High Performance Laser Welding Technology for Heavy Industries

Abstract

High power CO₂ lasers with an output power up to 45 kW are available for the heavy industries with thick material welding today. These systems offer a comparatively low beam quality with high price and operating costs. On the contrary a flexible high power laser welding system up to 6 kW with optical fiber like Nd: YAG laser becomes possible using for heavy industries. The use of a high power Nd:YAG laser can lead to better material processing for the thick section. For the thick material high performance welding arerequired but there are sometimes difficulty to remove the welding defect. This paper reviews laser processing for high performance welding and shows the results of research for a defect free welding system which is carried out in the Advanced Photon Processing and Measurement Technology Project.