Advantages, challenges, and risks of using handheld laser beam welding (HLBW)

Abstract

Handheld Laser Beam Welding (HLBW) is a new and promising process that is relatively new for the welding and joining community. Since 2023 at the latest, HLBW) systems have become interesting for many companies around the world. This is mainly due to two factors. Firstly, the cost of such a system has fallen significantly in recent years. Secondly, there is economic pressure in the manufacture of welded products, which is partly due to the shortage of skilled workers. HLBW offers a wide range of potential benefits, including higher throughput, less level of distortion due to the lower heat input, and the use of less experienced personnel The rapid development of this new equipment and its use in industry were not accompanied by the necessary safety measures, personnel qualification, welding procedure qualification, and metallurgical phenomena in the welded joint. Therefore, International I institute for Welding (IIW), European Welding Federation (EWF) and European Welding Association (EWA) decided to prepare a certain guideline for the safety, quality, qualification, and metallurgical considerations related to HLBW. In this article, we will summarize the main parts of this document and present some practical experiences from industry.