Laser transmission welding of composites – Part B: Experimental validation of numerical model

In this paper, experimental measurements are performed to confirm the global analytical model (refraction and absorption phenomena) presented in the previous work. Initially, an experimental approach to the estimation of the laser beam spread in a semi-transparent composite and at interface (width of the output beam) subjected to an incident heat flux, was presented. This parameter represents a fundamental input data for the global analytical model (refraction and absorption) during the numerical simulation of transmission infrared welding. Then, an experimental setup for the temperature measurement is performed using infrared camera, during infrared transmission welding of materials joints to validate the welding simulation results (a transient numerical model, based both on conduction and radiation mode heat transfer) with the developed analytical model. The commercial FEM software COMSOL Multiphysics® is used to compute temperature distribution by implementing a radiative source term. Numerical simulations are compared with experimental data. The agreement between simulations and experiments is fair, which gives confidence to use the developed model with acceptable accuracy.