The Sensitivity of Hybrid Laser Welding to Variations in Workpiece Position

High speed imaging has been used to analyze the sensitivity of the Hybrid laser welding process to variations in the laser-arcworkpiece geometry along the axis of the laser beam. The welding process was found to be stable within a certain range of workpiece positions. Outside of this range the process became unstable. If the workpiece was too close to the laser/arc combination, the two energy sources did not supplement each other sufficiently. If the workpiece was too far away the droplets from the arc interfered with the laser-keyhole interaction.