Highly productive processing with no downtime

Scanner welding – Highly productive processing with no downtime
Scanner welding today enables highly productive and flexible production line layouts, making welding in series production faster, more accurate, and thus more cost-effective than traditional welding processes.
The scanner principle.

In scanner welding, the beam guidance is done using mobile mirrors [1]. The beam is guided by changing the angles of the mirrors.[4]  A processing field [3] determine which weld can be carried out with the highest dynamics and precision. The processing speed and size of the focus diameter at the workpiece depends on the imaging properties of the optic, the beam incidence angle, the laser beam quality and the material.
 Using the method of an additional lens system [2], the focus point can also be offset extremely dynamically in the Z direction, in order to process three-dimensional components completely, without moving either the processing head or the part.

Due to the very fast translation movements, downtime is nearly eliminated, and the laser unit can produce during nearly 100% of the available fabrication time.
Scanner welding in action.

During welding, the scanner optics can also be guided over a workpiece in conjunction with a robot. This "flying" movement is what inspired the term "welding on the fly": the robot and the scanner optic synchronize their movements in real time. The use of a robot increases the workspace significantly, permitting true three-dimensional part processing.

To program a PFO, you can use a convenient editor which can construct and save welding figures on a workpiece.

High-power disk lasers with high beam quality are used as beam sources. One or more flexible fiber-optic laser cables lead the laser light from the laser unit to the processing station.

Deep penetration welding

Deep penetration welding

Deep penetration welding requires extremely high power densities of about 1 megawatt per square centimeter. In this process, the laser beam not only melts the metal, but also produces vapor.
Deep penetration welding produces a vapor-filled hole, or keyhole.


The dissipating vapor exerts pressure on the molten metal and partially displaces it. The material, meanwhile, continues to melt. The result is a deep, narrow, vapor-filled hole, or keyhole, which is surrounded by molten metal. As the laser beam advances along the weld joint, the keyhole moves with it through the workpiece. The molten metal flows around the keyhole and solidifies in its trail. This produces a deep, narrow weld with a uniform internal structure. The weld depth may be up to ten times greater than the weld width, reaching 25 millimeters. The laser beam is reflected multiple times on the walls of the keyhole. The molten material absorbs the laser beam almost completely, and the efficiency of the welding process rises. If CO2 lasers are used for welding, the vapor in the keyhole also absorbs laser light and is partially ionized. This results in the formation of plasma, which puts energy into the workpiece as well. As a result, deep penetration welding is distinguished by great efficiency and fast welding speeds. Thanks to the high speed, the heat-affected zone is small and distortion is minimal. This process is used in applications requiring deeper welds or where several layers of material have to be welded simultaneously.