Laser welding method and device for thermoplastic composite metal tape
Technical Field
The invention belongs to the technical field of laser welding, and particularly relates to a laser butt welding method and device for a thermoplastic composite metal tape.
Background
The composite material has low density, high specific strength, impact resistance, wide range of design performance, strong heat resistance, strong chemical corrosion resistance, good electric conductivity and no pollution, and can be widely used in the aspects of vehicle manufacturing industry, electromechanical industry, chemical corrosion resistance, constructional engineering and the like. At present, the traditional mechanical connection and cementing method is mainly adopted for the connection of the composite materials, the mechanical connection is completely dependent on manual work, the requirements on staff are relatively high, the product quality is closely related to the technology of the staff, the production period is long, the cementing method needs to be used for presoaked rubberized fabric, the whole process is complex, the period is long, and the efficiency is low. As a non-contact welding technology, the laser welding has great application potential in realizing the connection of the composite material with high strength, low stress and long service life. Laser welding is currently focused on welding between composite-metal materials, and related patents have been issued (e.g., ZL 2015114414.4, ZL 201610254547.3). Laser welding between composites remains a difficult problem due to the sensitivity of the composites to laser heat input, and the inability of the composites to transmit laser light, especially laser butt welding between composites, with greater challenges. Although patent (CN 202310476307.8) proposes a method and a device for laser butt welding of composite materials, the method is only suitable for welding small-size test pieces, the process is complicated, butt welding between large-size composite material parts cannot be realized, and the flexibility, flexibility and automation degree of the method cannot meet the requirements of engineering application.
Disclosure of Invention
In order to solve the problems, the invention discloses a laser welding method for a thermoplastic composite metal tape, and provides a metal tape welding device based on the method, wherein the whole welding process realizes automatic operation, a metal tape is laid at the butt joint position of a composite plate, and the metal tape is heated by a laser to connect the metal tape and the composite material together, so that the butt joint welding between the composite materials is completed, the welding efficiency is high, the technology of workers is not needed, and the production period is short.
A laser butt welding method for a thermoplastic composite metal tape comprises the following steps,
Preparing a microstructure on the surface of a metal belt;
Paving a metal belt to a part to be welded of the composite material in butt welding;
The metal belt and the composite material are welded by heat conduction through laser, two rollers are pressed against two sides of a laser spot during welding, the two rollers move along with the laser spot, the rollers on the front side are used for paving and positioning the metal belt, the laser melts the resin matrix on the surface of the composite material, the rollers on the rear side apply pressure to the metal belt, so that the melted composite material enters the microstructure on the surface of the metal belt, and a connecting joint is formed after cooling.
Further, after step (3), step (4) is further included: turning over the welded composite material in the step (3), and repeating the step (2) and the step (3).
Further, the metal belt is titanium alloy or aluminum alloy or stainless steel or copper alloy or magnesium alloy.
Further, the main processing method for preparing the microstructure of the metal strip in the step (1) is mechanical cutter processing or shot blasting processing or sand blasting processing or laser micro processing or electric processing or metal embossing processing.
Further, the thermoplastic composite material is a carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite material or an aramid fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite material or a glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite material.
Further, in the step (3), the laser spot is a linear spot or a rectangular spot.
Further, in the step (3), the center distance of two rollers is D, the radius of each roller is r, if linear light spots are adopted, D-2r is more than or equal to D, and the length L of each linear light spot is equal to the width of the metal belt, if rectangular light spots are adopted, D-2r is more than or equal to W, and the length L of each rectangular light spot is equal to the width of the metal belt; wherein D is the diameter of the light spot, W is the width of the rectangular light spot, and L is the length of the light spot.
The invention also provides a metal tape laying welding device for the thermoplastic composite metal tape laying laser welding method, which comprises the following steps:
a mechanical arm;
the bracket is connected with the mechanical arm and moves under the drive of the mechanical arm;
the two telescopic rods are telescopically arranged on the bracket and are arranged at intervals;
the two rollers are respectively arranged at the tail ends of the telescopic rods;
The laser head is arranged on the bracket and is positioned between the two telescopic rods;
the belt feeder is arranged on the bracket and is used for conveying the metal belt.
Further, the laser is a fiber laser or a CO2 laser or a semiconductor laser.
The beneficial effects of the invention are as follows:
1. according to the metal tape laying method, the laser head is used for heating the metal tape at the joint of the composite material plates, and the thermoplastic resin on the surface of the composite material is melted and cooled to room temperature through the heat conduction principle, so that the metal tape is connected with the composite material plates, and the composite material plates are connected more firmly;
2. The application designs the metal tape laying device, and the metal tape is laid at the butt joint position of the composite material plate by the coordination of the mechanical arm, the positioning wheel, the pressing wheel and the tape feeder, and is properly pressed on the composite material plate, so that the automatic operation is realized, the manpower is saved, and the operation efficiency is improved.
In a word, the method and the device have the advantages of simple structure, easy operation, high welding efficiency and wide application prospect.
