Lazer welding

[berkshire]

I have a company trying to sell me a Lazer welder, they are of course promoting this thing as the next best invention since sliced bread.
The weld speed is faster, and the penetration appears to be good, but the welds appear scruffy at best, (I am used to TIG welding.).Most of my work is on aircraft structures Tig welding SAE 40130 steel tubing
Has anybody had any practical experience with this system?
B.E.

You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.

 

[EdStainless]

In my experience the biggest drawback to laser weld is that the fit-up tolerances have to be very very tight.
I have seen a lot of examples of laser welds where they missed the weld seam.
They defocus the beam to widen it and it results in an hourglass (or X) shaped weld (in cross section).
They fused the front and back surfaces of the joint, but in mid-wall they missed leaving a non-fused gap.
The roughness has a lot to do with the speed, pulse rate, and power.
You can get great looking welds with laser.
The other drawback is that the ongoing operating costs (power, gases, optics) are significant.

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P.E. Metallurgy, consulting work welcomed

 

[BrianPetersen]

In the absence of specifications, I looked something up, and found this:

https://lasersystems.ipgphotonics.c...ng-and-Cleaning-System#nav-103-specifications

Maybe that's the one you're looking at, or maybe it's similar, or who knows.

But as someone with an equipment-safety background ... this scares me. That wavelength is close to that of a YAG laser, and both the direct and reflected laser radiation are hazardous (and the reflected laser radiation doesn't care if it is hitting the eyes of the person welding, hopefully wearing appropriate personal protective equipment, or a bystander who isn't).

Example - Robotic laser cutting or welding inside a total light-tight enclosure with interlocks to disallow power laser operation if an interlock is open:

https://www.trumpf.com/en_CA/products/machines-systems/3d-laser-cutting-machines/trulaser-cell-7040/

I know of automotive suppliers who use equipment like that for both laser welding and laser cutting. I highly doubt that the safety committee at those suppliers would approve the use of a hand-held YAG laser.

The webpage for the handheld unit doesn't seem to mention laser safety anywhere. Ask questions.

Do not stare into laser with remaining eye.

 

[TugboatEng]

It's right on the website:

Class 4 Laser Device. Customer responsible for standard ANSI Z136.1 safety precautions.

 

[MintJulep]

Used by a bunch of train builders to make stainless and aluminum passenger train shells.

For stainless it has replaced spot wilding for many applications.

 

[MG1983]

They are good for applications those are straight.

however when you are beginning to work in a corner with tight space you will find their practicality reduced. Depends on application . if you mainly work at shop and have extra cash buy it . if you are field guy ignore it i say.

IWE EWE certificate holder.

 

[berkshire]

Thanks guys,
Your observations confirmed my suspicions, it's not worth it for a small shop, thank you all.
B.E.

You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.