Laser Welding

Whether flat or round – the philosophy is always the same; Soutec solves the problem in the welding process.  If you are in the laser welding business, you know what it means to prepare an edge in a way to take the full energy of the laser beam of 0.4-0.6mm in diameter.  A “zero gap” condition between two blanks is the ideal concept but in reality this is almost impossible to achieve.

On one hand, the solution lies in the perfect detection and measuring system to measure the gap width and its position.  On the other hand, in an almost “zero gap” condition prior to welding either the gap needs to be closed or to be filled with the exact amount of lacking material.

With a specially developed measuring system (SOUVIS ® 5000), based on the combination of gray image technology and laser triangulation, gap and position of the laser beam on +/- 0.02mm accuracy is localized.  That is 4 to 5 times more accurate than other measuring systems on the market.  Thus, the lack of material caused by the shear to break ratio or by the tension in the sheet metal can be recognized exactly.

Having the capability to compensate the lack of material by means of a filler wire, a uniform seam profile (defined: convexity or concavity) can be achieved.  With laser welding using the legendary keyhole process, Soutec has reached another technological milestone which opened the door to outer skin tailored blanks.