Continuous fibre reinforced thermoplastic joining, a laser-welded seam multi-axial mechanical characterization and modelling

Abstract : In recent years, the use of continuous fiber thermoplastic composites has been growing steadily, especially in the transportation industry. The purpose of the work reported here consists in developing an experimental and numerical approach to bring help in the design of laser welded TP reinforced composites. The current paper proposes a test procedure for a multi-axial mechanical characterization of the laser welded seam using the ARCAN-MINES device. This set up allows varying the loading direction while controlling the state of stress inside the joint. On the basis of experimental observations, a non-linear phenomenological material model based on a generalized Drucker-Prager criterion is used. An estimation of strains and stress inside the laser-welded seam could be computed and related to failure observations.