Why Do We Use Protective Gas during Laser Welding?

Nowadays, laser welding machines can adapt to different production scenarios and greatly improve production efficiency. However, many operators do not understand why laser beam welding uses protective gas during use. In addition, how to choose a suitable protective gas is also a difficult problem. Today, MAMTECHNIC will answer the above questions for you.

When welding products, the laser welder melts the welding part instantly and then solidifies, to achieve welding. During this process, metal vapor or liquid is splashed around. It has the potential to splash onto the laser welding machine or even onto the operator. Using protective gas can prevent these things from happening. Therefore, people often use this method to improve the quality of welding.

Ejection can occur when welding at high power. At this time, the gas can protect the lens. The gas can protect the focusing lens of the laser welder machine from sputtering pollution of metal vapor.

The metal vapor absorbs the laser beam and ionizes into a plasma cloud. And the protective gas around the metal vapor will also be ionized by heat. If too much plasma is present, it will absorb part of the laser beam. And if the plasma acts on the working surface, the depth of penetration becomes shallower and the surface of the weld pool becomes wider. By increasing collisions of electrons, ions, and neutral atoms, the recombination rate of electrons increases. Therefore, adding gas prevents too much focusing of the plasma generated during fiber laser welding. Therefore, it blocks the laser light from reaching the surface of the material.

We must use a protective gas when laser welding. And we have to set the program so that the protective gas is released first and then the laser. This is to prevent oxidation of the pulsed laser during continuous processing. In most applications, gases such as helium, argon, and nitrogen are often used as protection. The inert gas protects the workpiece from oxidation during the welding process.

To achieve best welding effect, adding protective gas is an essential step. In actual production, the operator should turn on the protective gas in advance and then turn on the laser for welding. This can not only ensure the precision of processing but also ensure the safety of the operator. Usually, the protective gas is an inert gas such as helium, argon, or nitrogen. These gases have different properties and therefore have different effects on the weld.

As a professional laser equipment manufacturer, MAMTECHNIC has rich practical experience. If you need some professional advice, we are undoubtedly the best choice. We are willing to serve you wholeheartedly.