A reduction of the fuel consumption is one of the most important goals of the automotive industry in developing new generations of more economic and ecologic motor vehicles. The weight reduction potential makes aluminium alloys very attractive material for automobile manufacturing. An increased share of aluminium can therefore be expected within the next years, but new joining techniques have to be developed. Especially welding techniques are required, which enable the production of high quality welds with high process reliability, high welding speed and low distortions. Compare to conventional welding techniques, like TIG- or MIG-welding, laser welding offers some advantages. Because of the high welding speeds and the corresponding low line energies low thermal induced distortions can be achieved. However, due to the outstanding physical properties and the specific metallurgical features of aluminium alloys laser welding is a very complex process being difficult to handle. This is the main reason why laser welding is not established as an industrial process today. Using CO2 lasers extremely high power densities are necessary to ensure a stable welding process. This needs a high laser beam quality and optimised focus conditions. The resulting small focus diameter of the laser beam additionally requires small joining gaps to avoid weld defects. The maximum width of joining gaps is usually restricted to 0.1 mm. Particularly in complexly shaped three-dimensional car body constructions this makes costly machining and clamping devices necessary.
Laser welding of aluminium alloys with continuous powder and wire feed
Laserschweißen von Aluminiumlegierungen mit kontinuierlichem Schweißpulver- und Schweißdrahtnachschub
1993
8 Seiten, 6 Bilder, 12 Quellen
Aufsatz (Konferenz)
Englisch
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