Advantages of Laser Welding → What is Laser Welding

What is Laser Welding

Traditionally used for metals, laser welding is great for joining plastics such as acrylic, PC, PETG, SAN, PA, PSU, PP, PE, PVC, ABS and many more including exotic materials such as PVDF and PEEK. Laser welding can even be used to join dissimilar plastics.

From chemical tanks to infant incubators; isolators to bottles & containers; glove rings to fuel cells; manifolds to industrial batteries; micro fluidic ‘lab chips’ to lighting systems, laser welding is at the heart of plastic engineering and the precise control of manufacturing parameters that it offers means it is set to be a popular choice.

How laser welding works

Laser welding works by using near-infrared (NIR) energy that passes through an IR transmissive substrate to an IR absorbing substrate, where energy is converted to heat to produce a weld between the two substrates.

When laser welding plastic, the top section of plastic must be transparent to the laser and the bottom section must absorb the laser. The laser passes through the top layer and is absorbed when it reaches the bottom layer. Heat is generated along the joint line where the laser is absorbed, which melts and fuses the plastic together, forming a strong, nearly invisible join.

It’s also possible to join 2 sections of plastic that are transparent to the laser by applying a coating of Clearweld to the joint before welding. Clearweld absorbs the laser so that the materials will join. This is particularly useful for applications where it is necessary to have a component made entirely from clear plastic

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Ultra Powerful High-Tech Laser Welding System

At 20 kW, GE's system is one of the largest HLAW facilities in North America. It wields enough power to weld steels nearly one-inch thick in a single pass versus the up to a half dozen passes required with current welding technologies. Utilizing HLAW will dramatically increase the speed at which industrial products are manufactured in the future. For example, going from conventional welding processes to HLAW to weld the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga could have saved nearly 800 tons of weld metal (equal to the weight of more than 600 compact cars) and reduced the welding time by 80%. GE is exploring this technology for application across its infrastructure manufacturing operations, including the oil and gas, power generation, aviation and rail industries.

"Manufacturing is becoming increasingly high-tech, with the introduction of advanced tools and processes that can make products better, faster and at substantially lower costs," said Luana Iorio, Manufacturing Technologies Leader at GE Global Research. "HLAW technology is part of a broad portfolio of next generation manufacturing tools GE is developing to improve our manufacturing competitiveness and take product performance to the next level."

GE's hybrid laser arc welding (HLAW) process uses a combination of laser welding and arc welding. With high-power fiber lasers, one is able to weld steels greater than 0.5" thick in a single pass at speeds greater than 6 ft/min. The result is a higher quality weld compared to traditional multi-pass welding approaches. To develop this technology, GE has leveraged decades of expertise in electrical power and laser technology. GE's history in laser technology spans five decades 

The development of the HLAW system underscores GE's commitment to infuse advanced technologies into its manufacturing processes. Global Research is investing in a diverse array of more than 100 manufacturing and inspection technology programs and inventing new ways to make products. In October 2009, GE opened the Advanced Manufacturing and Software Technology Center in Michigan that is dedicated to accelerating the development of next generation manufacturing technologies for GE's industrial products. Together with GE's Global Research network, the new Center is a vital part in GE's strategy to successfully transition promising new technologies and processes from the lab to the manufacturing floor. These breakthroughs will redefine how products are made in the future.

Camera Sees Through Melting Metal

A new high-speed X-ray video camera, now the fastest in the world, can see through molten metal and watch weld-weakening flaws form in real-time.

With visible light, we could only see the surface of the welding process. You couldn’t see what was happening inside,” said Felix Abt, one of the camera’s designers at the University of Stuttgart. “The only way to see pores that weaken weld seams was to cut the metal into pieces

Automotive companies use robots equipped with high-powered lasers to seam cars together with extreme speed and precision. As laser welding continues to get “more powerful, move faster, go deeper” and increase in use, Abt says, it’s increasingly important to understand the dynamics involved.

