Film welding methods: ultrasonic, high-frequency, adhesive, and thermal

Why weld the film?

In some cases, it is necessary to connect the individual parts of the material. For example, if you have a large agro-industrial complex that needs to be covered with a film. Or you need a large area of waterproofing film for a large pond. Welding will help you connect the film strips to increase the size.

Welding methods

There are many methods of welding the film: high-frequency, ultrasonic, adhesive, thermal, and others. Let's explore the main methods.

Ultrasonic welding

Ultrasonic welding is suitable for materials that lose their properties when heated because this method does not warm up the film.

High-frequency welding

High-frequency welding is based on the action of a high-frequency current on the charged molecules of the polymer film. As a result of active vibrations, friction occurs inside the polymers, which causes the material to heat up. This allows the layers of the polymer film to fuse together, mainly if pressure is applied.

Adhesive method

Adhesives are usually used to connect plastic films to other materials. Different compositions of adhesives are needed to glue different materials together. If you choose the wrong adhesive base, you can not only compromise the tightness of the seam with unglued areas but also irrevocably damage the film.

Thermal welding

The most popular method of welding the film is thermal welding. In this case, the film is welded at high temperatures. Various devices are used for welding: blow dryer, soldering iron, iron, and so on.

Professional instruments

Welding devices are used to bond large sections of production film. Welding devices are available with contact heating or with hot air.

Soldering film welding

Soldering film welding is convenient for welding small sections of the film. This method is used often to weld sachets of small parts. To weld the film put the pieces to be welded on a wooden bar, then press the soldering iron at a 45° angle and move evenly over the parts to be welded.

Welding with a construction blow dryer

Sometimes a special construction blow-dryer with a set of nozzles is used for welding. Such a machine quickly enough allows you to connect several pieces of film. Most often, the device in the form of a blow dryer is required to perform welding of the film, which has a low density.

Welding the film with a household iron

Film welding with iron is quite popular because this method does not require any special equipment. All you need for welding the film is a wooden beam, a sheet material, iron, and the film itself. Read more about welding film with a household iron in our article.

How to choose a welding method?

The choice of the bonding method depends on many factors: the required welding characteristics, the nature of the welded film, the price and efficiency of the power source and the welding machine, the required production speed.