LASER MATERIALS

PROCESSING
Dr.G.Buvanashekaran
Senior Manager
Welding Research Institute
Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd., Tiruchirappalli 620 014

Email: gbs@bheltry.co.in

Why LASER or EBW?

Conventional welding

Wide & partial fusion

Laser & EB Welding

Narrow & deep fusion

LASER WELDING
INCANDESCENT Vs. LASER LIGHT

CO2 Laser Theory

Total Lasing (Light Amplification)

Generation of laser beam

Laser medium
Mirror
(100% reflective)

Laser output

Mirror
(partially transparent)
Excitation
source

LASER SYSTEMS

Semi conductor lasers : Laser diodes

Gas lasers
: He- Ne, CO2
Chemical Lasers
Liquid lasers
Excimer lasers
Solid state lasers

: Hydrogen Fluoride
: Organic dye
: Rare gas mixtures
: Nd:YAG, Ruby

LASERS FOR MATERIAL PROCESSING

Gas lasers : up to 45kwatt
Solid state lasers:up to 4kwatt
Semiconductor lasers: up to 40watt
CW lasers welding, cutting & surface modification
Pulsed lasers drilling & welding
Circular and linear beams

CARBON DIOXIDE LASERS

CO2 :

Lasing gas, 1-9% of the gas mixture

N2 :

Efficient excitation of CO2 molecules,

10-55% of the gas
mixture

He :

For conducting heat out of resonator

and emptying the
lower CO2
energy level, balance of gas mixture

CO2 Laser principle

TYPES OF
CARBON
DIOXIDE
LASERS

CROSS FLOW CARBON DIOXIDE LASER

Nd YAG Laser Principle

Nd:YAG LASER GENERATION

Laser Source and

operating panel

Enhanced Absorption for Aluminum

Compared to Other Lasers
> 6 m/min with 1 mm

thick plates
Smooth, spatter free
welds
Simple Cover Gas
No special preparation
of material
No special shearing
required for part
preparation
Bi- thickness plates can
be welded easily
Ref: E. Schubert et al., New Possibilities for Joining by Using High Power Diode Lasers, LAI Proceedings ICALEO 98, VOL 85

LASER BEAM
ABSORPTION
FOR
DIFFERENT
MATERIALS

KEYHOLE FORMATION
High irradiance of
focused beam
heats the metal
beyond its MP
Liquid metal
better absorber of
beam heats until
vaporisation
Vaporised metal
opens a cylinder keyhole

SCHEMATIC OF LASER WELDING

Incoming laser beam
Focusing lens
Shielding gas inlet

Weld pool dynamics

Shielding cup

Keyhole

Molten metal
Material

CW Solid State Nd:YAG System : 2000Watts

SQ and Sine Wave modulation
Peak power : 5000Watts
CNC - X-Y and Rotary axis, 802D Controller

LASER WELDING HEAD

CHARACTERISTICS OF LASER
Vapor capillary inside the keyhole is desirable
Laser transfers energy to partially ionised
vapor
Radiation from incandescent plasma heats
metal
Vapor escapes from capillary & forms a plasma
cloud resulting in low energy to the keyhole
Ar - induces plasma cloud formation
He - quenches plasma while escaping from
keyhole
Gas jet to push the plasma

MATERIALS FOR LASER WELDING

Rapid heating & cooling due to small beam
diameter
Grain growth / sensitisation in austenitic steels
can be avoided
Rapid solidification produce a typical
microstructure in steels
Stainless steel
Nickel base alloys
Titanium
Aluminium

LASER WELDING OF STEEL

Killed steels low porosity
Rimmed steel high porosity
0.3 to 1.0% C hard to laser weld
1. Ferrite can dissolve 0.02% C
2. Beyond 800 deg. C iron transforms to
austenite (can dissolve 2% C)
3. Slow cooling can revert to ferrite and
pearlite / cementite
4. High cooling rates forms martensite with
hard HAZ and microstructures prone to
cold cracking

LASER WELDING OF SS
Austenitic SS are easily weldable
Sensitization (Cr23C6 formation in the grain
boundaries) leads to Inter granular corrosion
Extra low carbon (304L, 316L) and alloy
addition (321, 347 Ti, Nb) will reduce
sensitization
3-5% ferrite in austenitic SS weld can
minimize cracking
Grain coarsening in ferritic SS (430)
Martensitic SS with low C (410) good results,
with higher C (420) PH to avoid cracking

LASER WELDING OF ALUMINIUM

High reflectivity and thermal
conductivity of Al is restricting the use
of lasers
Al-Li alloys are more suitable for laser
welding
Surface modification recommended
prior to laser welding
Only high power lasers can be used

FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED
IN LASER WELDING
1. Material composition
2. Surface condition
3. Joint design
4. Fixturing
5. Fit-up
6. Edge preparation and surface
cleanliness
7. Shielding

