Laser penetration spike welding:A microlaser welding technique enabling novel product designs and constructions

A novel method for laser penetration microspot welding of sheet metal is presented. With this so called "laser spike-welding," large gap tolerances are allowed. Depending on the ratio of laser spot radius to top plate thickness, gaps of 100% of the top layer thickness and more can be bridged. With conventional keyhole penetration welding this is only 20%-40% at most. So, with spike welding the gap between the metal plates can be increased by a factor of 2.5-5. In this way a powerful and attractive welding technique for joining of thin metal plates is available. The laser spike weld method can handle larger production tolerances and will enable novel and cheap product designs and welding of dissimilar materials. (C) 2003 Laser Institute of America.