• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.1299-1306
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• 2007

The combination of laser beam and electric arc sharing common weld pool has widely been investigated since the late seventies, but it is beginning of the industrial uses. Recently, laser-GMA hybrid welding process showed possibility to overcome the tight gap tolerance with improved productivity. The laser-arc hybrid welding process is inherently complex because it has three kinds of process parameters: arc welding, laser welding and hybrid welding parameters. In this study, the optimum range of the process parameters were determined by high speed image analysis which could unveil the welding phenomena in laser-arc hybrid welding. The laser-arc hybrid welding was applied for position welding from the flat position to the overhead position and the welding characteristics were investigated.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.4-15
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• 2013

The laser/arc hybrid welding process is a new process combining the laser beam and the arc as welding heat source. The laser beam and arc influence and assist one another. By application of hybrid welding, synergistic effects are achievable, and disadvantage of the respective processes can be compensated. The laser-arc hybrid welding process has good potential to extend the field of applications of laser technology, and provide significant improvements in weld quality and process efficiency in manufacturing applications. This review analyses the recent advances in the fundamental understanding of hybrid welding processes using the works of the data base of Web of Science (SCI-Expanded) since the 2000 year. The research activity on the hybrid welding has been become more actively since 2006, especially in China, presenting the most research papers in the world. Since the hybrid welding process was adopted in manufacturing of the automobile in Europe in the early of 2000's, its adopting is widely expanded in the field of manufacturing of automobile, ship building, steel construction and the other various industry. The hybrid welding process is expected to advance toward higher productivity, higher precision, higher reliability through the mixing of high power and flexible fiber laser or disk laser and digitalized pulsed arc source.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.67-73
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• 2006

Laser welding is suitable for welding to the aluminum alloy sheet. In order to apply the aluminum laser welding to production line, parameters should be optimized. In this study, the optimal welding condition was searched through the genetic algorithm in laser welding of AA5182 sheet with AA5356 filler wire. Second-order polynomial regression model to estimate the tensile strength model was developed using the laser power, welding speed and wire feed rate. Fitness function for showing the performance index was defined using the tensile strength, wire feed rate and welding speed which represent the weldability, product cost and productivity, respectively. The genetic algorithm searched the optimal welding condition that the wire feed rate was 2.7 m/min, the laser power was 4 kW and the welding speed was 7.95 m/min. At this welding condition, fitness function value was 137.1 and the estimated tensile strength was 282.2 $N/mm^2$.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Machine Tool Engineers
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.58-67
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• 2003

Welding characteristics of austienite 304 stainless and SM45C using a continuous wave Nd:YAG laser n experimentally investigated Laser beam welding is increasingly being used in welding of structural steels. The laser welding process is one of the most advanced manufacturing technologies owing to its high speed and deep penetration. The thermal cycles associated with laser welding are generally much Inter than those involved in conventional welding processes, leading to a rather small weld zone. Experiments are performed for 304 stainless steel plates changing several process parameter such as laser power, welding speed, shielding gas flow rate, presence of surface pollution, with fixed or variable gap and misalignment between the similar and dissimilar and plates, etc. The Nd:YAG laser welding process is one of the most advanced manufacturing technologies owing to its high speed and penetration. This paper describes the weld ability of SM45C carbon steel for machine structural use by Nd:YAG laser. The follow conclusions can be drawn that laser power and welding speed have a pronounced effect on size and shape of the fusion zone. Increase in welding speed resulted in an increase in weld depth/aspect ratio and hence a decrease in the fusion zone size. The penetration depth increased with the increase in laser power.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.82-87
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• 2011

In this study, we conducted laser welding by using remote scanner that is 5J32 aluminum alloy to observe the mechanical properties and optimize welding process parameters. As the control factors, laser incident angle, laser power and welding speed were set and as the result of weldablility, tensile shear tests were performed. ANOVA (Analysis of Variation) was also carried out to identify the influence of process variables on tensile shear strength. Strength estimation models were suggested using regression alnalysis and 2nd order polynomial model had the best estimation performance. In addition optimal welding condition was determined in terms with wedalility and productivity using objective function and fitness function. Final optimized welding condition was laser power was 4 kW, and welding speed was 4.6 m/min.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.30-35
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• 2004

