Welding of glass pieces

Abstract

A method for precision welding of glass pieces has been developed and tested for the fabrication of roof top assemblies. It allows joining of glass pieces with a very high level of angle accuracy while providing high stiffness and good stability over a large temperature range. The method consists in using a CO2 laser to spot weld the glass pieces at one or more locations depending on the assembly size. This approach allows strong joining of the glass pieces and tensile strengths ranging from 10 to 30 kg per welded spot have been obtained. The method also preserved the initial λ/10 flatness of the glass pieces. The angle accuracy measured on the final assemblies was better than 2 arc seconds.