A new method to butt weld pipes with laser at different angles

Laser butt welding of pipes at different angles may be cumbersome and may require very expensive tooling. The pipe size may not allow using the laser for large volume throughputs. We propose a rotary optical head composed by an adjustable focus lens system and two reflecting mirrors. The laser beam is bent at 90 deg. C. so that weld can be performed inwards outwards. The optic head design compensates the rotary backlash and vibrations, like a penta prism thus ensuring a perfect follow up of the weld track. The optic head can be inclined at 45 deg. C. to laser butt weld pipe each other at 90 deg. C. In this case the laser beam focus position is computer controlled in order to keep the focus point always on the elliptical weld profile. The paper covers theoretical and practical aspects of the proposed device. (author)