Improving autonomy, reproducibility and reliability in laser welding processes
Unlike most conventional welding technologies, laser beam welding offers the advantage of a lower heat input, thus minimising distortion of steel components and avoiding dressing procedures. In particular, for structural steel materials laser welding may produce weld seams of high quality and fatigue behaviour. However, despite the benefits, the wide adoption of laser welding as an assembly process has been hampered due to the associated technological complexity and automation problems. Some of the key application fields of welding technology include steel construction, pipe-lay and automotive industries. Challenged by these, the IPCIM project developed innovative laser welding methods for new materials and welding control techniques for large section and sheet metal steel welding in the manufacturing industry. The primary focus was on improving the reliability in the production process and setting more rigorous specifications for quality control. Part of project's work involved the process evaluation of welding trials including autogenous laser beam welding, hybrid CO2 laser/Metal Active Gas (MAG)-welding of T-joints, characterisation of welding systems. Test examples and demonstrator parts were also produced and the process monitoring system was further developed. The derived results showed that the new and innovative welding techniques have the potential to be employed in the field of new material processing. Most importantly, investment in the reliability, reproducibility and autonomy of these techniques is expected to significantly contribute to the sustainable growth and competitiveness of the European industries.