Potential of laser-manufactured polymer-metal hybrid joints

This paper describes a laser-based process to join thermoplastics with metals thermally without the help of any additives. Using PA6.6 and DC01 the main process parameters were investigated with different joining strategies for laser-transparent and nontransparent thermoplastics. For both process variations a failure of the joint within the base material PA6.6 was achieved. It was also shown that there is no correlation between the standardized surface roughness parameter R-a and the shear strength of the joining. The successfully performed joining of PA6 GF45 with DC01 underlines the potential of the described joining method for lightweight design and other industrial applications. (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier B.V. Selection and/or review under responsibility of Bayerisches Laserzentrum GmbH