Bonding - More than materials | Herrmann Ultraschall

MATERIAL OF THE FUTURE Mr. Ochs, you have long been observing where the journey is going, have you not? Since we manufacture machines and systems for bonding plastic parts, I have been keeping an eye on press reports on the topic of plastics and their future for a few years. The business model of plastic from mineral oil is reach- ing its limits; additionally, the industry is taking a lot of flak due to the plastic waste in the environment. A lot is changing: The ma - jor objective is creating a circular economy and bio- based plastics. Therefore, the interest in testing the ultrasonic weldability of bio-based plastics has been growing for some time. And then you took the initiative? I saw a story on television about a company called Tecnaro and its technical polymers, which consist up to 100% of renewable raw materials and, depending on the variant, are bio- degradable. I had thus found an interesting, local manufacturer. I ordered bioplastic granulate with mechanical and thermal properties comparable to polycarbonate and ABS, which we use as the stan- dard material for our test weld specimens. The first step was the manufacture of test weld specimens from the Tecnaro material by our partner Barlog. This ensured we had a uniform starting basis for testing and comparing the weld- ability, tensile resistance, and pressure resistance in our laboratory. What were the results? Bioplastics based on re- newable raw materials are weldable using ultrasonics and can be processed with similar parameterizations. In tensile tests, it emerged that even the bioplastic consisting mainly of lignin (liquid wood) reached re - markable strength values, while the bio-compounds tested were even within the usual requirements. What is your assessment for the future? Technical biopolymers still play a subordinate role in production. However, as a joining specialist, we are always available to the plastics industry for research work as well when it comes to examining and developing future trends. By the way, I am currently testing in my garden how the biopolymer changes and degrades in the soil, in water, and in the air. I am very excited (laughs)! Most industrially used plastics are still mineral oil-based. How will the use of bio-based plastics – those made from organic mass, also called biopolymers – develop? And more exciting still is the question of whether these can also be welded. Questions for Jochen Ochs in the ultrasonic laboratory. After the ultrasonic joining process, the test weld specimen from the biopolymer was cut open and examined. The result shows flawless homogeneous welding. 127