Investigating the pulse mode laser joining of overlapped plastic and metal sheets

The growing utilization of plastic materials in our devices calls for joining them with traditional, often applied structural materials, like metals. Laser assisted metal plastic joining can be used to solve the problem mentioned above, however, relatively few materials have been investigated which could be used to create this special joint. In the course of this research, authors used pulse mode Nd:YAG laser source, structural steel and poly(methyl methacrylate) to create joining between rarely examined material pairs so far, and to explore the effects of technological settings like laser pulse shape, laser spot size, welding speed and joint strength. Material surfaces were also modified (sand blasting,) to enhance joint properties. In plastic material during joining and torn surfaces were investigated. Joints with good strength results were prepared to enable further research on transparent absorbent metal plastic joining.