Multispot laser welding for increased gap bridgability
2022 (English) In: Journal of laser applications, ISSN 1042-346X, E-ISSN 1938-1387, Vol. 34, no 4, article id 042002Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Laser beam welding is a promising technology to enable automated high-quality welding procedures at significantly higher processing speeds compared to conventional processes. However, its usability is often limited by gap bridgability. This disadvantage is related to the small laser beam spot sizes that require low gap sizes for joining, which are often practically not available, and the desired welding without additional filler materials to enable high processing speeds without direction restrictions. New possibilities of beam shaping for process control are also available now for high-power laser processing and they show promising results. The resulting complex effects require additional investigation to understand the mechanisms and the use of the technologies for process improvements. Therefore, in this work, advanced beam shaping optics with up to four separate laser beam spots was used to understand the impact of multiple-spot welding on the process dynamics and gap bridgability. Gap bridgability was measured by an opening gap setup, while spatter amounts as indicators of process dynamics were measured by high-speed imaging. It was shown that multiple-spot laser welding can increase the gap bridgability, probably due to the initiated melt flow toward the joining partners. Symmetric separation of the keyholes toward the sheets increased the gap bridgability, while additional low-intensity spots in the center were able to stabilize the melt pool and reduce spattering.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages American Institute of Physics (AIP), 2022. Vol. 34, no 4, article id 042002
Keywords [en]
beam shaping, multiple laser beams, gap bridging, process dynamics, spattering
National Category
Manufacturing, Surface and Joining Technology
Research subject Manufacturing Systems Engineering
Identifiers URN: urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-93054 DOI: 10.2351/7.0000724 ISI: 000874012300002 Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85137661750 OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ltu-93054 DiVA, id: diva2:1696179
Conference 41st International Congress on Applications of Lasers & Electro-Optics (ICALEO 2022), Orlando, Florida, USA, October 17-20, 2022
Projects SAMOA - Sustainable Additive Manufacturing Of Aluminium applications. SteelS4EV-- STEEL Solutions for Safe and Smart Structures of Electric Vehicles SMART- Surface tension of Metals Above vapoRization Temperature
Funder Swedish Research Council, 2020-04250 SMART
Note Godkänd;2022;Nivå 0;2022-09-15 (hanlid);Konferensartikel i tidskrift;
Funder: European Commission Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS) (800726 SteelS4EV); European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) Raw Materials (18079 SAMOA)
2022-09-152022-09-152022-11-11 Bibliographically approved