Apparatus and method for laser cleaning of coated materials prior to welding

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9457432-B2
Application number	US-201414292218-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 30, 2014
Priority date	Oct 6, 2011
Publication date	Oct 4, 2016
Grant date	Oct 4, 2016

Abstract

A system and method is provided where a coated work piece is welded at high speeds with minimal porosity and spatter. The coating on the work piece is removed or ablated by a high energy heat source prior to being welded in a welding operation, such that high welding speeds are attained. The high energy heat source is positioned upstream of the welding operation to vaporize any surface coatings on a work piece.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A welding system, comprising:
an arc welding power supply coupled to an arc welding torch for performing an arc welding operation on a coated work piece to create a weld joint; and
a high energy beam power supply coupled to a high energy beam source which directs a high energy beam at a coated surface of said work piece, wherein said high energy beam is directed at said coated surface upstream of said arc welding torch;
wherein said high energy beam has an energy density sufficient to remove at least a portion of said coating from said work piece but does not substantially melt said work piece; and
wherein said arc welding power supply provides a weld joint having a cross-sectional porosity in the range of 5 to 20%, a length porosity in the range of 0 to 30% and a spatter factor in the range of 0 to 3, where spatter factor is the ratio of weld spatter weight in mg over consumed filler metal weight in kg for a length of said weld joint.

2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a system controller which controls the operation of said high energy beam power supply such that said high energy beam creates a first region and second region in an ablation area, where a thickness of said coating in said first region is greater than a thickness of said coating in said second region.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein said high energy beam is a laser beam having a power density of at least 10 5 W/cm 2 .

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein said length porosity is in the range of 5 to 20%.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein said spatter factor is in the range of 0 to 1.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein said high energy beam is directed at said coated surface upstream of said welding step in a welding process by a distance in the range of 0.5 to 6 inches.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein each of said cross-sectional and length porosity is in the range of 0 to 10% and said spatter factor is in the range of 0 to 0.5.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein when said coated work piece has a thickness in the range of 1/16 to 3/16 in. a travel speed of said arc welding operation is in the range of 50 to 100 in/min.

9. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a sensor which monitors a temperature of said work piece is between said arc welding operation and said high energy beam.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein said high energy beam removes up to 50% of a thickness of said coating during operation.

11. A welding system, comprising:
an arc welding power supply coupled to an arc welding torch for performing an arc welding operation on a coated work piece to create a weld joint; and
a high energy beam power supply coupled to a high energy beam source which directs a high energy beam at a coated surface of said work piece, wherein said high energy beam is directed at said coated surface upstream of said arc welding torch;
wherein said high energy beam has an energy density sufficient to remove at least a portion of said coating from said work piece but does not substantially melt said work piece; and
wherein said arc welding power supply provides a weld joint having a cross-sectional porosity in the range of 0 to 30%, a length porosity in the range of 5 to 20% and a spatter factor in the range of 0 to 3, where spatter factor is the ratio of weld spatter weight in mg over consumed filler metal weight in kg for a length of said weld joint.

12. The system of claim 11 , further comprising a system controller which controls the operation of said high energy beam power supply such that said high energy beam creates a first region and second region in an ablation area, where a thickness of said coating in said first region is greater than a thickness of said coating in said second region.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein said high energy beam is a laser beam having a power density of at least 10 5 W/cm 2 .

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein said cross-sectional porosity is in the range of 5 to 20%.

15. The system of claim 11 , wherein said spatter factor is in the range of 0 to 1.

16. The system of claim 11 , wherein said high energy beam is directed at said coated surface upstream of said welding step in a welding process by a distance in the range of 0.5 to 6 inches.

17. The system of claim 11 , wherein each of said cross-sectional and length porosity is in the range of 0 to 10% and said spatter factor is in the range of 0 to 0.5.

18. The system of claim 11 , wherein when said coated work piece has a thickness in the range of 1/16 to 3/16 in. a travel speed of said arc welding operation is in the range of 50 to 100 in/min.

19. The system of claim 11 , further comprising a sensor which monitors a temperature of said work piece between said arc welding operation and said high energy beam.

20. The system of claim 11 , wherein said high energy beam removes up to 50% of a thickness of said coating during operation.

21. A welding system, comprising:
an arc welding power supply coupled to an arc welding torch for performing an arc welding operation on a coated work piece to create a weld joint; and
a high energy beam power supply coupled to a high energy beam source which directs a high energy beam at a coated surface of said work piece, wherein said high energy beam is directed at said coated surface upstream of said arc welding torch;
wherein said high energy beam has an energy density sufficient to remove at least a portion of said coating from said work piece but does not substantially melt said work piece; and
wherein said arc welding power supply provides a weld joint having a cross-sectional porosity in the range of 0 to 30%, a length porosity in the range of 0 to 30% and a spatter factor in the range of 0 to 1, where spatter factor is the ratio of weld spatter weight in mg over consumed filler metal weight in kg for a length of said weld joint, and
wherein when said coated work piece has a thickness in the range of 1/16 to 3/16 in. a travel speed of said arc welding operation is in the range of 50 to 100 in/min.

22. A welding system, comprising:
an arc welding power supply coupled to an arc welding torch for performing an arc welding operation on a coated work piece to create a weld joint; and
a high energy beam power supply coupled to a high energy beam source which directs a high energy beam at a coated surface of said work piece, wherein said high energy beam is directed at said coated surface upstream of said arc welding torch;
wherein said high energy beam has an energy density sufficient to remove at least a portion of said coating from said work piece but does not substantially melt said work piece; and
wherein said arc welding power supply provides a weld joint having a cross-sectional porosity in the range of 5 to 20%, a length porosity in the range of 5 to 20% and a spatter factor in the range of 0 to 1, where spatter factor is the ratio of weld spatter weight in mg over consumed filler metal weight in kg for a length of said weld joint, and
wherein said high energy beam is directed at said coated surface upstream of said welding step in a welding process by a distance in the range of 0.5 to 6 inches.

23. A welding system, comprising:
an arc welding power supply coupled to an arc welding torch for performing an arc welding operation on a coated work piece to create a weld joint; and
a high energy beam power supply coupled to a high energy beam source which directs a high energy beam at a coated surface of said work piece,

Assignees

• Lincoln Global Inc

Inventors

• Denney Paul Edward

Classifications

• B23K26/4095 Primary

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B23K9/235

  Preliminary treatment · CPC title

• B23K9/23

  taking account of the properties of the materials to be welded · CPC title

• B23K26/36

  Removing material (B23K26/55, B23K26/57 take precedence) · CPC title

• B23K2203/50

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic