The UK Welding Institute will conduct comparative testing between handheld laser welding and arc wel

2023-12-19

Recently, the Welding Institute (TWI) headquartered in the UK is planning to launch a joint welding industry project that will benchmark handheld laser welding with existing manual arc welding processes. Specifically, this project will investigate issues related to the quality, productivity, cost, health, and safety of handheld laser welding, covering various materials and joint configurations.

Currently, there is an increasing interest in handheld laser welding applications in the welding industry. In recent years, suppliers such as IPG Photonics, Oree, Guanghui Laser, and Xintian Laser have launched compact handheld laser welding systems with a power of up to 3kW. These laser welding systems have a series of advantages: low operating costs; Minimum setting requirements; Usability; Efficient, fast, and flexible processing in challenging spatial environments; Minimum consumables and post-processing requirements; The most important thing is to have high-quality welds of different types and thicknesses of similar and different materials.

Handheld laser welding is touted as the latest advancement in manual process selection; Capable of welding various metal materials with a thickness of up to 6mm; Provides 4 times the welding speed compared to the past, low deformation, and front and rear cleaning functions, while being easier to use than traditional arc welding.

The Welding Research Institute (TWI) in the UK announced a new project, stating that the institute has recently observed increasing interest in this technology among many OEM manufacturers in the industry. In fact, in addition to production applications, handheld laser welding can also be used to repair tool steel, steam turbines, automotive components, and aviation engines - using materials that can extend to aluminum and titanium alloys.

Similar to the acquisition and introduction of any new technology, the UK Welding Institute (TWI) expects potential adopters of this technology to consider the following aspects: key process variables, development, and qualifications; Usability; Residual stress and deformation; Inspection requirements; Defects, vulnerabilities, and acceptance criteria; Repair; Relevant specifications and standards; Health and safety; Corresponding training.

The Welding Institute (TWI) in the UK states that, like any new process, understanding and quantifying various attributes is key to achieving successful application of laser welding. Therefore, the industrial projects in the above plan will explore various aspects around handheld laser welding equipment and its provided functions. For example, some products on the market offer beam jitter, which compensates for changes in joint assembly, and wire feeding options are also available.

"At present, many laser welding products on the market still have issues with travel speed/beam alignment, as well as the introduction of additional features (such as rollers or alignment devices) to improve consistency; however, this increases time/cost and reduces application flexibility. However, these features attempt to offset manual (welder) labor." The combination of laser welding characteristics may affect welding properties - profile, defect type/frequency/distribution, and the resulting joint quality. In summary, safety has always been the top priority and extends to traditional manual arc welding. If the operator or others are exposed to laser radiation during the welding process and there is a danger, the interlocking system is required to turn off the welding machine power

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