Laser Welding

A laser welding cell moves a fiber-delivered head along the joint at travel speeds well above conventional arc processes. The weld itself is narrow and shallow, since the laser concentrates heat rather than spreading it, and the resulting bead often needs no dressing.

Payload is modest, typically 5 to 20 kg for the head, cabling, and any coaxial gas nozzle. Reach in the 1400 to 2000 mm range covers most sheet metal and precision assemblies, and path accuracy carries more weight than raw lifting capacity in this class of work.

Everything sits inside a Class 1 laser enclosure with interlocked doors and windows rated to the beam wavelength. Fiber routing through the arm is protected, and a chiller loop keeps the source and head within their operating band.

Lack of fusion at the seam usually points to fit-up gap, focus offset, or fiber contamination. Adjusting the motion program will not fix any of those; verify the tool frame at the focal point and check whether the fixture is drifting between parts.

Laser welding wants tight joint fit-up, since the beam does not bridge a gap the way an arc process will. On thicker plate, heavy oxide, or poor edge prep, arc welding tends to be more forgiving.

A common layout puts a KUKA KR 10 R1420 or similar mid-reach arm inside an enclosed booth with a fixed part positioner, so the beam path stays inside a controlled envelope. Vision or seam tracking corrects small part-to-part offsets during the weld.

Beam safety and interlock design are cell-scope engineering, so involve the integrator and a safety engineer up front. After commissioning, most day-to-day issues live in optics cleanliness and fixture repeatability.