Single pass laser vacuum welding of thick steel plates using electromagnetic support

The increasing demand for renewable energy produced by offshore wind turbines goes along with an increased demand in the production of offshore wind turbine foundations, so called “monopiles”, which are made by joining thick metal sheets. The industrial standard of multi-layer submerged arc welding (SAW) for joining of thick metal sheets is the current bottleneck in the production of monopiles. A possible increase in productivity by the implementation of high-power laser welding in a newly developed mobile vacuum chamber (MoVac) and an electromagnetic root support is the subject of this study. Single run butt welds are performed in flat position on S355 mild steel of thicknesses up to 80 mm using a disc laser system with 1030 nm wavelength and a maximum output of 60 kW. The laser optic is fixed on the MoVac-System which is held and manipulated by an articulated robot.