High energy beam welding processes in manufacturing

Abstract

Today, high-energy beams, such as laser and electron beams, have been increasingly adopted in the industry for welding, cladding, and additive manufacturing. Due to the high-energy density and small beam size, welding and additive manufacturing using high-energy beams show the characteristics of deep penetration, low heat input, small heat-affected zone, low thermal distortion, good dimensional accuracy and integrity, as well as ease of automation. Compared with other types of heat sources (i.e., arc and plasma), high-energy beams are more suitable for the applications requiring a precise control of heat energy for difficult-to-process materials. Other than the abovementioned characteristics, high-energy beam welding process belongs to a contactless process which provides more flexibility in new design and manufacturing. With these superior characteristics, high-energy beam welding process has been used in a wide range of industrial sectors (i.e., aerospace, automotive, oil and gas, shipyard, medical devices, etc.) and is expected to keep playing an important role in welding industry in the future.