Influence of focal spot diameter and beam oscillation on the process efficiency of laser beam welding utilizing a direct diode laser

摘要： Costs of power consumption, efficiency improvement and a green image are increasing issues for automotive manufacturers. One possibility to reduce energy consumption is to increase process efficiency of the established laser beam welding. For this reason this contribution examines whether the laser output power of a direct diode laser can be reduced whilst keeping weld seam volumes constant. This is realized by a reduced spot diameter from initial 664 μm to 368 μm in combination with beam oscillation in order to generate blind seams in 22MnB5 and DC01 steel. It is shown that energy consumption can be reduced significantly.