Stewart Williams writes on the need for scientific understanding in laser welding

Writing in Laser Systems Europe the Centre's Professor Stewart Williams at Cranfield University argues that a more scientific approach to laser welding would increase uptake of the technology.

It is my belief that it is the often adopted engineering approach to laser welding, and indeed many other laser processes, which is the root cause of this. This is manifested in the following types of activities:

  • Development of laser processes using system parameters such as power and travel speed;
  • Development of a new laser source and then seeing what it can do;
  • Investigation of different types of laser with different materials;
  • Use of a specific laser system to obtain a desired result – laser supplier process development; and
  • Fiddling with system parameters and observing the changes.

The consequences of this approach are that laser processes are perceived as hard or needing specialised knowledge (a large amount of ‘black art’); processes become laser system specific and it is impossible or difficult to transfer from one system to another; and phenomenological effects are difficult to explain or understand.

 

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