Influence of thermal stresses in modelling the lap welding of thermoplastic films

Our study has shown that the influence of the thermal stresses and expansion and contraction forces acting during and after laser action plays an ultimate role on the achievement of strong welds, that is, weld with tensile strength higher than 80% of that of the original thermoplastic. This has direct influence on engineering parameters, making necessary to have a minimum laser beam diameter on the welding volume. Introduction of this factor on the model allowed the achievement of lap welding speeds up to 14 m s
^-1
, as well as cutting with welding through this new transmission welding technique