Metals

We are the experts in state of the art laser welding technology and have successfully developed many new applications which have now been transferred into volume production improving efficiency and product quality for our many industrial clients.

Rapid point to point movement at the speed of light enables lightning quick welding cylce times. Remote welding involves the use of moving optics in order to rapidly scan the laser beam across the workpiece. Fraunhofer CLA has state of the art laser sources for remote welding applications including a 6kW disk laser with 100 micron fiber delivery...

The combination of laser with conventional arc processes provides the advantages of both in a single welding process. We are leaders in the development of hybrid welding technologies. Laser welding can be combined with GMAW (MIG/MAG), GTAW (TIG) or PAW (Plasma) arc processes to create a process with the speed of laser...

For difficult to weld and crack sensitive materials, Fraunhofer has developed induction assisted laser welding technology which can be used to pre and post heat components in order to control the cooling rate of the weld in order to avoid the formation of brittle weld and HAZ microstructures. Fraunhofer has several patents in this field has susccessfully transferred this into industial production.

Laser micro-welding is conducted using a combination of small spot size (< 50 µm) and high peak power either by pulsing laser or by high speed laser scanning. Both continuous wave single-mode fiber laser and pulsed Nd:YAG laser sources are available at Fraunhofer for seam and spot welding applications.

High quality brazing is also possible using laser technology. Laser Brazing uses a lower melting point filler wire material which is melted by the laser beam to form a brazed joint with extremely high quality and surface appearance. Indeed automotive Class A quality finishes are possible with little or no after weld polishing.

In laser soldering, irradiated laser beam provides controlled heating of solder material and joint area which causes solder to reflow and form the joint. Fraunhofer has suitable laser sources with small spot sizes (<0.2 mm) and can perform high quality soldering using lead based and lead-free solders.