Laser Welding’s Advantages
Laser welding of metal
Laser welding refers to fusion welding methods, and in terms of energy density – to highly concentrated energy sources – like electron beam welding, compressed arc, plasma welding.
The best way to join workpieces with increased accuracy is laser metal welding. It is convenient when parts are in contact along a complex contour. This is not the most common technology, but it has a number of advantages over alternative methods.
Its use allows you to get a smooth and aesthetic weld that does not have deformations and other defects. The method is universal: laser soldering connects workpieces made of silver, stainless steel and other materials.
Laser Welding Technology
The essence of the method is to create a permanent connection of metal parts. Adjacent surfaces are fused. The technology is distinguished by efficiency, convenience, durability and strength of welds.
Laser welding locally affects the workpieces to be joined. The temperature rises and falls at a high rate, the laser allows you to quickly create a bath.
Today, the technology is considered a progressive method of joining metal parts.
Welding services are in demand in various fields:
1. large construction, repair, modernization of various architectural objects;
2. improvement, decoration of the territory and buildings;
3. production of furniture and household items;
4. production of equipment, machines, mechanisms, pipes with any diameter, machine tools;
5. production of metal structures, small copper parts, products from sheet and strip material, stainless steel, aluminum.
It is possible to work with a laser with thick sheet metal and with steel alloys, including stainless, alloyed, refractory materials, so there are practically no restrictions on manufactured products. Contact spot microwelding is used for sheet cutting.
Taking into account the high locality of the action of a focused high-energy beam, laser metal welding is widely used for hermetically connecting conductors and structural elements of various devices, radio equipment, household and industrial equipment.
Laser welding is also indispensable when it is necessary to exclude deformation of parts due to thermal effects. It is often used in instrument making, in the production of electric motors, in cases where it is necessary to connect conductive conductors without removing the insulating layer.
Based on the equipment and materials used, metal laser welding can be:
1. Solid state.
2. Gas.
3. hybrid.
solid state
In solid-state lasers, the active element is glass or yttrium aluminum garnet with the addition of neodymium, ruby. Their work is activated under the influence of a light flux emitted by high-power krypton lamps. It is possible to operate such lasers in both continuous and pulsed modes. Fiber laser sources are currently the most popular. They have high power and are easy to operate.
Gas
Gas mixtures are used here. These are compounds of nitrogen, helium, carbon dioxide. The mixture is fed into the working area under a pressure of 2.6-13 kPa. The active substances are activated by an electrical discharge. Helium and nitrogen guarantee a stable energy transfer to carbon dioxide particles, providing optimal conditions for maintaining the discharge burning.
hybrid
The hybrid technology for producing welds combines arc welding – metal electrode welding in active gas or inert gas with laser welding. At the same time, the input thermal power increases, which makes it possible to weld high-strength steels, which is impossible by other methods.
Features of welding using a laser at our enterprise
We have state of the art equipment. This allows laser welding of aluminum and other metals, including various alloys. The technologies used make it possible to work with refractory materials, as well as to join workpieces of any configuration.
The functionality of the equipment allows you to perform the following types of operations:
1. spot and seam welding, carried out automatically or manually;
2. joining workpieces from a wide variety of materials: laser welding of stainless steel and copper, zirconium and tungsten, gold and most grades of titanium and brass;
3. assembly of hull and rod, membrane and bellows, lattice and mesh structures;
4. formation of rectilinear, annular, figured seams according to drawings of any complexity.
The joints are characterized by increased strength due to the welding depth of up to 0.3 cm.
Advantages of laser welding
The technology is universal, which allows its application in different industries. Advantages:
1. the ability to work without creating a vacuum and in any conditions;
2. minimizing the size of the heated area, which allows you to save the original characteristics of the workpieces to be joined;
3. absence of deformations, which is important for obtaining high-quality structures;
4. high productivity, reducing the time of work;
5. the ability to connect workpieces from dissimilar materials (this is one of the key differences from other welding technologies);
6. large welding depth, due to which the strength of the joints is achieved with a compact weld;
7. no need to use electrodes, fluxes, other consumables, which reduces the cost of the process;
8. the ability to connect large-sized workpieces, since welding equipment provides for work anywhere (including hard-to-reach points) without additional fasteners;
9. lack of direct contact, which allows parts to be connected, for example, in a vacuum environment through quartz glass;
10. support for pulsed and continuous welding of workpieces.
