This paper presents the initial data obtained from an ongoing study that compares the performance of high power CO2 and Nd:YAG lasers in the full penetration lap welding of stainless steel materials suitable for automobile exhaust applications. The parameter of interest is the welding speed obtained for minimal undercut and dropout. Both cw and pulsed operation of CO2 and Nd:YAG lasers are being investigated. This initial set of data is on the weld speeds obtained for cw CO2 and cw and pulsed Nd:YAG lasers. The results show that the highest weld speeds were obtained with the pulsed Nd:YAG for the thicker material (3 mm) while the best performance for the thinner material (1.6 mm) was with the cw Nd:YAG. The comparison was carried out with consideration of the spot size used and no plasma suppression was used for the CO2 laser. The associated weld profile for each successful weld was also obtained.

Topics
Lasers, Chemical compounds, Welding
1.
Liu
,
Y.
 and
K. H.
Leong
 (
1992
)
Proceedings of Laser Materials Processing Symposium ICALEO’92
:
77
–
87
.
2.
Bransch
,
H. N.
 (September,
1991
).
Photonics Spectra
:
107
–
112
.
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© 1994 Laser Institute of America.
1994
Laser Institute of America
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