Drawings
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a metal tape laying welding method according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a diagram of laser spot operating requirements for an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3 illustrates embossing of a metal strip microstructure according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 4 is a schematic view showing the overall structure of the metal tape laying and welding apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
1. Embossing rollers; 2. a microstructure; 3. a press roller; 4. a metal belt; 5. a mechanical arm; 6. a bracket; 7. pneumatically adjusting the telescopic rod; 8. a pressing roller; 9. a composite material plate; 10. positioning rollers; 11. a metal belt; 12. a tape feeder; 13. and (3) a laser head.
Detailed Description
Referring to fig. 4, an embodiment of the present invention provides a metal tape laying welding apparatus for a thermoplastic composite metal tape laying laser welding method, including:
A robot arm 5;
The bracket 6 is connected with the mechanical arm 5 and is driven by the mechanical arm 5 to move;
The two telescopic rods 7 are telescopically arranged on the bracket 6, and the two telescopic rods 7 are arranged at intervals;
The two rollers 8 and 10 are respectively arranged at the tail end of the telescopic rod 7;
The laser head 13 is arranged on the bracket 6 and is positioned between the two telescopic rods 7;
A belt feeder 12 provided in the carriage 6 for feeding the metal belt 11.
The telescopic rod 7 is a pneumatic adjusting telescopic rod, the telescopic length of the telescopic rod 7 can be adjusted through air pressure, the defocusing amount of the laser head 13 can be adjusted, and the pressure applied on the metal belt 11 by the rollers 8 and 10 can be adjusted.
The rollers 8 and 10 are a positioning wheel 10 and a pressing wheel 8 respectively.
The laser is a fiber laser or a CO2 laser or a semiconductor laser.
Referring to fig. 1, the welding process includes:
microstructure is produced on the surface of the metal strip 4.
Referring to fig. 3, a microstructure 2 of a metal strip 4 is fabricated. The method comprises the following steps: by means of a metal embossing process, a special press roll 1 is designated, and a net-shaped microstructure 2 is prepared on the surface of a metal belt 4, so that microstructures 2 with a depth and a width of 0.1 mm are formed, and the intervals of the microstructures 2 are 0.1 mm.
After the fabrication, a microstructured metal tape 11 (fig. 4) is obtained, which metal tape 11 is wound up on a tape feeder 12 for subsequent use.
For ease of illustration, a metal strip 4 is shown in fig. 3, the metal strip 4 being a metal strip of the green microstructure 2; the metal strip 11 in fig. 4 is a metal strip with microstructures 2.
The metal strip 11 is laid onto the composite material butt-welded to-be-welded portion.
And (3) the two composite materials to be welded are abutted, and the adjacent parts are the parts to be welded.
The laser emitted by the laser head 13 is used for conducting heat conduction welding on the metal belt 11 and the composite material, two rollers 8 and 10 are abutted against the two sides of a laser spot during welding, the two rollers 8 and 10 move along with the laser spot, the roller 10 on the front side is used for paving and positioning the metal belt 11, the laser melts the surface of the composite material, the roller 8 on the rear side applies pressure on the metal belt, so that the melted composite material enters the microstructure 2 on the surface of the metal belt 11, and a connecting joint is formed after cooling.
As shown in fig. 2, the mechanical arm 5 is coordinated with the positioning wheel 10, the pressing wheel 8 and the belt feeder 12 together, so that the metal belt 11 is laid at the butt joint position of the composite material plate 9, proper pressure is applied to the metal belt 11, the metal belt 11 and the composite material plate 9 are welded in an out-of-focus state by continuous laser with the wavelength of 1064nm and the pulse width of 50ms, the thermoplastic resin layer of the interface is fully melted, the melted resin is embedded into the microstructure 2 prepared by the metal belt 11, and is adhered with the metal belt 11, and a joint is formed after cooling, so that the composite material plate is firmly connected.
After the metal strip 11 and the composite material are welded on the first surface, the welded composite material is turned over, and the welding operation is repeatedly performed, thereby completing the welding operation of the two surfaces.
Further, the metal strips 4, 11 are titanium alloy or aluminum alloy or stainless steel or copper alloy or magnesium alloy.
Further, the main processing method for preparing the microstructure 2 by the metal strip 4 in the step (1) is mechanical cutter processing, shot blasting processing, sand blasting processing, laser micro processing, electric processing or metal embossing processing.
Further, the thermoplastic composite material is a carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite material or an aramid fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite material or a glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite material.
Further, the laser light spot is a linear light spot or a rectangular light spot.
Referring to FIG. 2, further, the center distance of the two rollers 8, 10 is D, the radius of the roller is r, D-2r is greater than or equal to D and the linear light spot length L is equal to the width of the metal belt if a linear light spot is adopted, D-2r is greater than or equal to W and the rectangular light spot length L is equal to the bandwidth of the metal belt 11 if a rectangular light spot is adopted; wherein D is the diameter of the light spot, W is the width of the rectangular light spot, and L is the length of the light spot.
Finally, it should be noted that: although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the embodiments, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the preferred embodiments, but is capable of modification and equivalents to some of the features described in the foregoing embodiments, but is intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and principles of the invention.