LASER PARAMETERS FOR CW

WELDING OF VARIOUS STEELS
Steel
Grade

thickness power
mm
kw

Low carbon
Low alloy

3.0

3.1

Medium carbon 3.0

3.2

1.8

High alloy
Austenitic

5.0

1.25 160

5.0

speed FL
m/min mm
120/160
120

DISSIMILAR WELDING
Factors affecting weld penetration
1. Thermal conductivity
2. Surface absorption

Cu

L
H

Precautions
-Beam positioning and beam angle
-Use lower processing speeds

Ni

H
L

DEFECTS IN LASER
WELDING
GAS ENTRAPMENT
POROSITY

COLD BONDING

Beam Power vs Depth of

Penetration
2.5

DOP (mm)

2
1.5
1
0.5
0
0

500

1000

1500

Beam Power(Watts)

2000

Beam Power vs Bead Width

3.5

BW (m m )

3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
0

500

1000

1500

Beam Power (watts)

2000

LASER POWER Vs WELDING SPEED

Seam Speed (in/min)

350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
0

Laser Power (kW)

Using Optional Lens System, welding speed exceeds 450/min

Temperature distribution in the plate at load step no. 1

LASER WELDING AT WRI CO2 LASER

STAINLESS STEEL WELD

3.30mm

Laser weld macrophotograph -WRI

1500watt
450mm/min

DIRECT DIODE LASER WELDING

Diode Laser is a line source that is equivalent to

TIG or MIG welding system but does not require
conductive materials and is not affected by
magnetic field

Higher quality welds are produced

No Keyhole or plasma generated
Dissimilar Materials can also be welded

Laser easily welds all weldable ferrous and

nonferrous alloys as well as non-metallics
Unibody construction of automobiles by stitch and
lap welding of Zinc coated Steels and Aluminum

The non key hole process yields pore and

spatter free stainless steel and aluminum
seam welds.

LASER
WELDING IN
AUTOMOBILE
INDUSTRIES

Gas shield
laser
welding of a
Titanium
cardiac
pacemaker
housing

Laser applications in electronics

Pressure transducer
assembly
Cirseam joint
bi-thickness joint

Nano component welding

Toyota cars

SS box
low thickness-1.2mm
CO2 laser
660watt

SS tube welding
4mm thick
1800watt
400mm/min

BATTERY CAN
HERMATICALLY
SEALED

0.4mm Ni coated
carbon steel
Hydraulic test

Armature casing
for BARC
Non magnetic disc to SS
armature

0.1 +0.4mm
1.2+3.7mm

DIESEL INJECTION NOZZLE

Material: SS
Laser parameters:
Continuous wave
5-10 deg overlap
2-7 deg. beam angle

INPUT AND OUTPUT DATA

FL, Gas, DOP, BW,
Trial
WS,
Sl.no
BP,Watts
Seq
mm/min mm lpm mm mm
1
28
500
400
160 15 0.431 1.127
2
47
500
400
160 10 0.314 0.684
3
39
500
400
160 5 0.460 1.216
4
1
500
400
120 15 0.363 1.135
5
20
500
400
120 10 0.587 1.094
6
12
500
400
120 5 0.575 1.097
7
55
500
400
80 15 0.862 2.283
8
74
500
400
80 10 0.544 1.299
9
66
500
400
80
5 0.727 1.820
10
34
500
800
160 15 0.287 0.885

LASER HYBRID WELDING PRINCIPLE

Laser Hybrid Welding

SEAM GEOMETRY OF LASER HYBRID

Synergies

MIG/MAG Vs. LASER HYBRID

LAP JOINTS - COMPARISION

OPTIMISED LASER HYBRID PARAMETER

High
precision
cutting
using
Nd:YAG

Robotic LASER
Cutting Head

Mechanism of
Laser Cutting

LASER CUTTING
LASER cutting - a thermal cutting process
Power density >104 w/mm2 - for a key hole
Type of lasers Nd:YAG, CO2 CW/pulsed
OPTICAL FACTORS OF INFLENCE
Beam power,
Divergence,
Focal length,
Beam dia.,
Wave length,
Power density
Depth of focus

LASER CUTTING
MATERIAL CHARACTERISTICS
SURFACE PROPERTY
Surface condition,
Reflectivity &
Absorption
BULK PROPERTY
Thickness, Density, Heat of fusion, heat of
vaporisation, Diffusivity

LASER CUTTING
ASSIST GASES Air, Oxygen, Nitrogen
and Argon
AIR Al, Composites, Glass, Quartz
O2CS, SS, Cu
N2-

SS, Al, Ni alloys

ArTitanium
For Al up to 1mm air is OK and for
higher thickness use N2
Inert gas produce quality cutting

LASER CUTTING
CHARACTERISTICS OF LASER CUT:
1. KERF WIDTH: for CO2 0.1 to 1mm
Short FL and small beam dia
CS wider kerf due to burn back
2. ROUGHNESS: 1mm thick
1.6micron
10mm thick10microns
1. DROSS:
Material adherence to bottom of cut
edge
Due to improper focus, low gas
pressure and high cutting speed

LASER CUTTING OF 5mm SS PLATES