Process Date: January 2003

This application required that a 0.25” diameter stainless steel post be welded into a hole drilled through a stainless steel plate. The post was shouldered so that when the post was inserted into the thru hole and pressed firmly against the base, a recessed area, 0.02” deep, was formed on the underside of the plate. The beam from an Evolution 240 laser was focused at the seam produced by this recessed lip and generated a smooth welded junction between the two parts.

The weld bead, with a penetration depth of approximately 0.03”, was generated by 240W of laser power moving at a speed of 6 IPM. As with all stainless steel welding, argon was used as the shield gas. A 2.5” positive meniscus lens produced a beam (spot) size of 0.004” with a depth of focus of 0.07”.

0.25”  stainless steel post, welded to a stainless steel plate.

Magnified view of the 0.04” wide weld bead.