Tensegrity structures are used for lightweight design. They consist of several elements that bear compressive or tensile loads. Ropes and cables are usually used to bear occurring tensile loads, but wires can also be used. The process of laser wire bonding was investigated in a previous study using a coaxial deposition welding head and a continuous wave laser beam source. Wires made of G4Si1 with a diameter of 1 mm were bonded to a mild steel substrate and a process window for a laser wire bonding process with sufficient bonding quality was determined.


Based on these findings, tensile tests were carried out to investigate the influence of the process parameters (stickout, laser power, wire feed rate and bonding processing time) and the resulting geometry of the bonding zone on maximum force. As a reference, tensile tests were carried out with wire material in its original state.


Maximum forces of 367 to 794 N were determined in the laser wire bonded specimen. In almost all cases, a ductile failure of the specimen occurred just above the bonding zone in the wire. In a few cases, the bonding zone detached completely from the substrate due to insufficient bonding. The maximum force of the bonding specimens is significantly lower than that of the unprocessed wire specimens (1120 N, combination of ductile and brittle failure). It can be concluded that the applied heat to the wire leads to a reduction in tensile strength. This effect must be considered when optimizing the laser bonding process.