Nd-YAG laser welding of bare and galvanised steels

Conference · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1989

OSTI ID:5492673

Kennedy, S C; Norris, I M

Until recently, one of the problems that has held back the introduction of lasers into car body fabrication has been the difficulty of integrating the lasers with robots. Nd-YAG laser beams can be transmitted through fibre optics which, as well as being considerably easier to manipulate than a mirror system, can be mounted on more lightweight accurate robots. Although previously only available at low powers, recent developments in Nd-YAG laser technology mean that lasers of up to 1kW average power will soon be available, coupled to a fibre optic beam delivery system. The increasing usage of zinc coated steels in vehicle bodies has led to welding problems using conventional resistance welding as well as CO/sub 2/ laser welding. The use of Nd-YAG lasers may be able to overcome these problems. This paper outlines work carried out at The Welding Institute on a prototype Lumonics 800W pulsed Nd-YAG laser to investigate its welding characteristics on bare and zinc coated car body steels.

• OSTI ID: 5492673
• Report Number(s): CONF-890240--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS
330601 -- Vehicle Design Factors-- Body & Chassis
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360101* -- Metals & Alloys-- Preparation & Fabrication
42 ENGINEERING
420300 -- Engineering-- Lasers-- (-1989)
ALLOYS
AUTOMOBILES
COATINGS
FABRICATION
IRON ALLOYS
IRON BASE ALLOYS
JOINING
LASER WELDING
LASERS
NEODYMIUM LASERS
PERFORMANCE
PROTECTIVE COATINGS
SOLID STATE LASERS
STEELS
VEHICLES
WELDING