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Content archived on 2024-04-15

Laser sheet metal welding

Objective


The achievements so far are shown:
Improvements in absorption of laser energy by the metal, the process has been monitored by optical beam switching and high speed cinematography.
Diagnostic and control devices for the welding process have been tested, for integration in a production line.
Fatigue resistance of laser nonthrough welds, for automotive applications.
Zinc coated overlapping sheets have been satisfactorily welded by introducing a gap between them.
In aluminium A12219 and 6061 porosity still exists in the laser produced weld bead.
Welding Uranus 45 and titanium Ti6Al4V gave satisfactory results.
Rolling clamping devices have been designed and successful welding was obtained on relatively deformed sheets.
Intermediate car door pillars with a shell structure have been laser welded, showing a very strong increase in rigidity and fatigue resistance compared with conventional spot welds.
The aeronautic component capot echangeur for the AIRBUS A320 in titanium has been laser welded, demonstrating the feasibility of annular spot welds; these should be regarded favourably for fatigue and thermal shock resistance.
Aerospace cylindrical modules in Ti6A14V, 500 mm in diameter and 1.6 mm thick, showed that laser welding results in a manufactured product with very low thermal distortions.

The process of melting, plasma raising, key hole vapours and turbulent melted flow were examined and inert shielding gases were adopted to control the plume and surface oxidation. Optimum processing parameters were defined for the coated and uncoated mild steels used in the automotive industry. Various joint configurations were studied such as butt, Lap and T. Zinc coatings produce vapour ejection which causes faults in welds by any process. Gaps were successfully used between sheets to prevent this problem.

Aluminium and titanium alloys were welded by laser, TIG and electron beam. Butt welding of Ti6AlLiV by laser gave good results as regards tensility, geometry and porosity. The laser process yields a much smaller grain size in the bead and deformations in the pieces were greatly reduced.

During welding, the visible luminous emittance was correlated with the penetration depth of laser beam in the metal. A sensor was thus designed which can detect the luminous intensity emitted and control keyhole striking. Flexible rotating clamps were devised with clamp wheels which follow 5 axes paths whilst the overlapped and clamped sheets are being welded by a focused laser beam, close to the wheels.
THE AIM OF THIS PROJECT IS TO PROVIDE THE AUTOMOTIVE, AEROSPACE AND SHEET METAL INDUSTRY IN GENERAL WITH ENHANCED BASIC TECHNOLOGY AND SYSTEMS KNOWLEDGE IN ORDER TO IMPROVE WELD QUALITY AND LASER SYSTEM FLEXIBILITY WHEN WELDING COMPLEX SHAPED STRUCTURAL OR NON-STRUCTURAL ("SHELL") COMPONENTS. THE RESEARCH TOPICS RANGE FROM ANALYSIS OF PLASMA AND LASER BEAM POWER DISTRIBUTION, WELDING COATED AND UNCOATED SHEETS WITH A VARIABLE GAP, AND SUBSEQUENT COMPARATIVE MECHANICAL, METALLURGICAL AND CORROSION RESISTANCE TESTS.

THE FILLER METAL TECHNIQUE WILL BE ADOPTED TO ACHIEVE POSITIVE INTERACTION WITH THE VARIABLE GAP PARAMETER AND THE COMPLEX GEOMETRY OF INDUSTRIAL COMPONENTS, AT THE SAME TIME CONSIDERING HETEROGENEOUS MATERIAL WELDING. THE PROJECT ALSO INCLUDES DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTRO-OPTICAL AND ACOUSTICAL SENSORS FOR FOCAL POSITION CONTROL, SEAM TRACKING AND GAP MONITORING. NEW FLEXIBLE CLAMPING SYSTEMS ARE ALSO TO BE DESIGNED AND INTEGRATED WITH THE SUPERVISORY SYSTEMS.

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CSC - Cost-sharing contracts

Coordinator

Istituto per le Ricerche di Tecnologia Meccanica e per l'Automazione SpA
EU contribution
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Participants (8)

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