Determination of sensitivity and thermal efficiency in laser assisted metal plastic joining by numerical simulation

Laser-assisted joining of plastics and metals requires the formation of a melting layer in the thermoplastic material, which enables the wetting and the penetration of the metal surface. In this paper, a generally valid description of the melting layer is given based on material-specific temperatures and numerical simulation. Furthermore, the sensitivity of the melting layer to process parameters, material properties and geometrical parameters is provided. Based on these results, the thermal efficiency of the process was examined depending the major factors metal thickness and absorbed laser beam power. (C) 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.