Laser Welding Applications in Aerospace Manufacturing

Laser welding utilizes a laser as the heat source. A laser is a beam of parallel light that can be focused using a parabolic mirror or a convex lens to achieve high power density. Welding with this high-density laser heat source enables the creation of welds requiring significant penetration depth.

Compared toother welding methods, laser welding offers the following advantages:

● Welding heat input can be controlled and minimized to the essential requirement, resulting in a narrow metallurgical change zone within the heat-affected area and minimal post-weld deformation of components;

● No electrodes eliminate concerns about electrode contamination or damage, minimizing tool wear and deformation;

● Welding operates without distance limitations; switching devices can transmit the laser beam to multiple workstations, facilitating automated high-speed welding;

● The laser beam is unaffected by magnetic fields, enabling precise alignment with the workpiece and high welding accuracy;

● No vacuum required, nor radiation shielding.

Fiber-Optic Gyroscope Laser Seal Welding

      Laser welding demonstrates significant advantages in reducing aircraft manufacturing costs, shortening production cycles, lightening aircraft weight, and enhancing aircraft performance. Currently, laser welding is employed in aircraft manufacturing by major aerospace companies such as Boeing and Airbus.

Laser Shock Peening:

Laser Shock Peening (LSP) is a technology that utilizes laser shock waves to modify material surfaces, enhancing properties such as fatigue resistance, wear resistance, and stress corrosion resistance.

High-power short-pulse lasers interact with sheet metal to generate intense shock waves, creating instantaneous temperatures exceeding 10,000°C and pressures reaching several GPa on the workpiece surface. This induces micro-elastic-plastic deformation in metallic materials, thereby enhancing their fatigue life and mechanical resistance to fatigue wear. This process achieves the modification objectives for aerospace components.

      In the aviation sector, laser strengthening can be employed to refurbish fasteners and other components on aircraft. The number of fasteners currently used in aircraft is staggering; for critical components alone—whether on wings, fuselages, or other structures—each aircraft contains between 30,000 and 200,000 fasteners. Therefore, conducting applied research on laser shock peening technology to enhance fatigue performance around fasteners in aircraft structures holds significant practical and economic value for improving aircraft safety, reliability, and service life.

Laser Cladding:

      Laser cladding is a significant method for surface modification of materials. It employs a high-energy laser beam to irradiate the metal surface, rapidly melting, spreading, and solidifying the material to deposit a layer with unique physical, chemical, or mechanical properties onto the substrate. This creates a new composite material that compensates for the high-performance deficiencies of the base material.

This composite material fully leverages the advantages of both components while compensating for their respective shortcomings. For certain eutectic alloys, it can even produce an amorphous surface layer with exceptional corrosion resistance.