Experimental evaluation of poly methyl methacrylate-acrylonitrile butadiene styrene transmission welding using mold-integrated simultaneous laser welding technology

Automotive lamps have not only functional roles but also highly esthetic purposes in the design of a car. As such, they use complex three-dimensional shapes to implement various designs. The main manufacturing challenge comes from the plastic bonding process of the complex components, which currently is done by thermal bonding, ultrasonic bonding, and laser welding. Laser welding processes with a narrow joint area are preferred since they require minimal joint area and produce no burr. In this study, an optimization study for simultaneous bonding of lamps is carried out using multiple light sources generated by connecting specially manufactured bundle optical fibers with a diode laser source. The diode laser beams with a wavelength of 915 nm and a power of 80 W, each, were simultaneously delivered through a 30-optical fibers bundle. The fibers were integrated within the mold that holds the lamp achieving transmission welding through the overlapped upper transparent polymer PMMA (IF850) and the lower nontransparent polymer ABS (HL121H). The process parameters investigated were the laser power, duration time, waveguide gap, and clamping pressure. We present optimized process parameters that achieved no pores and relatively uniform melting. In the shear test, the average load was approximately 1300 N, and the base sheet fractures along the welding joints were observed.