Review of laser hybrid welding

In this article, an overview of the hybrid welding process is given. After a short historic overview, a review of the fundamental phenomenon taking place when a laser (CO2 or Nd:YAG) interacts in the same molten pool as a more conventional source of energy, e.g. tungsten in-active gas, plasma, or metal inactive gas/metal active gas. This is followed by reports of how the many process parameters governing the hybrid welding process can be set and how the choice of secondary energy source, shielding gas, etc. can affect the overall welding process. An overview of the benefits and drawbacks of hybrid welding is presented, including reports on gap bridging ability, changes in welding speed and weld penetration, overall weld quality, and changes in heat input to the material being welded. This overview is followed by a few examples of industrial applications of hybrid welding. Finally, a section is devoted to explain about further work required in order to understand and tackle the hybrid welding process more efficiently in the future. (C) 2005 Laser Institute of America.