Experiments on Nd:YAG pulsed laser welding of thin sheets

Abstract

Laser welding of thin sheets raises a number of issues arising from the difficulty to maintain a good contact between the components to be joined. A set of experiments were performed using a Nd:YAG PE-W500II laser welding equipment, aiming to identify solutions to avoid local separation of thin sheets due to the induced thermal influence. The welding results were analysed by optical and scanning electron microscopy. The effects of the current intensity and pulse width had a decisive influence on the quality of the resulting welded joint. Furthermore, the use of a device that ensures good localized contact in the area to be welded, also leading to increased local energy dissipation, was essential to achieve high-quality microwelds.