By Lorraine Blais, Novika Solutions
In the last years, several groups have worked on the development of hybrid laser/GMAW welding (HLAW), for various segments of the industry. Depending on the intended application, the objectives are significantly different, and the definition of quality itself can differ a lot. Nevertheless, new HLAW applications usually benefit from the ability of the process to produce deep welds in one pass without having to chamfer the parts. As shown on Figure 1, the HLAW welds are drastically smaller than GMAW welds, going from several passes (six on the picture on the left) with chamfer and back gouging to a single pass without chamfer.