HIGH SPEED AND POWER ENERGY BEAM WELDING METHOD

摘要

A welding method uses a high energy density radiation beam such as an electron beam or preferably a substantially continuous wave laser beam (48) to weld a pair of sheets (40, 42) using an oblong focused beam spot (50). The radiation beam source (56) has a power of at least one kilowatt. A beam delivery system (46) capable of focusing the beam into a generally rectangular oblong spot shape directs the oblong beam spot onto at least one of the sheets to weld them together, with the longitudinal axis of the beam spot preferably oriented tangent to the weld line (60). Deep penetration keyhole welds (54) are produced.