New laser application centre at the ITC

As everywhere in production, processes have to become faster, costs have to be kept low and quality should remain the same, we started out with laser hybrid welding some time ago.

We have been working very successfully in the field of laser welding and laser joining in close cooperation with Scansonic, for more than 12 years. By coupling the laser beam and GMAW, the advantages of both processes are combined with laser hybrid welding. Coupling the laser beam and GMAW opens up completely new possibilities for the efficient joining of metals, which are constantly being further developed in our new laser application centre.

Deep heat input and less joint preparation

With laser hybrid welding, a very targeted, deep heat input is achieved. The filler metal can be fed very efficiently – but in an energy-bound manner, which allows the structure of the weld metal to be influenced metallurgically. Larger gap widths that cannot be bridged with pure laser welding are successfully welded with the filler metal in laser hybrid welding. In return, this fact reduces the work for joint preparation and tolerance requirements. Even fewer layers are needed in case a fully connected seam cross-section as well as seam volume are required.

Increased demand for laser hybrid welding

In laser hybrid welding, the sheet thicknesses are mainly between 5 mm and 12 mm, which makes this process particularly attractive for shipbuilding, crane production and rail vehicle construction. Inquiries in these segments come from Asia, America and Europe. To cover this demand, we have expanded our innovation and technology centre (ITC) to include a laser application cell.

The focus there is on a KUKA robot type KR 120 R2700, which is designed for a working load of up to 120 kilograms. This robot is equipped with a laser processing head, welding torch, wire feeding system and a seam tracking sensor. A control cabinet with a higher-level controller from Rohmann-Automation monitors the processes, ensures their communication and enables the parameters to be entered. In that way, it is possible to watch live welds together with customers on a large screen for example and jointly find solutions for their application.

The laser application centre is an important investment in the future of our headquarters in Central Hesse.

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