Welding - Corebon

Corebon Induction Welding Technology

No more glue. Corebon Technology enables extremely fast welding of glass fiber thermoplastic using a thin carbon fiber susceptor layer. With our technology, you can eliminate the use of adhesives. This technology is very easy to operate and suitable for automation.

With our unique controllable power supply, process parameters can be optimized for any material combination. The tensile and shear strength of the bond is equal to those of the materials that are bonded.

Applications:

For use with any thermoplastics.
Industries that benefit are automotive (EV vehicles, cargo vans), sporting goods, urban air mobility, and aerospace.
It is particularly suited to the manufacturing of cars, vans, and any vehicle assembled with bonding.

The susceptor welding demonstrator provides the following opportunities:

Materials, non-conductive fibers with thermoplastics
Cycle time 5 seconds
Easy to operate
GFPP lap shear strength > 10 MPa

Speed up your assembly work of thermoplastic composite parts using Corebon Induction Welding.

Carbon fiber composites are semiconductors and can, like any electrically conductive material, be heated by induction. This means that carbon fiber composites can be heated volumetrically by inducing circulating currents within the fibers. While an induction stove can only heat steel, Corebon’s equipment has been tailored for composite processing, meaning high efficiency, uniform heating pattern, and large versatility.

We help our customers succeed with their joining of carbon, glass, or biofiber thermoplastic composites by supplying state-of-the-art power supplies with novel inductor solutions. Carbon fiber composites can be heated directly, while glass and bio fibers need a thin susceptor material in the interface, typically a thin carbon fiber weave or a layer of recycled carbon fibers.

Corebon’s inductors are built using sophisticated material combinations with multi-turn coils, meaning they can be operated with a fairly low current with no workhead needed. A flexible cable from the power supply to the inductor is used, and the system is not very sensitive to the length of the cable. The inductor can withstand the consolidation force and may be designed to cool the surface of the laminate to only melt the interior, close to the weld zone interface. Different types of inductor sizes and configurations can be used depending on the application, and it is easy to switch between them. Flexible inductors for uneven or complex shapes can also be made.

Heat rates up to several hundred degrees per second can be obtained, where a typical heating time for a weld range from is 1-20 seconds depending on material, thickness, pressure, etc., followed by some cooling time. The welding works equally well with a low melt thermoplastic like PE, PP, LPET or PLA, for mid-range materials such as PA, PC and PET, or high performance materials like PPS, PEI and PEEK/PEKK/PAEK.