Laser guided and stabilized gas metal arc welding processes (LGS-GMA)

The demands of the industry are cheap and fast production of highly sophisticated parts without compromises in product quality. To realize this requirement, we have developed a laser guided and stabilized gas metal arc process (LGS-GMA welding). The new welding process is based on a gas metal arc process using low power laser radiation for stabilization. The laser stabilization of gas metal arcs welding is applied to joint welding and cladding. With only 400 W laser power and a focal spot of 1.6 mm the laser radiation is mainly interacting with the arc plasma in order to guide and stabilize it. In joint welding up to 100% increase in welding speed is possible, at equal penetration depth. The guidance effect also enables the process to weld in challenging situations like different sheet thicknesses. Used for cladding, the enhanced process stability allows low penetration depth with dilutions of only 3%. Coatings with up to 63 HRC were achieved.