LZH: Lighter with laser weldingApplication

LZH: Lighter with laser welding

source：www.lzh.de

release：Johnny Lee

Time：2015-10-16

One of the challenges in welding steel with aluminum is to avoid hard and brittle intermetallic phases in the welding seam. These phases can occur easily, since iron and aluminum do not combine well. The goal of the scientists at the LZH and their partners in the project LaserLeichter, is to control the welding process as much as possible. Therefore, different measuring methods will be assessed.

Establishing control during and after the running process
For one, the engineers will be testing a spectroscopic control of the welding depth, which measures the emissions of the plasma. During the ongoing process, the composition of the plasma indicates the welding depth, and allows to adapt the laser output accordingly. This control is already being evaluated at the LZH for flat welds, and will now be expanded to three-dimensional structures. Since the distance between the process zone and the measurement sensors inevitably changes in the course of the process, detecting the plasma emissions accurately is difficult. For optimal measurements, the spectrometer will be integrated into an innovative, scanner-based processing head.

Also, the scientists are testing a sensor made by the project partner Precitec GmbH & Co. KG, which can directly measure the depth of the keyhole (vapor capillary). Additionally, they are examining a thermal imaging process of the InfraTec GmbH, as well as a trailing nondestructive sample analysis using active thermal imaging from the inpro Innovationsgesellschaft für fortgeschrittene Produktionssysteme in der Fahrzeugindustrie mbH (inpro). The processes developed within the project are tested directly on demonstrators for the automotive industry, for example on a car body element or a battery case.