To capture the welding process in action, About and his colleague Rudolph Weber use an industrial-strength 4-kilowatt laser, which is roughly 400,000 times more powerful than a DVD drive’s beam. As their laser pummels a hunk of metal moving on a track, a tube fires X-rays through the weld and toward a high-speed video camera.The new X-ray footage isn’t pretty, Abt says, but in a few months he and Weber will tune the camera to increase its clarity. They also plan to imbue welding samples with tracer materials, such as tungsten carbide, that absorb X-rays and improve image contrast.

his is really only the beginning, but we now have the ability to watch processes that lead to porosity in real time while we’re welding

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High Speed Laser Cutting & Laser Welding

We frequently weld lap joints of thin metal at high speeds approaching 1-meter/second. With this small spot size the laser welds on thin sheet metal resemble electron beam welds in cross section. Traditionally the acceptable gap between layers should not exceed 10% the thickness of the thinnest part. For thin materials that is not much gap. However, the narrow and fast fiber laser welds show a surprising tendency to bridge the gap. 

The images below show cross sections of fiber laser welds on lap joints of 0.004-inch stainless steel.  The objective was to evaluate the change in welding speed. However, because of inadequate squeezing of the fixturing there are unitentional gaps that the laser weld bridges. If the gap is excessive the laser can cut a trough in the top sheet. The laser beam can also melt both layers and they won’t stick together. You can tell if there is a gap by looking at the top surface of the weld. If it is undercut there is probably a gap between the parts. Still, these cross sections show that there is a better tolerance to gaps with the narrow  laser welds.

Jay is an applications engineer in EWI's laser group and uses lasers for processing typically smaller or thinner objects. The lasers he works with include fiber, disk, pulsed Nd:YAG, green Nd:YAG, Q-switched Nd:YAG, and fiber delivered diode. Jay has done laser welding, drilling, cutting, bending and surface modification on a variety of metals, plastics and ceramics. Jay has BS/MS degrees in Welding Engineering from The Ohio State University

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Laser Welding and Laser Cutting Aluminum

Lase welding (LW) is a technique in which multiple layers of metal can be joined using a laser.  The precision of the laser allows for narrow, deep welds.  This process of welding has become an industry standard in the automotive field.

The use of a laser in the welding process can be used on many different types of metals, such as, aluminum, stainless steel, titanium and carbon steels.  The ability to be used on multiple types of metals is what has made it such a popular method to use in the manufacturing of automobiles.

There are two types of lasers involved in the process of laser beam welding.  A solid-state laser, which operates on the order of 1 micrometer;  the solid-state laser uses a single crystal shaped rod which is surrounded by a flash tube which contains either xenon or krypton.  Because high intense flashes produced by this method of welding, it is recommended that workers wear special eyewear or screens to reduce the chance of retina damage.

The other type of laser welding is those that use a gas laser.  A gas laser uses a high-voltage, low-current power source.  A gas laser can be operated in either a continuous or pulsed mode.  There is a much higher power output on a gas laser than there is when using a solid-state laser.

Even though both of these welding methods are predominantly machine operated, it is important that anyone who has any contact with these welding operations follow the proper safety precautions set forth to protect all welders.  The use of a welding helmet and gloves is always recommended to prevent any retinal damage or burns.

 

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Mammoth Real Estate Rentals Machines

That darn Internet, it is disrupting lives all around the world. It isn’t exactly causing mass rioting or toppling dictators here in Mammoth, but it certainly is changing many facets of Mammoth real estate. It is changing the demand, usage, the “visioning” by prospective buyers, and sprouting new economies and changing old ones. And stuck in the middle is the Town of Mammoth Lakes, a government entity like all government entities that is looking for increased revenue. Conversely, the consuming public is downright trying to evade taxes (imagine that). I’ve talked about this in the past, but the opposing forces are growing more apart every day, but changes may be in the offing. And increasingly it has become more and more about “heads in beds” in an upscale home near you.

