Using helium and argon laser welding to reduce automobile production costs
Helium, high-purity helium
In the fiercely competitive automotive market, people urgently need speed. From the perspective of consumers, they are more concerned about horsepower. But in manufacturing, speed depends entirely on production and productivity. Due to various factors such as body design, cognitive quality, and cost of ownership, American car manufacturers have gradually lost market share.
Although this article does not discuss body design, the focus of the discussion is on strategies to improve quality and productivity. Both can be achieved using hybrid processing technology, which combines laser welding with traditional gas metal arc welding (GMAW).
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Laser parameters, such as wavelength, beam quality, spot size, power density, burning depth, and beam position, are crucial for successful welding. Other parameters include conventional supplementation and pulse transfer of GMAW energy, positioning of GMAW welding wire, contact angle and chemical properties of welding wire. In addition, the surface conditions of the base material oxide, the design of the joint, the width of the weld seam, and the type and flow rate of the shielding gas can also affect the quality and performance of the hybrid welding process.
The following will provide a detailed introduction to the impact of gas selection on many aspects, including laser beam interaction, protection efficiency, welding pad performance, and equipment used for transporting standard gas mixtures and flow rates.
The hybrid laser processing technology combines the secondary energy of the welding site area. The mixed processing technology fully utilizes the laser welding of concrete. These advantages include increased welding speed, limited heat sealing area, reduced welding and good shape of the welding spindle. As a secondary energy source, GMAW improves overall energy efficiency, reduces equipment costs, and enhances the ability to weld holes. In addition, it reduces the cooling rate and improves the energy coupling efficiency of aluminum.
Secondly, although the energy supply cost of GMAW is more complex, it is reduced by reducing the size of the resonant holes required for welding, thereby lowering the overall cost of the machine. Based on the expected results, it can be determined whether the feed position of GMAW welding wire is before or after the laser beam. Adopting the subsequent GMAW wire feeding method can achieve higher welding speeds. The GMAW welding wire is fed into the molten pool generated by the laser, thereby reducing the secondary energy required to melt the welding wire.
When the filler wire reaches the tail, the GMAW arc also generates plasma, causing the substrate to evaporate and causing the leading edge of the molten pool to descend. The depression in the molten pool reduces the total depth that the laser beam needs to penetrate, thereby improving the penetration performance. Based on existing data, it can be demonstrated that steam particles emitted from critical holes or welding areas can cause attenuation (scattering and absorption) of the laser beam, thereby reducing the radiation energy combined with the substrate material. The diffusion and absorption of laser beams reduce the speed and depth of welding. These two adhesive layers determine that the larger the particles, the greater the damping effect.
Helium shielding gas brings the smallest average vapor particle size. This indicates that pure helium is the optimal choice for controlling particle size in CO2 or YAG laser welding. We have to admit that compared to argon, helium has a higher ionization rate and lower plasma formation voltage, but its molecular weight is smaller. Therefore, helium shielding gas requires a high flow rate to ensure effective removal of metal vapor from the path of the laser beam. Due to the higher unit cost of helium compared to argon, this increases the average cost per foot during the welding process.
