Welding of Aluminum Using a Pulsed Nd:YAG Laser

This paper deals with pulsed laser welding of aluminum using an Nd:YAG laser with wavelength 1.06 μm. Technically pure aluminum (95.50 wt. %) was used as the welded material. Eighteen welds (penetration passes) were fabricated in the experiment. Optical microscopy was used to assess the influence of changes in the parameters of the pulsed laser on the quality and geometry of the penetration passes of aluminum and on the hardness measurement through the interface of the welds. The results show that the geometry of the penetration passes was influenced above all by the position of the beam focus.