Mammoth Lakes

A prevalent theme for many of these prospective buyers seems be “we can rent this.” They seem quite convinced of that. It is clearly driving purchases. But this a rather interesting phenomenon—-––people who want to buy a million$ plus home and let other people rent it while they’re not using it. And how do they know they can rent it? They know first hand. The renters are becoming purchasers. And they have a bunch of “friends” who will rent from them, especially if their place is nice, and fun to hang out at. What also makes this so noteworthy is that these new transient landlords aren’t even relying on the now-blasé resources like VRBO and VacationRentals.com. They have a growing number of friends, and if you’re not a friend, you’re not invited. My hunch tells me friends don’t pay bed tax either. The underlying theme is really nothing new here in Mammoth, but some of the methodology has. But it is definitely happening more and more in the high-end home market. People love renting these homes. It almost seems like renting (whether you are the landlord or the tenant) a luxury home in Mammoth rates has become a new “cool’ underground activity. Being in the Village might be the “in” thing for some, but renting a really nice home is the real luxury. Maybe there’s a strong market for Black Passes after all. And now it is driving sales in the high-end home market. Meanwhile, more and more existing owners who have never previously rented are moving into some rental activity to help offset overall costs, many with a “why not everybody else is?” attitude.

The VRBO/Vactionrentals.com method of doing business has evolved too. Or devolved in some eyes. It has become a wheeler-dealer “Let’s Make A Deal” place for rental transactions. That is, if it’s not the holidays. This is still the dominant realm of condominiums. Renters want to negotiate everything from rental rates, to cleaning costs, to not paying bed tax (13%, for what?). But the next generation/iteration of transient landlords is moving away from the traditional VRBO/Craigslist model too. Most of it is still about Internet marketing, but also personal relationships, “close friends,” etc. In some ways this has come full circle: in the 70’s and 80’s Southern California fireman already had this system well in place, their association/trade magazines were full of Mammoth condos for rent. The condos were owned by firemen and predominantly rented by firemen, and there were plenty of “deals” and trade-out cut along the way (and of course nobody paid bed taxes).

Mammoth Vacation

 

Real Estate mammoth Vocation in California CA

In Mammoth, the one thing I watch is the Ski Area, the economic driver of the community. The Town (government) can bumble and fumble down the road and have all of its calamities and bad press, but as long as it keeps the roads plowed (which they are stellar at) and keep the barbarians from running amok, then everything seems to pretty much even out.

 

But the Ski Area is something quite different. I often laugh at people, who don’t ski or ride the Mountain and think they are in touch with what’s going on in town. They’re not. A perspective going back at least a few decades helps to the As part of my job, I consume as much information about real estate as my brain can process. Obviously, some of the information is about economics and general trends in the market, or what is happening in the state or nationally that will impact the market. And I certainly don’t rely on the National Association of Realtors to guide my thought process.

We all know the MVP keeps increasing in price, but the demand appears fairly consistent. Across the board, these season pass programs look like the life-blood of ski resorts today. Are the increased revenues coming from MVPs just spending more on beer, demos and lessons? I have a hunch that one of the values of re-opening the MVP program to new members is that the newer MVPers are the ones spending the most highly profitable discretionary dollars on the Mountain.

Many people forget that the Ski Area is also a large “front desk” hotel operator/property manager in Mammoth. They can thank the Intrawest model for that. The rental numbers generated out of the Village and Juniper (Eagle) condo hotel units and the Mammoth Mountain Inn have to be impressive. It has taken awhile, but it sure seems they are getting it figured out, and I’m in the condo hotel properties all the time on business.

But is this where all these increased revenues are coming from? Is it more of the discretionary dollars being spent by real tourists who come on packaged deals? Or maybe the Black Pass holders really are big spenders? Or maybe it is the table service at Hyde Lounge generating this extra revenue