Product Code: ICAL05_M303

Electron Beam Welding vs. Laser Beam Welding for Air Bearing Shaft
Authors:
Mohammed Naeem, GSI Lumonics; Rugby Great Britain
Presented at ICALEO 2005

Air bearings allow designers to push the envelope on precision and high-speed applications. Unlike contact roller bearings, air bearings utilise thin film pressurised air to provide ?zero friction? load bearing interface between surfaces that would otherwise be in contact with each other. Being non-contact, air bearings avoid the tradition bearing- related problems of friction, wear, and lubricant handling, and offer distinct advantages in precision positioning and high speed applications. Air bearings are a natural choice for applications in coordinate measuring machines, precision machine tools, and semiconductor wafer processing machines, PCB drilling and other clean room, high speed and precision position environments. One of component in air bearing assembly is the spindle to drive the shaft and currently this spindle is attached to drive shaft by means of electron beam welding. The aim of this work is to investigate laser beam welding as an alternative to electron beam welding. A programme was conducted to evaluate laser beam welding with a continuous wave Nd: YAG laser. Laser and processing parameters were explored for producing welds similar to electron beam welding in terms of penetration, porosity, etc. Welded shafts will be tested for: distortion of the welded, fatigue testing, strength of weld, stiffness, load capacity, and stability. Results also will be presented on the process cost comparison between electron beam welding and laser beam welding.