Objective The aim of this project is to develop production technology tor the laser welding of austenilic stainless steel in SME's lor products SUCtl as, medical products. heat exchangers and boilers. piping in the chemical industry and lor automotive applications. products in the electronics industry, machinery for the food industry and marine applications. Besides ease of weld one Or the reasons austenitic grades are ideally suited lo laser welding is hecause the low heat input and high welding speeds do not allow metallurgical damage to occur which can impair the corrosion resistance of the weld metal. There are lot of possibilities to use laser welding in place of conventional welding techniques and take the advantages of lasers. In practice, the change over is not carried out due to the lack of linformation on product design joint tolerances, fixtures. selection ot the equipment and economical aspects especially when it comes to welding more complex products. An RTD programme is toreseen. Stainless steel products, which are presently welded by a more conventional welding technique, will be redesigned for laser welding. Welding parameters will he experimentally optimized. Intormation assessed in the experiments will he used to produce laser welded prototype products and to tormulate general guidelines t or laser welding austenitic stainless steel complex products. The economic advantages of laser welding are obvious. Laser welding speed is higher than commonly used conventional welding processes. Increasing welding speed will improve the productivity and the quality in the stainless stecl industry. A smaller weld region obtained Wittl lascr welding compared to other welding processes can often he translated to a more compact construction. resulting in an additional reduction in production .osts. A reduction in cost ot 150 MECU is anticipated tor SME's in the stainless steel industry within the EC Fields of science social scienceseconomics and businesseconomicsproduction economicsproductivitynatural sciencesphysical sciencesopticslaser physics Programme(s) FP4-BRITE/EURAM 3 - Specific research and technological development programme in the field of industrial and materials technologies, 1994-1998 Topic(s) 0202 - New methodologies for product design and manufacture Call for proposal Data not available Funding Scheme EAW - Exploratory awards Coordinator ROESTVRIJSTAALINDUSTRIE GETON BV EU contribution No data Address 4314,Bedrijfventerrein de Run 4314 5503 LN VELDHOVEN Netherlands See on map Total cost No data
