Abstract
Laser Transmission Joining (LTJ) of plastics is a process in which light of suitable wavelength is transmitted through a transparent substrate that is in contact with an absorbing one. In this paper, LTJ is investigated by preliminary experiments from the viewpoint of mechanical engineering. To understand transmitting characteristics of each polymer substrate, transmission rate, reflection rate and absorption coefficient of polymer are measured by using a laser power-meter. Characteristics of joining in the spot welding and seam welding are investigated by measuring the fracture load. Fracture load increases in accordance to the laser power and irradiation time. However, when the laser power is over 60W and irradiation time over 4seconds, fracture load decreases. This phenomenon is probably due to heat-softening of materials. Besides, cavities are generated at a joint by evaporation of water molecules, which can be suppressed by introduction of a gap between two substrates.
