This paper presents results from an ongoing investigation into laser-arc-hybrid welding of thick, high strength steels used in the heavy mechanical and heavy automotive industries. The results include welding parameters for a 6 and 12 kW laser combined with conventional MIG/MAG equipment.
In this work, the laser-arc-hybrid welding technique has been further developed and applied to thick steel plate welding, giving high quality welds at high speeds. Successful welds were obtained on 6-12 mm plate thickness with laser, plasma or sheared edges as received from the blanking process. Thereby any costly, additional joint preparation is avoided, giving the hybrid welding technique an enhanced potential for use in the heavy automotive and mechanical industries.