Laser beam welding of wrought aluminium alloys

Laser beam welding is now a common manufacturing method for a wide range of steel products from automobiles to razor blades. However, the process has only recently been approved for critical applications involving aluminium alloys, notably in the aerospace and automotive industries. The properties of aluminium alloys influence the interaction between the beam and the material to a far greater extent than for steels. The challenge of developing industrial welding procedures has therefore been considerable. The present review describes the effects of CO2 and Nd-YAG laser beam processing parameters and the properties of the most common wrought aluminium alloys on the characteristics of welded joints. Porosity, solidification cracking, and poor weld bead geometry are shown to be the most frequently encountered imperfections. These can be eliminated through the use of appropriate filler materials, process gases, material preparation, and in some instances, adaptive control systems. Very little work has been reported on the corrosion properties of laser welded aluminium alloys. Experimental processing parameters are presented and compared using an analytical model, which can also be employed for predictive purposes. A number of industrial applications are described. These demonstrate that, for specific alloys, the process is now sufficiently well understood to be approved for high volume production, particularly in the transport industries.