Laser welding use and applications has been continuously growing in the last years. Their advantages in terms of speed, accuracy or repeatability allowed laser welding to replace other traditional technologies, and several efforts have been focused in reducing the heat effect in the material to get smoother welds with less defects. The developement of higher laser powers and new wavelengths also allowed to weld new materials (metals, glasses, plastics…) and its capability to integrate both the lasers and the beam delivery systems in an automated positioning device made them a great tool for the requirements of the industry 4.0.
During this meeting, we will discover the last developments of machines and components for laser welding and we will discuss how the process monitoring solutions can be used to increase the control of this process.