Welding of bio-based plastics for applications in the field of injection moulding

Due to intensive research in the field of material development considerable progress in terms of processing and performance characteristics could be achieved during the last years. Therefore, bio-based plastics are increasingly being used for the production of durable injection moulded components. Several applications can be found in the automotive sector, in the field of consumer electronics or the sports industry. For an economic production, joining technology often plays a key role to realise modular designed components. Detachable connections, which are frequently used in plastics processing (e. g. snap hooks or screw connections), often reach their limits with respect to reliability and tightness of the joint. In order to meet the increasing requirements on the joint, plastics joining processes can allow suitable component assembly. Bio-based plastics may differ from conventional plastics regarding their processing properties, such as the melting and solidification behaviour. For these reasons, inves...