Modelling and thermal simulation of absorber-free quasi-simultaneous laser welding of transparent plastics

Abstract

The growing demands on the quality of plastic components and the trend towards miniaturisation are posing a great challenge on plastics processing technology. As many complex components can no longer be manufactured in a single step, joining processes such as laser transmission welding are gaining in importance. In classic laser transmission welding, the joining partners have different optical properties. The upper joining partner is transparent in the laser wavelength range, whilst the lower partner is absorbent due to the addition of absorber materials. In medical and biotechnological applications, the addition of absorber materials is often undesirable due to strict biocompatibility requirements. If, on the other hand, radiation sources are used which emit radiation in the area of the natural absorption of the plastic (λ = 1600–2000 nm), untreated transparent plastics can also be welded. In this work, a theoretical model will be presented to calculate the temperature distribution and progression during quasi-simultaneous welding using a thulium fibre laser (λ = 1940 nm). A sensitivity analysis is carried out to investigate the influence of different parameters on the heat affected zone (HAZ). The simulated HAZ is then compared with the HAZ from the experimental work.