Rethinking Tubes and Laser Welding BY BRETT THOMPSON When it is possible to create tube profiles from sheet metal, fabricators are able to achieve a better weld by eliminating the filler material In the world of sheet metal manufacturing, lasers have primarily been used as tools for cutting materials, although today it has become increasingly common to see them used for joining. Laser welding is very fast, consistent, and provides a better result as compared to traditional joining methods. Though the benefits are numerous, attention should be paid to how products are currently being manufactured and whether those processes might be improved upon. For example, in furniture manufacturing, an industry where laser welding has become fairly common, tube profiles are frequently used and are often more common than sheet metal (formed or flat). Although a tube laser cutting machine is useful, these machines are nowhere near as common on a shop floor as a flat bed laser cutting machine and press brake. Laser welding could positively impact this production in several ways — if manufacturers are willing to rethink their processes. This article will discuss some of the different issues fabricators face when working with tubes and then divulge into the design considerations that come into play when it is time to join them together, especially with laser welding. Limitations of Tube and Tube Stock For many manufacturers, when cutto length tube profiles are required, they must pay a supplier to provide it. This is not a problem for an original equipment manufacturer who will likely purchase a tube cutting laser machine, but to a second- or third-tier supplier with limited access to the technology, this can pose some issues with availability, quality, and margins. Lack of access to the appropriate machines is an obvious limitation, yet there are other considerations when 44 WELDING JOURNAL / MARCH 2016 Laser welding with the SeamLine Pro, a process sensor system for highprecision joint monitoring, is shown here with a CO2 laser.
Welding Journal | March 2016
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