Invited Paper

Hardening and Welding with High Power Diode Lasers

Bodo Ehiers, Hans J. Herfurth, Stefan Heinemann
Fraunhofer Center for Laser Technology, Plymouth, MI 48170

ABSTRACT

Commercially available high power diode lasers (HPDLs) with output powers of up to 6 kW have been recognized as an
interesting tool for industrial applications. In certain fields of application they offer many advantages over Nd:YAG and CO2
lasers because of their low maintenance, compact design and low capital costs. Examples of successful industrial
implementation of HPDLs include plastic welding, surface hardening and heat conduction welding of stainless steel and
aluminum.

The joining of plastics with an HPDL offers the advantages of producing a weld seam with high strength, high consistency
and superior appearance. One example is the keyless entry system introduced with the Mercedes E-class where the
microelectronic circuits are embedded in a plastic housing. Other applications include instrument panels, cell phones,
headlights and tail lights.

Applications in the field of surface treatment of metals profit from the HPDL's inherent line-shaped focus and the
homogeneous intensity distribution across this focus. An HPDL system is used within the industry to harden rails for
coordinate measurement machines. This system contains a customized zoom optic to focus the laser light onto the rails. With
the addition of a temperature control, even complex shapes can be hardened with a constant depth and minimum distortion.

Keywords: High power diode laser, laser material processing, hardening, welding

1. INTRODUCTION

Today, HPDLs produce intensities which breach 1 O watts/cm2 on the work piece and have an overall power of up to 6 kW.
These multi-kilowatt lasers are used for many applications such as surface treatment, oxygen cutting and welding of metals.
In the lower power range they are predominantly used for plastic processing and soldering applications.

The lasers used in this work achieve an intensity of lO - lO watts/cm2 on the work piece. High power multi kilowatt units
are used for metal treatment. This power level is suitable for surface treatment and heat conduction welding. The HPDLs are
incorporated in a housing together with their focusing optics. The line-shaped focus geometry and the homogeneous intensity
distribution is taken advantage of for the hardening application. Smaller units with a power output of 30 watts are used for
plastic processing. These systems are fiber coupled with fiber diameters in the range of 600 im to 800 jim.

Metal welding applications need higher intensities, a smaller focus spot size and a symmetrical spot geometry to produce
good results. The 1 .5 kW laser used, for example, in the aluminum welding application in this work provides a focus
geometry aspect ratio of approximately two. This is sufficient for linear welds and nonlinear welds with a large weld seam
radius.

With the advent of fiber-coupled HPDLs in the multi kilowatt range, laser welding applications become more feasible since
the output beam at the end of the fiber exhibits a top-hat shape with circular symmetry. In this case the laser beam on the
work piece resembles the beam from an Nd:YAG and, consequently, the process data from processes developed for this class
of laser can be transferred easily.

Correspondence: Email: behlers@clt.fraunhofer.com; WWW: www.clt.fraunhofer.com; Telephone: (734) 3546300 ext. 203

In Laser Diodes and LEDs in Industrial, Measurement, Imaging, and Sensors Applications II; Testing,
Packaging, and Reliability of Semiconductor Lasers V, Burnham, He, Linden, Wang, Editors, 63
Proceedings of SPIE Vol. 3945 (2000) • 0277-786X/OO/$1 5.00

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 2. PLASTIC WELDING

Laser welding of plastic is a fairly new alternative compared to conventional welding techniques. The main advantages of
laser welding include:

. It is a non-contact, easy to control process

. No tool wear
. Minimized heat-affected zone
. Consistent weld quality
I It is applicable to a wide range of materials and complex shaped parts
. The absence of problems related to conventional welding processes, such as scratching of part surfaces or melt sticking
to heating elements, do not exist

Although the feasibility has long been demonstrated with Nd:YAG laser technology in the past, the number of applications
remained limited partly due to the high investment cost of the laser system. The entry of the HPDL to the market has
significantly increased interest in applying laser welding to plastics. This laser type is very compact, flexible and
inexpensive, emitting radiation in the range between approximately 680 nm and 980 nm, just below the wavelength of
Nd:YAG lasers, (1060 tim). The advantages of HPDLs made laser welding a cost-efficient alternative to conventional plastic
welding techniques.

