Development and application of 10 kW fiber laser welding system

We have been developing laser welding technologies for the past 20 years. Our practical applications started for thin stainless steel products in 1999. In this study, we developed a high-power laser welding system for thick plate products. A 10 kW fiber laser is used in this system. With this system, we can fabricate thick plate products with maximum thicknesses of 15 mm. We applied this laser welding system to some parts of chemical plant equipment. The cross section was a simple T-joint, and the welding length was about 4000 mm. The mechanical properties of the laser-welded joint satisfied the design requirements. An arc welding method was also applied to this fabrication, but too much time was needed to correct large distortions. The developed laser welding system dramatically decreases the cost and correction time.