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Enhanced joint through significant diffusion and molten pool regions in fused silica to aluminum alloy welding by femtosecond mJ-pulses

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Abstract

The aluminum alloy–fused silica joints have found extensive applications in various industrial contexts, with ultrafast laser technology as a precise and non-contact method for achieving such joints. However, low pulse energy (~ µJ) and limited element diffusion (~ µm) often lead to unsatisfactory bonding strength and strict surface requirements. This study used a 35 fs-mJ pulsed laser to weld fused silica and aluminum alloy without special surface preparations. The resulting weld region exhibited a complex aluminum-fused silica mixture with lengths of approximately 75 µm. Shrinkage cavities and microcracks were observed within the fused silica, and keyhole-shaped shrinkage cavities appeared on both sides of the weld center. Cross-bedded layers with micropores were also found in the aluminum substrate. EDS analyses revealed an unconventional redistribution of O elements that escaped from SiO2 in the weld region, and the bonding mechanism was identified as a fused silica-aluminum reciprocal mixture. The achieved maximum shear strength of 7.77 MPa was significantly higher than that of µJ-level pulsed laser welding, and fractures occurred at the solidification-native fused silica boundaries. This study suggests that mJ-level pulsed femtosecond laser transmission welding can enhance joint strength, eliminate the need for special surface preparations, and potentially overcome the challenge of aluminum-fused silica welding with a large interface gap.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for the photographs used in the figures with support from the Experiment Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Technology in School of Mechanical Science & Engineering and Analytical & Testing Center of Huazhong University of Science and Technology.

Funding

Guangdong Major Project of Basic and Applied Basic Research [2019B030302003]; Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province [2018B090944001]; National Science Foundation of China (NSFC) [81927805]; Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of HUST [2019kfyXKJC062]; Postdoctoral Science Foundation of China [2018M632837].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The State Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, School of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Lin Zhang, Zhengwu Zhu, Tianyu Xu, Han Wu & Xiuquan Ma

  2. Guangdong Intelligent Robotics Institute, Dongguan, 523808, China

    Xiuquan Ma

Authors
  1. Lin Zhang
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  2. Zhengwu Zhu
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  3. Tianyu Xu
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  4. Han Wu
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Contributions

L.Z. initiated the proposed idea and writing—original draft preparation. ZW.Z. performed the measurements. TY.X. provided investigation and formal analysis. H.W performed the writing-reviewing and editing. XQ.M. conducted the funding acquisition and supervision.

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Correspondence to Han Wu.

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Zhang, L., Zhu, Z., Xu, T. et al. Enhanced joint through significant diffusion and molten pool regions in fused silica to aluminum alloy welding by femtosecond mJ-pulses. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 129, 601–610 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-023-12325-w

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