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SmartRamp™ Capability For End Point Control in Laser Welding

Prima Power Laserdyne SmartRamp™ Provides End Point Control in Laser Welding – Eliminates Potential Stress-Risers and Leak Points in Welds

SmartRamp™ Capability For End Point Control in Laser Welding

LASERDYNE multi-axis laser systems include SmartRamp™. This unique feature, which was introduced in 2014, is useful for a range of laser welding applications (far left picture). The center picture shows the result of standard welding practice, an indentation at the end of the weld. This depression is a potential failure point in the weld. With SmartRamp™, laser parameters are controlled in real-time to produce welds without any such defects (far right picture). SmartRamp™ works with any weld shape, including circular, rectangular or linear.

Prima Power Laserdyne’s SmartRamp™ provides consistent endpoint control during laser welding, eliminating areas where potential weld failure can occur. SmartRamp™ is one of many proprietary features of the LASERDYNE S94P control, which controls operation of the LASERDYNE 795 and LASERDYNE 430BD multi-axis laser systems.

SmartRamp™ produces uniform weld penetration along the entire length of the weld. With standard laser welding practice, the laser power is often ramped down at the end of the weld after the start point has been overlapped. Despite the most careful control of ramping, this method leaves a noticeable depression at the end point.

In many applications this depression is undesirable. In hermetic welds, for example, a depression at the end point can be a leak point. Hermetically sealed electronic packages are widely used in the electronics, communications, automotive, computer, and medical industries. The quality and durability of the hermetic seal in these packages must be high as failure of the seal can lead to corrosion of the package contents and premature failure of the device.

A depression at the end point is also undesirable in welding applications in the aerospace industry. This defect can act as potential stress riser leading to reduced fatigue and creep strength of the welded component during its service. Conventional laser welding techniques for controlling the overlap, when used, will often require extensive testing to insure that the conditions described above are not present.

By comparison, SmartRamp™ controls laser parameters in conjunction with motion of the beam, eliminating the occurrence of a visible endpoint of the weld.

To validate SmartRamp™’s effectiveness, Prima Power Laserdyne carried out extensive metallographic analysis of welds produced using SmartRamp™. These consistently showed the absence of porosity or any other welding defects at the end of the weld. By comparison, metallographic tests carried out on standard welding samples confirmed that the end point can be the site of some porosity and inconsistent weld penetration.

SmartRamp, which is one of many ongoing significant advancements to Prima Power Laserdyne’s multi-axis fiber laser systems, gives product designers confidence that new designs using the process are more robust with significantly less chance of failure. SmartRamp has been developed by Prima Power Laserdyne engineers to be easily incorporated into laser welding program.

SmartRamp is a standard feature within the S94P control used on the LASERDYNE 3 to 7 axes systems which include the LASERDYNE 795, LASERDYNE 430BD, and LASERDYNE 606D laser systems.

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