Laser Welding Systems

Low Power Fiber lasers (100 to 200 Watts) are penetrating the precision laser processing market rapidly due to the many advantages of this type of laser; this is particularly true for precision laser welding. Most precision welded parts require very high quality but relatively low penetration welds typically less than 0.5 mm thick. The average power required to weld this thickness of material for small medical components is relatively low, mostly less than 100 watts.

Since the beginning of the laser industry high power CO2 lasers have been used for welding sheet steel and there is a great deal of information available on these welding parameters. The mechanism of the actual keyhole welding process has been understood since the electron beam welding process was introduced in the late 1950's. The term "keyhole" refers to the plasma and vapor filled keyhole that may be formed when a high intensity laser beam impinges on the surface of most metals.

This keyhole is then traversed through the joint area leaving a high aspect ratio weld of solidified material. To produce consistent high quality welds, a stable keyhole is critical and this requires a very stable laser output. This requirement has largely been the preserve of the multi-kilowatt CO2 lasers until the recent introduction of multi-kilowatt solid-state lasers. Contact Fiber Laser Marking to quote on your laser welding requirements.

0.5mm Thick Stainless Steel @ 1m/minute and  100 Watts

Both multi-kilowatt and single mode fiber lasers are ideally suited for welding applications. There are several reasons for this. The first is that an image from a fiber laser is formed by creating an image of the fiber on the work piece. This spot diameter is a function of the collimator focal length, the fiber diameter and the final focus lens. With the power delivered from a single mode fiber emitted from a 7 to 9 micron fiber, it is easy to produce spot sizes below 10 microns or larger spot sizes with a very long focal length lens. In the case of the multi-kilowatt lasers, a 5 kilowatt beam can be emitted from a fiber as small as 100 microns with a beam product of 4.4 mmxmrad. The result is that a fiber laser operating at 1 micron can be delivered via robot with beam quality better than CO².  A 400 micron spot can be produced with a working distance of 1 meter. These results allow for remote high speed welding of automotive components while eliminating the concern of contamination of focus optics.

12mm Thick X70 Steel @ 2.2m/minute and 10KW