Handheld laser welding equipment is one of the rapid growth points of the laser application market in recent years. Since the second half of 2018, handheld laser welding equipment has begun to appear frequently at exhibitions and has been recognized by the market for its many advantages such as high efficiency, short training time, environmental protection, low consumables, and high ductility. Even fiber laser giant IPG has entered the handheld laser welding market.
Laser handheld welding work site
Advantages and applications of handheld laser welding
IPG said in its latest quarterly report: “Order demand for handheld laser welding machines is very strong. Customers are excited about the ease of operation of our handheld laser welding machines, improved welding quality, and the diversity of materials that can be connected. In a certain In some applications, handheld laser welding machines can help customers reduce the material costs of manufacturing parts because they can use metals that cannot be welded by traditional processes. In addition, handheld laser welding machines can also clean surfaces before and after welding, further reducing costs and improving Productivity. In addition, this product also helps solve the problem of shortage of qualified welders and high labor costs, because the training process of handheld laser welding machine only takes a few hours, making it very easy for even non-professional welders to get started.”
At present, the application fields of handheld laser welding are mainly concentrated in sheet metal, chassis, water tanks, distribution boxes and other cabinets, cabinets, kitchens and bathrooms, stainless steel door and window guardrails and other complex and irregular welding processes that do not require fixtures. Compared with traditional argon arc welding and electric welding processes, handheld laser welding is both energy-saving (about 80% to 90% more energy-saving than argon arc welding) and faster in terms of welding speed on thin stainless steel plates, iron plates, aluminum plates and other metal materials. It has obvious advantages in terms of welding quality, follow-up processing (which can greatly reduce the labor cost of polishing and leveling processes), etc., so it has strong potential to replace traditional processes.
3mm aluminum alloy welding effect
At the same time, handheld laser welding itself is constantly undergoing technological and process iterations. In the past, handheld laser welding used ordinary straight head welding, and the welding seam was narrow, which restricted the process capabilities of laser welding to a certain extent. In order to solve this problem, many manufacturers, including Riselaser, have modified the welding joints and developed swing welding joints and swing welding processes. Swing welding allows the welding spot to be adjusted from 0.2 mm to 6 mm (can be adjusted as needed), breaking the constraints on welding capabilities required by large weld seams, and thus enabling the same welding speed to be formed by reducing the laser power. penetration depth, or obtain different weld widths by changing the parameters of vibration welding.
Difficulties and pain points of handheld laser welding
Although handheld laser welding has many advantages, it is also important to be aware of some current difficulties in this market. The first issue is price. At present, the price of a single unit of argon arc welding equipment, which is the main replacement for handheld laser welding, is only a few thousand yuan. A few years ago, the price of handheld laser welding equipment was generally more than hundreds of thousands of yuan. After fiber lasers have experienced multiple rounds of price cuts, the price of the complete machine is still high. Tens of thousands of yuan (one factory quoted 60,000 yuan for 1kW handheld welding). The high initial investment cost is currently the main obstacle restricting the entry of handheld laser welding equipment into the market. Of course, as the market gradually increases in volume and the price of fiber lasers continues to decrease, the cost of handheld laser welding equipment will inevitably gradually decrease, and the price gap with argon arc welding equipment will continue to narrow.
Safety is the most criticized aspect of handheld laser welding besides price. Handheld laser welding belongs to the fourth category of laser products (greater than 500mW), which is harmful to the skin and eyes. However, many workers in domestic processing plants cannot see the existence of lasers and the sparks during processing are not dazzling, so they do not perform handheld welding. There are often no safety precautions during operation. This is a very dangerous approach. Although the human eye cannot directly see the laser in the infrared band (the common wavelength of fiber laser is 1064nm), the welding head of handheld welding has a certain angle with the surface of the workpiece, and part of the laser will be reflected, especially when welding copper, aluminum and other highly reflective products. The laser energy reflected by the material is greater, and if it is reflected into the eye, it will cause irreversible damage to the retina. Therefore, RiseLaser Network calls on users of handheld laser welding to wear laser goggles! ! !
