Radio Frequency Welding is a complex and popular method to bond RF sensitive materials together by using electromagnetic energy and pressure to create many different types of products.
But before the production process begins, it is very important to provide your RF Welding professional with key information for accurate and expedient product assessment.
Here are five key things to communicate to your RF Welding professional when getting your product assessed:
Intended Function
The first facet in determining if your product is RF Weldable is the intended function of your product. Pressure is one of the key factors in determining RF Weldability.
If you are producing a product required to contain highly compressed air and the interior pressure of the product measures more than 30 psi, it will not be a good candidate for RF Welding, as some RF Welds will not be able to hold under the intense pressure.
If the intended function of the product is to withstand abrasion, then it is important to remember that a heavier reinforced fabric that is RF Weldable will have to be used. If the product will be used for direct human contact, consumer use, or within the medical industry, the material used will most likely be required to have a specific rating.
Size
The second facet to consider in product assessment is the size of the product you are looking to have RF Welded. An RF Welding machine works like a printing press or a punch press application. Large products could pose a problem to the RF Welding professional due to size.
The largest custom tooling RF Welding machines are those used to weld mattresses. An RF Welding professional will need to know if their equipment will work efficiently with your product.
Many large products such as event tent tops, landfill liners, and truck tarps are made with multiple (sometimes hundreds of bar welds) that form long seams and edge hems
Configuration
RF Welding is a two dimensional process, but more complex three dimensional products can be created with perpendicular seams. How your product is configured is key. The steps used to create that three dimensional product are two dimensional and are completed one step at a time. However, not all three dimensional products are good candidates for an RF Weld.
For example, uniquely shaped three dimensional products that cannot be configured using a progressive two dimensional process may not be feasible for RF Welding due to its complexity.
Application
Application is the fourth facet that requires careful consideration in RF Welding. Your choice in materials used must be thoughtfully selected based on the intended application of your product.
As with the intended function, the application may require materials that carry specific ratings, especially for industries with heavy emphasis in medical, human contact, or consumer use. It is critical that these products be made with RF sensitive materials, (materials that are able to be RF Welded together), yet still meet the mandatory guidelines for that industry.
Drawings
Lastly, it is important to provide your RF Welding professional with drawings of your intended or existing product. CAD type drawings are the best way to convey your concept.
Your drawings do not have to be three dimensional or CAD, but they do need to clearly convey the concept of the product to someone that has never seen it before. If you move to the purchase of tooling, we would need DXF or DWG drawing files to create the tooling.
With these five key things in mind, you are now better prepared to have your product assessed by an RF Welding professional. At SealWerks, we can easily determine if your product is viable to produce, as well as provide you with pricing on tooling, prototyping, and production for as many units as you require.
Contact us today for your RF Welding product assessment.
Good advice to figure out exactly what sort of conditions your weld will have to endure. You definitely don’t want to get the wrong kind of weld and then find out you have a very expensive piece of useless junk when it comes down to it (I’m speaking from very sad personal experience). If you’re not sure if a RF weld is the best option I always recommend explaining your project to an experienced welder to see what they recommend. I’ve found that experience more valuable than all the calculations you can do on the computer during the design process.
Thanks for all the information about welding. My nephew is doing a report of how useful welding is in todays industry. This article was super handy to teach him if we ever wanted to hire a welder and what we would need to provide. I never thought of having a drawing ready for the welder to work from. Thanks for all the great tips and helping my nephew with his project.