Battle of the Sources - Using a High-Power Yb-Fibre Laser for Welding Steel and Aluminium

摘要

Interest in fibre lasers for materials processing rocketed in 2001 when laser output powers exceeded 1kW. Since then, output powers and laser beam quality have continued to increase and, today, exceed those available for Nd:YAG lasers and are fast approaching those of CO{sub}2 lasers. The seemingly easily scaleable fibre laser technology offers a compact design with a small footprint, no moving parts and manufacturers claim high power conversion efficiency and high reliability for these lasers. In this paper, fibre lasers and their claimed advantages over conventional laser welding technology are discussed, and their performance for the welding of both steel and aluminium assessed based on a 7kW Yb-fibre laser source installed at TWI.