Laser Assisted Joining of Metal Pins and Thin Plastic Sheets

The joining of plastics and metals in order to produce lightweight but robust parts has become more significant in the process of vehicle manufacturing. In the course of this study, the authors joined PMMA plastic and steel in a pin to plate geometry by pulsed Nd:YAG laser. Tensile tests were carried out to investigate the effects of heating time, the laser settings, the surface roughness and the clamping force on the joining strength. Experimental results showed that the joining is feasible and using adequate settings the strength can be optimised.