The use of single-mode fiber laser for welding of stainless steel thin thickness

At this moment, solid-state lasers based on Nd:YAG are replaced by fiber ytterbium lasers. This is due to a number of advantages, such as: high electrical efficiency, long life of diodes for pumping, significant reduction in floor space, etc. In this regard, Nd:YAG laser was changed to YLR300 single-mode fiber laser manufacturing by IPG at the Rofin StarWeld 500 installation with scan head. Preliminary modes for welding stainless steel AISI 321 with a thickness of 0.1 - 0.4 mm were selected. In this report, the influence of the laser power and welding speed on weld geometry are presented. The welds were analyzed by optical microscopy. Lap welding of the heat exchanger-recuperator parts was carried out with the weld tightness test. Analysis of the experiments showed that the use of a single-mode fiber laser with scan head makes it possible to obtain high-quality seal welds of small thickness with a high productivity and welding speed on the order 250 mm/s. (paper)