The appearance of the high power high brilliance fiber laser has opened for new possibilities in laser materials processing. In laser cutting this laser has demonstrated high cutting performance compared to the dominating cutting laser, the CO2 laser. However, quality problems in fiber-laser cutting have until now limited its application to metal cutting. In this paper the first results of proof-of-principle studies applying a new approach (patent pending) for laser cutting with high brightness and short wavelength lasers will be presented. In the approach, multibeam patterns are applied to control the melt flow out of the cut kerf resulting in improved cut quality in metal cutting. The beam patterns in this study are created by splitting up beams from two single mode fiber lasers and combining these beams into a pattern in the cut kerf. The results are obtained with a total of 550 W of single mode fiber laser power. Burr free cuts in 1 mm steel and aluminum and in 1 and 2 mm AISI 304 stainless steel is demonstrated over a wide range of cutting rates. The industrial realization of this approach is foreseen to be performed by either beam patterning by diffractive optical elements or multibeam fiber laser arrangements.

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The introduction of high-power single mode fiber lasers has given deeper and narrower welds than previously seen using lasers. In some cases, the weld becomes too narrow and must be expanded to fit the geometrical shape of a given welding task. Instead of using only one beam, it was suggested to split the beam into multiple spots placed in a prespecified pattern. In this way, the dimensions of the weld pool could be controlled. In this work, the spots are placed on a row perpendicular to the welding direction. This provided the ability to control the final weld face by controlling the width and depth of penetration independent of each other with minimum heat input. An examination was conducted on how the weld cross section is influenced by spot distance, number of spots, power, and focus. It is shown that a weld seam can be widened in steps by using multiple spots, and the depth can be controlled independently from the width by adjusting the laser power. It is possible to produce a rectangular like cross section of the weld by choosing correct design parameters. For a pattern with multiple spots on a row, equal depth of penetration in the weld bead is reached if the edge spots have 5%–10% more power than the center spots. Basic rules for design of spot patterns are given for a configuration with a single mode laser and spot diameter of Ø85 μm. The ability to bridge gaps is increased in multispot welding compared to multiple single passes. The technique shows promising results in welding parts which resembles the conditions of a real production regarding robustness and tolerances.

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