Laser joining of CFRTP to metal: A review on welding parameters, joint enhancement, and numerical simulation

Abstract As a lightweight material with high performance, carbon fiber‐reinforced thermoplastic plastic (CFRTP) is being implemented increasingly in aerospace, automotive, new energy, and so forth. The connection between CFRTP and metals, which are still used in these areas, is an inevitable problem. Among the various connection techniques, laser welding of CFRTP to metal is attractive due to high efficiency, excellent strength, and no contact. This paper presents the most recent research on laser welding CFRTP and metals in three aspects: (a) the principle of laser welding CFRTP to metals and the influence of process parameters on joint quality including laser power, defocus distances, scanning speed, clamping pressure, and beam shape, (b) the joint enhancement mechanisms and methods, and (c) numerical simulations of temperature and stress fields of laser‐connected CFRTP to metals. The findings show that joint strength is significantly influenced by process parameters and that the maximum joint strength can be achieved by choosing the right parameters. Apart from the conventional techniques of texturing the metal surface, applying a suitable layer of resin, and applying chemical treatment, other novel joint improvement measures have also been used, including the use of blue laser and CFRTP embedded in the metal. The temperature field and residual stresses can be successfully simulated by finite elements, which can be useful when studying new processes and choosing parameters for metal laser welding and CFRTP. Highlights We review the progress from parameters, simulations, and enhancements. The main parameters have essential effects on the dimensions and strength of joints. FEM (Finite Element Method) is applied to simulate the temperature and stress of the laser welding. Joints can be reinforced by surface pre‐texturing, adding resin, and grafting.