In spite of the advantages of laser welding, the optical properties of the material are critical to determining whether laser
welding can be successfully applied. In particular, specific demands regarding the transmission and the absorption of the
laser beam must be fulfilled.

Overlap joints are already used for industrial applications. The laser beam penetrates through the top part with negligible
losses and is then absorbed at the surface of the bottom part leading to surface absorption. In this case, heating and melting
takes place directly at the interface between the two parts (see Figure 1). The outer surfaces remain unaffected, therefore
"hidden welds" can be generated.
I

PLC) Vf

absorbent
transparent

overlap
joint

Figure 1 Schematic drawing of a plastic overlap joint

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 The fact that the top part must he transparent for this type of welding does not necessarily mean that it will also he
translucent to the visible light. Special dyes that are only translucent in the infrared light and provide a specific color to the
material under visible light can be applied. An example is given in Figure 2. 'the black housing of the remote entry car key
is laser welded in an overlap joint configuration. in this production application, laser welding exhibits superior weld quality
and reproducibility compared to conventional plastic welding techniques.

Figure 2 An example of an industrial application is this remote entry system

Currently, investigations are carried out in the field of plastic joints using volume absorption. '[his type of joint makes use of
the fact that any level of pigments and dyes can he added to a plastic to adjust the level ol' laser light absorption. I lie laser
light deposits energy along its path through the layers and thus, melts two similar materials.

3. LASER HARDENING APPlICATIONS

HPDLs also exhibit many advantages in the field of metal surface treatment. '[he most significant advantage is a shorter
wavelength compared to that of the CO laser. This results in a higher degree of absorption of' the laser radiation by the
material to be treated, which makes the entire step of applying an absorption-increasing coating redundant. '[his difference
in absorption is particularly strong in the case of aluminum. The use of an 800 rim I IPDL over a ('0, laser increases the
degree of absorption from approximately 1.2% to 13%.

Furthermore, the intensity distribution of an IIPDL stack is much more favorable for hardening applications than the
Gaussian-like beam profile of other laser sources. This simplifies the focusing optics by making an integrator dispensable.
The intensity distribution from an HPDI. array is naturally linear shaped. Imaging the l-IPI)l, array on the work piece yields
a uniform intensity distribution, which produces a homogeneously hardened zone.

The design of a system necessary for surface heat treatment or welding is changed considerably by the use of IlPDI. stacks
because of their unmatched compact size. 'l'he overall consumption of space is further reduced due to lower requirements on
the capacity of chillers and power supplies. Further advantages include, low maintenance requirements and high efficiency
of the llPl)L. Both reduce the costs of the process.

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 The IIPDL used for hardenint applications is shown in Figure 3. It has a spot size geometry that varies from
2.6 mm 11.0 mm to 2.6 mm x 22.0 mm. The results shown here are achieved with the variable optic set to the 22.0 mm
line width.

Figure 3 The 2.4 kW diode laser with

variable line-shaped focus geometry

The power is 2.0 kW on the work piece for all runs and the laser is inclined at 160 with respect to the optical axis to minimize
hack reflection into the laser. 1he variable parameters are feed rate and focus position.

On the material 4140 lIT the feed rate is varied from 150 mm.'mm to 290 mnimin. The focal position is varied liom 0 to 6
mm lateral displacement. The optimum results are achieved in an interval with i -- I So mni/min and 0 de6cus and
v — 170 mrnmin and 5 mm defocus. The defocusing has the effect of producing a less sharp mtensitv profile. l'hc slope at

the edges of the beam are lower and the hardened depth at the edges of the track is also lower.

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 Figure 4 Diode laser hardening with 150 mm/mm and 22 mm beam width

The result pictured in Figure 4 has an overall width of 19.5 mm and a hardened depth of 1 .9 mm. The hardness of thebase
material is in the range of 280 HV1O to 330 HV1O due to pre-treatment. The maximum hardness after the laser process is in
the range of 670 HV1 to 740 HV1. The hardness decreases slightly to a level between 610 HV1 and 660 HV1 in the top
layer which is typically 0. 1 mm thick.

Some hardening applications are sensitive with respective to high tolerances of the hardened depth. The hardened volume
expands due to the transformation of its gram structure to a more stable grain structure that on the other side has a lower
density. A processed track that is deeper than required leads to otherwise avoidable part deformation. Furthermore, the
flexibility of the part is reduced and the brittle hardened track is prone to breaking. Thus, a surface-heat control is used to
maintain the hardened depth in a certain range.

