Optimizing Process Parameters in Laser Transmission Welding Solid PC/Porous-PET Using Prediction Models: Experimental...

Determining optimal process parameters for laser transmission welding (LTW) of solid/porous materials remains challenging due to the complexity of influencing factors. In this study, the welding of solid polycarbonate (PC) and porous polyethylene terephthalate (porous-PET) was chosen as an exemplary case and the relationship between parameters and welding quality was established using a Gaussian process regression (GPR) model. First, the experimental dataset, comprising welding power, welding speed, PC thickness, and porous-PET density, is established based on a flexible factor-level design. Then, the optimized GPR model trained based on the full experimental dataset achieved high predictive performance, significantly outperforming that trained with the averaged experimental dataset. Next, using the optimal prediction model as the objective function, three different optimization methods, genetic algorithm (GA), Bayesian optimization (BO), and covariance matrix adaptation evolution strategy (CMA-ES), are employed to optimize the process parameters, and the performance of the different optimization algorithms shows that CMA-ES has demonstrated the fastest convergence and the shortest runtime, while still converging to the same recommended parameters as GA and BO. Experimental validation confirms the accuracy of the recommended parameters, with a low relative error. Morphological analysis confirms that the weld seam is uniformly formed at recommended parameters. The proposed strategy provides an efficient route for achieving high-performance LTW joints and shows strong potential for improving process efficiency and reducing manufacturing cost in solid/porous materials joining.