Applications of laser welding to electric connectors

Characteristics of a pulsed Nd:YAG laser spot-welding procedure applied to electronic connectors are investigated in the current study. A finite element analysis is carried out to evaluate the weld pool profile of SUS304 stainless steel sheets under various laser intensities. Bead shapes including the pool diameter and the penetration depth as well are predicted and compared with the associated experiments. The Gurson-type damage model is implemented into the numerical analysis to describe the failure of spot-welded structures. Different spot-welded specimens subjected to the tensile-dominated and shear-dominated loading conditions were conducted to verify the suitability of parameters implanted in the damage model. Structure strength of a stainless steel sheet assembled with a metallic shell of an electronic connector utilizing laser spot-welding is then examined, and results based on the simulation are in fair agreement with those based on the measurements.