Laser Welding Mastering the Technology

Improve your laser welding operations, and better understand laser welding as a system and its practicality in today's manufacturing arena.

• Manufacturing engineers
• Production engineers
• Mechanical engineers
• Design engineers
• R&D engineers 
• Production, maintenance, and setup personnel
• Laser operators
• Quality assurance engineers
• Laser system integrators

Practical Laser Theory Industrial Lasers

• CO₂lasers
• Nd:YAG lasers
• Solid-state lasers
  • fiber lasers
• Direct diode lasers (DDL)
• Temporal profiles
• Spatial profiles
• Factors affecting laser selection
• Maintenance considerations

Laser Beam Delivery

• Optics
• Fiber optic delivery systems
• Remote welding systems
• Power losses
• Monitoring beam performance

Weld Geometry

• Nomenclature of the weld
  • aspect ratio
  • porosity
• Joint design
  • butt welds
  • lap welds
  • fillet welds
• Design criteria
• Fit-up tolerances

Laser Welding

• Material-energy interactions
• Power density control
• Shield gases
  • selection and delivery
  • flow rate
  • direction
• Calculations
  • spot size
  • power density
  • sizing the laser

Pulsed (Power) Laser Welding v. Continuous Power (CW) Laser Welding

• Penetration
• Power density
• Pulse shape
• Power ramping
• Temperature control

Welding Dissimilar Metals

• Power density
• Heat-affected zone
• Fusion

Laser Additive Manufacturing (LAM)

• Overview
• Laser selection
• Powder selection
• Power determination
• Pitfalls and how to avoid them
• Learning opportunities

Tooling

• Clamping
• Heat sinking
• Shield gas

Class Exercise: System Integration

• Create a process and design a laser system from concept to final production

Laser Weld Inspection

• Pre-process
  • machine vision
• In-process
• Post-process
• Lab evaluation

Laser Weld Defects

• Nomenclature of weld defects
• Causes of weld defects

Lessons Learned

Summary and Review

"Marc understands the issues involved in successful laser welding operations. He holds nothing back. He provided objective, unbiased, knowledgeable solutions and answers. These courses deliver. They are worth every penny!"
Welding Engineer

"It was great that laser welding was approached as a "system," not just the laser…it's the tooling, parts, gas, exhaust, etc."
Welding Engineer

Marc Hernandez

Marc Hernandez, LWP, is the Manufacturing Engineering Technician Supervisor for DSSA-AZ (Daicel Safety Systems America–Arizona), a leading initiator device manufacturer, located in Mesa, Arizona. Prior to joining DSSA-AZ, Hernandez worked as a Manufacturing Engineer at Special Devices Inc. (SDI), where he developed and maintained robotic laser welding cells for their operations worldwide. Prior to joining SDI, Hernandez worked for TRW Automotive Air Bag Inflator Manufacturing, and the US Navy in a variety of laser welding and directed energy operations.

Elaine Andrysick

Elaine M. Andrysick joined Engineering Professional Development, University of Wisconsin-Madison, as a continuing engineering education specialist in 1988.  She is responsible for the development and delivery of high-value continuing engineering education short courses for practicing professionals in the areas of chemical and process engineering and laser material processing.  Also, she manages the University’s Laser Welding Certificate program.