Mon, 03 March, 2025
TWI Industrial Members are invited to join a new joint industry project (JIP) focussed on the industrial adoption of handheld laser welding technology.
Many industries rely upon conventional, manual arc welding processes such as MIG/MAG or TIG welding, but handheld laser welding, as an emerging technology, looks to promise faster, more versatile, cost-effective and consistent results.
As with conventional arc processes, handheld laser welding is performed by an operator with an in-built safety control whereby the beam is automatically shut off as soon as the system moves away from the workpiece.
Despite the promise offered by this emerging technology, there is still a lack of standardised assessment methodology and supporting data to validate the claims of the technology. This has made industry hesitant to adopt handheld laser welding.
This project will solve this issue through an independent, third-party assessment and validation of handheld laser welding technology, focusing on the ability to make sound welds, health and safety, environmental impacts (e.g. welding fume and scattered radiation), and tolerance of the process in relation to weld quality and mechanical properties.
The independent validation of the technology’s performance, robustness, safe operation and capabilities will be benchmarked against conventional manual arc welding approaches (including MIG/MAG and TIG welding processes), to provide an industry-ready comparison.
This project will include the adoption of a visual camera working at around 200 frames per second to investigate the details of welds made using the handheld technology. TWI will also use an accelerator sensor attached to the welding gun to collect data for analysis in regards to weld quality and stability.
Industrial Members of TWI are invited to join as sponsors of this JIP to gain the results of this impartial assessment of handheld laser welding technology, giving you exclusive access to the data and information to support decisions on whether the technology is robust, safe, fast, versatile and cost effective for your industrial applications.
This will aid business decisions on the adoption of this technology and allow for minimal disruptions in any industrial implementation. As this is a joint industry project, any costs will be shared across different industry sponsors, providing a greater return on investment and the opportunity to enhance outcomes for your applications.
You can find out more about this JIP, ‘Handheld Laser Welding Technology – An Impartial Assessment to Support Industrial Adoption,’ including the objectives and deliverables, here: https://www.twi-global.com/what-we-do/research-and-technology/research-programmes/joint-industry-projects/handheld-laser-welding-technology-an-impartial-assessment-to-support-industrial-adoption-1