Laser welding, also known as Laser Beam Welding (LBW), is a relatively new welding process that’s only been around for a few decades, and only recently has it started to achieve a more widespread usage. Initially it was used for exotic metal types that were hard to weld by conventional welding processes. But as time and technology progressed, laser welding has moved into a more prominent position amongst the various types of welding processes.



What is laser welding? It’s a type of welding process that employs the use of a highly focused laser beam to project a high-energy beam of light onto a piece or pieces of metal in order to cause the metals to become molten and fuse together as they cool.



The beam of light that’s produced by the laser can either be a visible beam or an infrared beam. As the beam of light leaves the laser is guided by optics that are capable of positioning the beam wherever it’s needed. Through the use of these specialized optics it’s also possible to focus the beam on a very small and narrow spot.



One of the main advantages of laser welding is due to this ability to focus on such a precise area. By concentrating on such a small area, the power density increases as the focal point gets smaller. This has the advantage of decreasing the heat affected zone (HAZ), while increasing heating and cooling rates. The typical size of the spot produced by the laser varies from a few tenths of a millimeter up to 2 cm.



Normally laser welding is a completely automated process. Computers are used to control all facets of the weld including weld size, input power, control of the weld beam, etc. Because of this computer control, accuracy, repeatability, and overall quality will be very high. Not just for a single weld, but for every weld.



There are typically two types of laser beam welding that are employed. The beam itself can either be a continuously operated beam or an intermittently operated beam, or pulsed beam. Which type is used depends primarily on the thickness of the material that’s to be welded. Thin metals are more likely to use the pulsed beam process, whereas thick metals that require much more heat normally use the continuous beam process.



Laser beam welding is a very useful process in that it can be used to make extremely high quality welds in just about any type of metal that’s weldable; including stainless and carbon steels, aluminum, titanium.