Handheld laser welding applications stay hot

Handheld laser welding applications stay hot

As an emerging process, laser manufacturing technology has developed particularly rapidly over the past decade, gradually penetrating manufacturing lines in a wide range of industries, replacing traditional processes, and being favoured by many users for its high efficiency and relative environmental benefits. The mainstream growth trend in the laser applications market has evolved from the earliest days of low power coding and marking, to medium to high power cutting, to today's high power and precision welding. Laser cutting will remain the dominant sector until 2021, but in fact the average growth rate of laser welding equipment has been higher than that of cutting equipment over the past three years, making it the next hot spot for laser applications, especially in the automotive, power battery and new energy industries driving the rapid increase in high-end laser welding equipment, as well as handheld laser welding applications in general.

Handheld laser welding continues to be hot

Laser welding process has been developed for many years, but has been caught in the small table, fixture and automation design requirements, high cost of equipment and other factors, can not be used on a large scale. Since the emergence of handheld laser welding more than three years ago, it has been well received by the market. Handheld laser welding equipment structure is simple, mainly by the laser, chiller, handheld welding head, beam transmission and other components, manual welding eliminates the need for a workbench, complex fixtures and operating system settings, with considerable flexibility, so that laser welding has become as easy as ordinary argon arc welding, resistance welding, general welders turn to laser welding is very easy, while the equipment has also become flexible and mobile high, to meet the requirements of many The equipment has also become flexible and mobile, meeting the requirements of many small processors.

It is worth noting that although handheld laser welding is developing rapidly in China, there are not many developed countries in Europe and the USA, presumably because this bare, high power laser handheld welding operation does not meet the safety requirements of these countries. Compared to handheld laser welding equipment, ordinary several thousand dollars a set of argon arc welding equipment still has a cost advantage and a very large market stock. The purchase unit price of handheld laser welding machines has dropped significantly from the earliest $150,000 a unit to even $30,000 to $40,000 a unit today. The falling cost of use has inspired a large number of user purchases and is expected to maintain annual shipments of tens of thousands of units in the future and replace traditional argon arc welding and resistance spot welding in many scenarios, with huge scope for replacement of laser welding as opposed to millions of units of argon arc welding.

Fig.: Conventional welding of metal exhaust ducts

Handheld laser welding for a wide range of applications

Handheld laser welding can be easily applied to applications such as steel sheets, stainless steel plates, metal tubes etc. Commonly used powers now include 500 watts to 2000 watts and can easily weld metal materials up to 4 mm thick, which can cover many of life's hardware products. The most common examples are doors, windows, handrails and railings in the construction industry, for example, where today there is a preference for stainless steel and even aluminium alloys, and where laser welding can be used to improve efficiency, save on welding consumables and provide a very strong weld. With infrastructure development coupled with a large demand for housing, there is a huge amount of doors, windows and handrail railings and there is huge potential for handheld laser welding.

Sanitary ware is a large area of stainless steel and hardware welding needs, faucets, handles, heating systems, sinks and so on need welding processing, handheld laser welding can be a good alternative to argon arc welding, welding without a lot of grinding process, saving a lot of labor. It is understood that today the bathroom industry has gradually recognized the advantages of handheld laser welding, and began to popularize the use of the. Another is the exhaust / ventilation pipe, such as the catering industry, factory ventilation exhaust pipe area is large, often using galvanized iron or stainless steel, the previous use of resistance spot welding is very low efficiency, and the lack of sealing, resulting in odour leakage, the use of laser welding can be a seam completely sewn pipe body, to achieve a very good welding effect.

Kitchen utensils use more stainless steel materials, knives, spatulas, kitchenware sorting racks, etc. are all welded and laser welding can be fully applicable. In lamps and lanterns many lampshades are metal materials, open material with laser cutting hollow pattern pattern, roll the piece after welding into the lampshade, handheld welding applicability is very wide, the development potential is huge.

Customised laser chillers for handheld welding

Ltd. provides stable and reliable cooling equipment for domestic laser users, with an annual shipment of over 100,000 units. Tavis is actively exploring the welding application market and has a variety of popular products for medium and high power precision welding processes. For handheld laser welding applications, the company has developed and launched the CWFL-1500ANW chiller, which is a laser chiller that can be applied to a variety of scenarios. The CWFL-1500ANW is a handheld laser chiller that can be used in a wide range of applications. The CWFL-1500ANW can be fitted with a cover plate to install a handheld welding laser, and can be used in a variety of applications.

The CWFL-1500ANW chiller is lightweight and mobile, making it easier to move the handheld laser welder around and carry it to the job site without having to redesign the frame to mount the chiller and laser. This design will allow the handheld welders to move beyond the confines of a fixed indoor workshop and into the construction sites and building installation sites to weld metal products, giving the handheld laser welders greater versatility.

There are still many opportunities for handheld laser welding equipment in the years to come, and TUV's customised chillers will be increasingly involved in handheld welding applications.