Recent advances and future prospects of laser welding technology for polymeric materials: A review

Polymeric materials are extensively used in the production of microfluidic devices, biomedical equipment, automotive parts, and electronic components. Given the limitations of certain manufacturing methods and the complexity of these products, joining polymeric materials becomes essential. Laser welding presents a promising and innovative approach for this task, offering high productivity, the ability to weld intricate shapes, and access to small or hard-to-reach areas. This review explores recent advancements in laser welding technologies, including butt and transmission welding, and the laser systems involved. It also addresses various welding processes such as similar and dissimilar welding, micro-welding, and the welding of polymers to metals. The quality of welds is evaluated based on joint strength and seam width, which can be controlled through parameters like laser power, scan speed, number of scans, and beam diameter. Given the nonlinear response of polymers to heat, determining optimal welding parameters is crucial. Thus, modeling the laser welding process through numerical, analytical, statistical, and artificial intelligence methods is vital for process understanding and optimization. This paper offers a comprehensive review of laser types, welding techniques, and modeling strategies for welding polymeric materials.