Product Code: ICA13_M903

Experimental and Numerical Investigation on Short Pulsed Laser Welding of Stainless Steel Foils
Authors:
Hui-chi Chen, Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology; Singapore Singapore
Presented at ICALEO 2013

Today, there is a miniaturization trend in ultra-precision laser micro-welding applications. It is due to industrial products or components are being made smaller to save space or reduce energy consumptions. For example, laser hermetic sealing of implantable devices, microwave enclosures, batteries, sensors, etc. Since these devices are generally heat-sensitive, a proper control of energy input is necessary in order to avoid any heat damage. Laser micro-welding by pulsed laser systems becomes a main option due to its advantages in precisely managing laser energy in a given time period. In this work, a nanosecond pulsed fibre laser system was used for welding 304 stainless steel foils. The welding efficiency and heat affected zone were systematically investigated by varying process parameters, such as scanning speed, laser power, pulse width and frequency. In addition, numerical analysis was undertaken to compare with the experimental results. Results show that an effective weld with smaller heat-affected zone was achieved with a nanosecond pulsed fibre laser system. The optimal processing window is reported.