Data for All Trials\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"2\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLoad (N)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eABS-PPO Matched\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2233\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eABS-PPO Unmatched\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e898\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePC-PS\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1595\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePS-PS\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2607\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePC-PC\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7307\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eABS-PVC\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5389\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eABS-ABS\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5445\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePVC-PVC\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6390\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFor the second and third material combinations, the fracture surfaces showed good material transfer at the joint, as shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig18\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e18\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eA cross-section was performed on all three dissimilar polymer combinations, as shown in Figs.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig19\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e19\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig21\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e21\u003c/span\u003e. For the first material combination (ABS to PPO), it can be seen that the heating of the part was uneven on both parts, leading to uneven melt displacement. This issue with the welding approach was fixed before welding the second (ABS to PVC) and third (PS to PC) material combinations. For all three material combinations, there is a distinct line of separation across the joints, which is typically associated with a lack of intermolecular diffusion.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAdditionally, the base material welds were cross-sectioned, as shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig22\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e22\u003c/span\u003e. Interestingly, while the ABS to ABS and PVC to PVC weld show signs of intermolecular diffusion, the PS to PS and PC to PC welds do not. This means there is room for improvement in the weld process settings for the PS to PC welds, which only achieved 60% of the base material strength. At the same time, it\u0026rsquo;s interesting to note that ABS to PVC welds achieved 100% of the base material strength, but do not show intermolecular diffusion. This may mean that the HACS analysis process is not suited to showing diffusion for dissimilar material welds.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhile the heated after cross-section (HACS) process, works extremely well to discern diffusion in welds between similar polymers, it may not be suited for dissimilar polymer welds. This is because the process works by heating the top layer of polymer chains to allow thermal recovery and show the boundaries between microstructures. In a similar polymer weld, when there is good diffusion, the weld area forms a single microstructure. This may not be the case for dissimilar material welds, even if diffusion occurs.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Conclusions","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe use of direct heating of the polymer via IR allows for dissimilar materials to be heated to different temperatures in order to target a matched viscosity. In this work, it was observed that by matching the viscosity of dissimilar polymers, strength can be improved up to three times over unmatched viscosity. Additionally, the strength of the matched viscosity dissimilar weld can reach the base material weld strength, when the process is properly optimized.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAcknowledgements\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEWI would like to thank Heraeus for the donation of the IR Lamps used.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003cstrong\u003eFunding\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll work was funded internally by EWI.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConflict of Interest\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDoi, M. Edwards, S.\u003c/strong\u003e Dynamics of Concentrated Polymer Systems Part 1 - Brownian Motion in the Equilibrium State. \u003cem\u003eJournal of the Chemical Society. \u003c/em\u003e1978 12, 1789-1801.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBousmina, M. Qiu, H. Grmela, M. Klemberg-Sapieha, J.\u003c/strong\u003e Diffusion at Polymer/Polymer Interfaces Probed by Rheological Tools. \u003cem\u003eMacromolecules. \u003c/em\u003e1998 31, 8273-8280.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrewell, D. Benatar, A.\u003c/strong\u003e Semi-Empirical, Squeeze flow, and Intermolecular Diffusion Model. II. Model Verification Using Laser Microwelding. \u003cem\u003ePolymer Engineering and Science. \u003c/em\u003e2008 1543-1549.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBastien, L. Gillespie, J.\u003c/strong\u003e A non‐isothermal healing model for strength and toughness of fusion bonded joints of amorphous thermoplastics. \u003cem\u003eJournal of Polymer Engineering Science. \u003c/em\u003e1991 31, 1720-1730.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYang, F. Pitchumani, R.\u003c/strong\u003e Healing of thermoplastic polymers at an interface under non-isothermal conditions. \u003cem\u003eMacromolecules. \u003c/em\u003e2002 35, 3213-3224.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eVolkov, S. Gibus, G. Remizov, A.\u003c/strong\u003e Ultrasonic Welding of Dissimilar Plastics. \u003cem\u003eRussian Engineering Research. \u003c/em\u003e2018 38:4, 281-284.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTran, T. Mai, H. Do, C. Nguyen, T. Do, T. Nguyen, D. Trinh, D. Luong, H. Nguyen, G.\u003c/strong\u003e Preparation and study on the properties of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene/polyphenylene oxide polymer blend. \u003cem\u003eVietnam Journal of Chemistry. \u003c/em\u003e2021 59:2 235-238.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMarcus, M.\u003c/strong\u003e Methods of Polymer Weld Quality Evaluation. \u003cem\u003eANTEC. \u003c/em\u003e2018.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":true,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"welding-in-the-world","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"witw","sideBox":"Learn more about [Welding in the World](https://www.springer.com/journal/40194)","snPcode":"40194","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/witw/","title":"Welding in the World","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Dissimilar Plastic, Polymer Welding, Dissimilar Plastic, Polymer Bonding, Dissimilar Plastic, Polymer Joining","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3024419/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3024419/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eWelding of dissimilar polymers is becoming more common. While joining of dissimilar polymers is traditionally accomplished via the use of adhesives or mechanical methods such as fasteners, snap fits, and staking \u0026ndash; these approaches cannot always be effectively applied. For these applications, where adhesives and mechanical bonding can\u0026rsquo;t be used, it may be possible to directly weld or bond polymers that are miscible but have different material properties via welding techniques. In this work, infrared welding was used to join acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) to polyphenylene oxide (PPO), ABS to polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and polystyrene (PS) to polycarbonate (PC) as an initial investigation into a new approach to bonding dissimilar polymers. Through the use of targeted heating to match the polymer viscosities to each other, the weld strength was improved by up to three times and, when optimized, the strength of the dissimilar bond as equivalent to that of the similar material weld.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Welding of Dissimilar Polymers","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2023-06-16 15:27:03","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3024419/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"","date":"2023-06-14T10:48:35+00:00","index":0,"fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2023-06-14T10:45:19+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"Welding in the World","date":"2023-06-13T10:56:20+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2023-06-09T06:28:35+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Welding in the World","date":"2023-06-05T08:05:30+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"welding-in-the-world","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"witw","sideBox":"Learn more about [Welding in the World](https://www.springer.com/journal/40194)","snPcode":"40194","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/witw/","title":"Welding in the World","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"52a7aaea-7ca8-475f-8211-b4f928faa8df","owner":[],"postedDate":"June 16th, 2023","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2024-05-29T13:35:57+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2023-06-16 15:27:03","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-3024419","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-3024419","identity":"rs-3024419","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"WrCJVZZCHTDjtuVLN7oU0","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}