Product Code: ICA12_1301

Laser Guided Double Tungsten Inert Gas Welding of Aluminium
Authors:
Alexander Barroi, Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V.; Hannover Germany
Ryan Knill, Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V.; -
Jörg Hermsdorf, Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V.; Hannover Germany
Stefan Kaierle, Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V.; Hannover Germany
Ludger Overmeyer, Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V.; -
Presented at ICALEO 2012

TIG welding is a common industrially established process. Its main advantage is the weld quality. The drawback is the low process speed which leads to high heat affects, irreversibly destroyed material properties and work piece distortion. To overcome these process limits, two common TIG processes were combined with low power laser radiation. This double TIG laser process enables higher process speed and lower distortion without compromise in weld quality and penetration depth. Two electrodes are integrated into one welding head with the laser beam in the center. During the process the laser combines and guides the two electrical arcs to one common foot point on the workpiece. Due to this increase of electric energy density good process stability is given, even at higher welding speeds. The guiding of both electrical arcs with 400 W laser power and a beam diameter of 1.6 mm on the material surface will be demonstrated. Welding speeds up to 3 m/min were possible on aluminium.
The paper shows first process results on aluminium with a material thickness of 2 mm. Welding pieces, cross-sections, process videos and the new welding head will be presented.