The following application' features a rod that must be hardened over approximately half of it circumference. Figure 5 shows
a drawing of the detailed geometry.

0.2 to 0.4 mm

Figure 5 Drawing of the metal rod and its areas to be hardened

The approach for this application uses two HPDLs that produce a line-shaped focus spot. The lines of the two lasers overlap
slightly in the middle of the track. The resulting laser spot covers 1700 of the whole rod. A photo of the setup is shown in
Figure 6. Two HPDLs and two pyrometers are positioned fixed to each other over the work piece. The rod is moved linearly
under the laser on an x-table.

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 Pyrometer 1 Pyrometer 2

Figure 6 Laboratory set-up for the rod hardening application

A cross section of a typical result of this process is shown in Figure 7. A uniform depth of the hardened track is visible and a
resulting hardness of 900 HVO.1 5() HVO.l is measured across the processed track.

Figure 7 Cross section of hardened rod

1hus. the use of the pyrometer provides a measure to control the hardened depth and theretre reduces the scrap rate of thc
application.

4. HEAT CONDUCTION WELDING WITh DIODE LASERS

So far. metal welding with IIPT)Ls is restricted to heat conduction welding. First results with a deep penetratioii process are
achieved in a laboratory environment. however they still lack the industrial Iasihility.

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 The heat conduction process with HPDLs exhibits some advantages for welding of certain materials specifically thinner
strength material. The process is easier to control and thus, has a higher stability. Furthermore, the surface quality is
superior to the deep penetration process especially when using aluminum. The process speed is sufficient when materials
with a thickness in the range of 1 mm and below are welded with commercially available HPDLs.

A 1.5 kW HPDL is used to perform heat conduction welding of Al 5754. The spot size is 1.8 mm x 3.8 mm, providing an
intensity of approximately 2x iø W/cm2. An argon shielding gas is used for top and root protection with a flow rate of
12 1/mm each. The laser power 1.5 kW is chosen as a fixed parameter. The feed rate is varied to fmd the optimum result.

Figure 8 Top view of diode laser welded Al 5754

Figure 8 shows the surface quality of the welded specimen. There is no oxide on either of the surfaces and the cross section
has a very smooth surface structure.

Figure 9 Cross section of diode laser welded Al 5754

Figure 9 shows a cross section of a 1.0 mm thick aluminum 5754 weld. The two sheets are sheer-cut prior to the weld and
therefore, the edge preparation is comparatively poor. The welding speed achieved is 2.0 mm/mm. This example
demonstrates the advantages of HPDLs for welding of thin materials. With a power level of 3 kW, 1 mm thick stainless steel
is welded with a speed of more than 10 rn/mm.

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 5. SUMMARY

Welding of plastic with lasers is a newer process used in industry. Commonly, the joint consists of a combination of an
absorbing layer and a transparent layer using surface absorption for heat deposition. However, many applications require
joining of two similar transparent materials. Therefore, research is currently being conducted in the field of controlled
volume absorption.

A 2.4 kW diode laser with a variable line width of 22 mm is used for the hardening of 4140 steel. Due to the homogeneous
intensity distribution of the diode laser beam on the surface, the hardened profile exhibits a flat cross section with a very
homogeneous depth over a large area. A second example of successful industrial implementation of high power diode laser
applications is the hardening of rods. The integration of a process monitor increases the quality of the parts and reduces the
scrap rate.

Diode lasers are used for heat conduction welding of thin metal sheets with thicknesses below 1 mm. A 1 .5 kW diode laser
with a line-shaped focus of 1.8 mm x 3.8 mm is used for heat conduction welding of aluminum. A very good surface finish
is accomplished using 1.0 mm thick aluminum 5754 sheets with a feed rate of 2.0 rn/mm. Currently, research is made in the
field of process control of welding of thin metal sheets employing JR-process sensors.

REFERENCES

1. R. Poprawe, A. Giliner, P. Loosen, D. Petring, C. Wissenbach, "Industrial Applications of High Power Diode Lasers",
Laser Materials Processing, Vol. 84, Laser Institute of America, Orlando, 1999 (to be published)

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