On the Relationship Between Laser Welding Process Variables in Through-transmission Laser Welding (TTLW) of Polycarbonate Plastics
R. Rudrapati, P.K. Pal And J. Ojha
Present study is aimed to investigate the effects of welding input parameters: power, scanning speed and beam diameter on maximum weld interface temperature and weld width in through-transmission laser welding (TTLW) of polycarbonate plastics. Experimental runs were performed as per L16 orthogonal array of Taguchi methodology with moving laser beam on TTLW which has inbuilt COMSOL multi-physics software with a finite element code. Output responses were measured in-terms of maximum weld interface temperature and weld width during welding and after welding operation. The significances of input welding parameters on weld responses and the individual effects of process parameters on responses were evaluated by analysis of variance and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), respectively. From this work, it is found that maximum weld interface temperature and weld width of through-transmission laser welded joint have been significantly influenced by input parameters. Prediction of welding responses have been made by Taguchi method for maximizing the weld interface temperature and minimizing weld width separately. The confirmatory tests are made to validate the optimization approach used in the present work. From this investigation, it is found that Taguchi method is very effective statistical tool for analysing and optimizing the through transmission laser welding of polycarbonate plastic materials.
Keywords: Diode laser, polycarbonate plastic, through-transmission laser welding (TTLW), weld interface temperature, weld width, Taguchi method, COMSOL