Fully reflective annular laser beam shaping for 1.03µm ultra-high throughput laser beam welding

Authors: Matthieu Meunier¹, David Lemaitre², Antonin Billaud¹, Antoine Queffelec¹, Romain Cornee², Gwenn Pallier¹, Eric Laurensot², Olivier Pinel¹, Guillaume Labroille¹

¹ Cailabs

²Institut Maupertuis

Abstract

Multi-kilowatt Laser Beam Welding processes are facing new challenges: reducing the final parts weight and improving reliability to decrease the amount of discarded parts. Appropriate beam shaping enables those improvements by decreasing the process defects and by allowing welding of new types of materials and of thinner parts. We describe here the design and the process test results of a fully reflective beam shaper laser head compatible with high-power lasers demands integrated on a robot. The high efficiency cooling permitted by a reflective design reduces focus shift. A mm-wide annular shape onto the processed part enables melt pool size control.