Laser Welding

Laser welding is the technique of using lasers to fuse metal components together. The welding process encompasses a range of technologies, including lasers, electron beams, electric arcs, and plasma torches, all serving as heat sources to achieve the same fundamental purpose.

Advantages of Laser Welding

Compared to other technologies, lasers offer distinct advantages:

Versus Arcs and Plasma:

• Minimal Heat Application: Reduces energy requirements, minimising thermal distortion of parts and the risk of cracking.
• Precise Heat Application: Utilises in-line cameras and small laser beams to create the melt pool exactly where needed.
• Weld Strength: Rapid heating and cooling result in a denser microstructure, producing a stronger weld.
• Weld Depth: Capable of creating very deep, narrow melt pools, allowing thick materials to be welded through their entire thickness without excessively heating the rest of the part.

Versus Electron Beams:

• No Vacuum Requirement
• More cost-effective to operate.
• Not limited by the size of the vacuum chamber.
• Unaffected by changes in the ambient magnetic field (e.g., if a forklift passes by the machine during operation).

At Microkerf, we offer a comprehensive range of laser welding technologies and capabilities to accommodate all material types, geometries, and quantities, from small batches to tens of thousands of units.

Our systems are equipped for both low-power pulsed welding, ideal for fine-detail joining of small, high-precision components, and high-power continuous-wave welding for the rapid welding of thicker components, with all variations in between. Laser spot sizes can be reduced to tens of microns, enabling welding on components that would be damaged by arc welding.

Additionally, we provide manual laser welding capabilities for wire-fed laser welding and the repair of complex geometries. While not suited for mass manufacturing, this capability is optimised for producing small quantities of unique components or repairing cracked parts with complex paths that cannot be programmed into CNC machines.

Example Applications

• Damaged Tooling: Instead of discarding damaged tools, they can be restored to full functionality.
• Vehicle Component Repair: Repairing damaged vehicle components where spare parts are difficult or impossible to find.

Microkerf can weld a variety of materials, including all types of carbon and stainless-steel alloys, nickel-based superalloys, aluminium, and brass alloys.