Utmost care needs to be taken to get the expected quality from the welding process as shorter wavelength helps most steels to absorb the energy of the laser, more efficiently than the CO2 ones.
FREMONT, CA: Every new technological innovation that is introduced in the recent time is followed by another in a short time. A few technologies emerge and establish a position for themselves, dividing the market, whereas, others shift the earlier technology, picturing it outdated to take over the marketplace quickly.
Usually, a new type of technology supersedes an old one, when it comes to electrical and electronics products. The glowing light bulb is significantly a thing of the past, taken over by compact fluorescent, halogen, and light-emitting diode ranges.
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For several decades, the marketplace for industrial lasers was under the control of CO2 variety. The CO2 laser made its place as a contender after it was considered as a viable alternative to resistance and arc welding processes when used for welding the seam. In the present time, the CO2 variety is also losing its position to the solid-state laser technology.
Tube and pipe producers have utilized gas tungsten arc welding, high-frequency electric resistance welding (HF-ERW), plasma arc welding, and laser welding, according to the application needed. Laser welding offers superior results, and creates welds with integrity, surpassing any other materials for stainless steel umbilical lines that are used hundreds of feet below sea level.
Nonetheless, with almost every technology, laser welding is accompanied by some drawbacks. Firstly, it is not as fast as the standard tube and pipe mill welding process, HF-ERW. Secondly, the laser light needs more severe guarding than the arc welding processes in order to defend operators from reflected light. Besides, the investment does not provide much when it comes to a financial benefit. The expense of a laser welding unit is as much as the HF-ERW unit.
Laser welds have been considered as a primary benefit in welding 400 series stainless tubing for exhaust systems that need small-radius bends and form into bellows shapes, keeping in mind, the contraction control and thermal expansion.
Solid-state lasers generate a beam, which can be focused to a smaller spot diameter than multiple CO2 lasers. It can be considered as a substantial advantage, only when the tube mill can present the seam at the top dead center, along with proper edge groundwork. CO2 lasers carry a good reputation when it is about cleaning welds of the tube, but a lot of work has been done in the past years that allow solid-state lasers to generate identical results.