Laser welding is obviously an attractive method to join small, thin parts such as small stainless steel tubes, but it is very sensitive to the joint clearance and tolerance, and this makes laser welding difficult to obtain consistent welding qualities over time. Recently, Plasma Augmented Laser Welding(PALW) is being developed to solve these problems. In this study, plasma arc welding(PAW) was introduced to join conventional V-grooved butt joint of thin stainless steel strips using single laser heat source in manufacturing small stainless steel tubes. The effect of the welding speed enhancement is investigated by the experiments. Effects of welding directions, distance between the heat sources and intensity of arc heat source on the optimal welding speed was investigated. Through this research, it was confirmed that PALW process has higher welding speed and robustness than laser welding process.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.44-55
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• 2003

The Nd:YAG laser process is known to have high speed and deep penetration capability to become one of the most advanced welding technologies. This paper describes the machining characteristics of SM45C carbon steel welding by use of an Nd:YAG laser. In spite of its good mechanical characteristics, SM45C carbon steel has a high carbon contents and suffers a limitation in the industrial application due to the poor welding properties. The major process parameters studied in the present laser welding experiment were position of focus, travel speed and laser power. Optical microscope and SEM were used to investigate the microstructures of the welded zone. The experimental results showed that penetration depth of the welding process increases with laser power. Both the microstructural investigation and the theoretical calculations indicated that materials undergoes a very high heating and cooling cycle during welding process. It was also found that the austenite nucleation takes place at the initial stage and the completion temperature of austenite transformation is much higher than in the case of the arc welding.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.27-31
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• 2006

Optimization of process parameters for laser-arc hybrid welding process is intrinsically sophisticated because the process has three kinds of parameters-arc, laser and hybrid welding parameters. In this paper, the relationship between weldability and several process parameters such as laser beam-arc distance, electrode height, welding current and welding speed, were investigated by the full factorial experimental design. Weld quality was evaluated by using weight of spatters which is related with the pore area. It was found that the weld quality was increased with the increases in laser beam-arc distance and welding current, and decreased with the increases in electrode height and welding speed.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.17-22
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• 2013

The excellent beam quality of high power fiber lasers are commonly used for remote welding applications in body job applications. The Welding speed and productivity is unmatched with any other welding technology including resistance spot welding or traditional laser welding. High tooling cost for clamping and bulky safety enclosures are obstacles which are limiting the use. With the newly developed Laser stitch welding gun we have an integrated clamping in the process tool and the laser welding is shielded in a way that no external enclosure is needed. Operation of this laser welding gun is comparable with resistance spot welding but 2-times faster. Laser stitch welding is faster than spot welding and slower than remote welding. It is a laser welding tool with all the laser benefits like welding of short flanges, weld ability of Ultra High Strength steel, 3 layers welding and Aluminium welding. Together with low energy consumption and minimum operation cost of IPG fiber laser it is a new and sharp tool for economic car body assembly.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.42-48
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• 2010

Polycarbonate (PC) and Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) were welded by a combination of a diode laser and a CNC machining center. Laser beam delivered through the transparent PC and was absorbed in an opaque ABS. Polymers were melted and joined by absorbed and conducted heat. Experiments were carried out by varying working distance from 44mm to 50mm for the focus spot diameter control, laser input power from 10W to 25W, and scanning speed from 100 to 400mm/min. The weld bead and cross-section were analyzed for weld quality, and tensile results were presented through the joint force measurement. With focus distance at 48mm, laser power with 20W, and welding speed at 300mm/min, experimental results showed the best welding quality which bead size was measured to be 3.75mm. The shear strength at the given condition was $22.8N/mm^2$. Considering tensile strength of ABS is $43N/mm^2$, shear strength was sufficient to hold two materials. A single process was possible in a CNC machining system, surface processing, hole machining and welding. As a result, the process cycle time was reduced to 25%. Compared to a typical process, specimens were fabricated in a single process, with high precision.