16 Industrial Laser Solutions SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 www.industrial-lasers.com
application report
Laser machine enables coil joining in
continuous strip
processing lines
SYSTEM CAN
INTEGRATE FIBER
LASER SOURCE
CHRISTIAN DORNSCHEIDT,
JENS ARTEL, and CAESAR SASSE
The global steel market is under constant pressure. Cost- reduction initiatives such as energy conservation, mini- mizing personnel, and spare-parts reduction come along
with the need to increase the availability of equipment. Staying
competitive comes with the necessity to offer a broad product
portfolio, which focuses on modern steel grades.
Old flash butt welding machines or conventional laser weld-
ing machines are not able to weld modern steel grades in a reliable manner, as their high-alloying contents have an influence on
the weldability of the materials. Furthermore, welding machines in
existing lines need to be replaced as spare parts and in-house expertise availability dwindle.
In previous decades, more people were involved in operating and maintain-
ing the equipment—but now, cost-control measures are reducing the num-
ber of involved personnel. Therefore, maintenance-friendly machines with
high availabilities that operate automatically and adaptively with desired pro-
duction results are required. SMS group reacted to this process change and
on the worldwide impact of dig-
itization with a newly developed
welding machine.
The welding machine imple-
ments several digital solutions to
operate in a simple manner. Its
features allow for reduced operating and maintenance staff to perform preventive maintenance with
long-time archives that record all
relevant data. The machine’s documentation is
digitally available and interlinked.
Recently, SMS group received another order
for its latest-generation X-Pro laser welder,
as SSAB (Hämeenlinna, Finland) decided to
revamp its pickling line to include a fiber laser
welding machine (FIGURE 1). The company is
FIGURE 1. The X-Pro
laser with an 8k W carbon
dioxide laser source is
the basis for a new order
with a 10k W fiber laser
to be integrated into
SSAB’s new entry section,
which will provide high
efficiency and availability
as well as a safe, fast, and
fully automated process,
even for difficult-to-weld
materials.
