Seeing green with copper welding lasers

German powertrain supplier Vitesco Technologies is using green lasers to mass-produce battery management electronics for BMW, helping to reduce energy consumption compared with traditional infrared lasers. Typically, infrared lasers show up in the copper welding process, but they can be difficult to control and require significant energy, according to Vitesco. Green lasers, however, have shorter wavelengths than infrared lasers, cutting down on energy consumption by as much as 20 percent and allowing for a more controlled — and therefore more efficient — copper welding process. The laser systems Vitesco uses are developed by German laser technology company Trumpf.

Interplex, a Singapore-headquartered manufacturer and design partner for a variety of other manufacturers, is spearheading the use of green lasers to weld copper,? increasing efficiency, lowering costs and promoting sustainability.

Green lasers operate at 515 nanometers wavelength rather than the 1030-1070 nanometers wavelength of typical red lasers. The green laser beam significantly lowers the amount of laser reflection from copper surfaces, allowing up to seven times the energy absorption of typical red lasers. Interplex’s recent work also shows green lasers result in a cleaner, better weld than typical fiber lasers.

In addition, green lasers decrease the amount of weld spatter—the drops of molten metal and non-metallic materials produced during welding. They generate a lower CO2 footprint and power-usage-per-weld joint.

“The green laser provides a very nice-looking weld while decreasing the amount of energy required to weld 2mm of copper from 6 kW to 2 kW. Green lasers are also more cost competitive and produce results more quickly than typical welding lasers. The technology enables Interplex to speed up manufacturing cycle times and improve production yields,” says Charle Ng Han Kee, global welding specialist for Interplex.

Green Laser Economics

One of the obstacles for companies offering welding services is purchasing their first green laser. The price for optical components such as a 10kW laser can be up to $100,000.

Buying such expensive, automated equipment requires having enough business for the niche to thrive. New clients should understand that a green laser is an option, the company offering welding knows how to use it, and its engineers outperform those in other businesses.