Air-cooled hand-held laser welding

In fact, when the growth of the laser cutting market encountered a bottleneck, the market for laser welding rose strongly—on the one hand, orders for laser equipment used for power battery production surged, and a series of listed companies were hatched; on the other hand, it effectively replaced traditional The hand-held laser welding equipment for argon arc welding was born, and was quickly recognized by the market. In recent years, the sales volume has increased exponentially. In 2021, Han's Laser, Lianying Laser, Liyuanheng, Haimuxing and other companies received orders for lithium battery equipment totaling nearly 20 billion yuan; and hand-held laser welding machines have also been tested in the scale of 100 units from 2018. , and sales will reach tens of thousands of units by 2021.

It is certain that handheld laser welding machines will maintain such a growth rate in the next few years. The ever-decreasing price will strengthen the tool properties of the handheld laser welding machine, giving it a greater advantage in replacing traditional argon arc welding; at the same time, the technological upgrade in the field of handheld laser welding is also continuously improving the handheld welding machine. performance, quality and application. The hand-held laser welding machine using the air-cooled solution came into being under this background.

Why is it air-cooled? Who has mastered the air cooling?

Early handheld laser welding machines used water cooling for heat dissipation. This method is simple in structure and easy to maintain, and has made great contributions to the market development of handheld laser welding from 0 to 1. However, in the process of use, the market gradually found that the water-cooled hand-held laser welding machine has shortcomings in portability and functional ductility. At the same time, the characteristics of anti-freezing in winter and anti-condensing in summer also increase the difficulty of equipment maintenance.

As the market demand becomes more sophisticated, some manufacturers have begun to consider using air-cooled solutions as hand-held laser welding machines.

Compared with the water-cooled solution, the hand-held laser welding machine using the air-cooled solution does not require additional water-cooling equipment, which greatly reduces the volume and weight of the equipment while reducing the cost. In addition, it also provides convenience for adding functions such as cleaning and cutting in the later stage. . Some people in the industry believe that air-cooled hand-held laser welding is the key to further replacing the argon arc welding market with greater cost-effectiveness advantages and more flexible application scenarios (small size, portability, and functional extension).

In fact, when the growth of the laser cutting market encountered a bottleneck, the market for laser welding rose strongly—on the one hand, orders for laser equipment used for power battery production surged, and a series of listed companies were hatched; on the other hand, it effectively replaced traditional The hand-held laser welding equipment for argon arc welding was born, and was quickly recognized by the market. In recent years, the sales volume has increased exponentially. In 2021, Han's Laser, Lianying Laser, Liyuanheng, Haimuxing and other companies received orders for lithium battery equipment totaling nearly 20 billion yuan; and hand-held laser welding machines have also been tested in the scale of 100 units from 2018. , and sales will reach tens of thousands of units by 2021.

It is certain that handheld laser welding machines will maintain such a growth rate in the next few years. The ever-decreasing price will strengthen the tool properties of the handheld laser welding machine, giving it a greater advantage in replacing traditional argon arc welding; at the same time, the technological upgrade in the field of handheld laser welding is also continuously improving the handheld welding machine. performance, quality and application. The hand-held laser welding machine using the air-cooled solution came into being under this background.

Why is it air-cooled? Who has mastered the air cooling?

Early handheld laser welding machines used water cooling for heat dissipation. This method is simple in structure and easy to maintain, and has made great contributions to the market development of handheld laser welding from 0 to 1. However, in the process of use, the market gradually found that the water-cooled hand-held laser welding machine has shortcomings in portability and functional ductility. At the same time, the characteristics of anti-freezing in winter and anti-condensing in summer also increase the difficulty of equipment maintenance.

As the market demand becomes more sophisticated, some manufacturers have begun to consider using air-cooled solutions as hand-held laser welding machines.

Compared with the water-cooled solution, the hand-held laser welding machine using the air-cooled solution does not require additional water-cooling equipment, which greatly reduces the volume and weight of the equipment while reducing the cost. In addition, it also provides convenience for adding functions such as cleaning and cutting in the later stage. . Some people in the industry believe that air-cooled hand-held laser welding is the key to further replacing the argon arc welding market with greater cost-effectiveness advantages and more flexible application scenarios (small size, portability, and functional extension).

Most of the current laser equipment is equipped with a chiller, the purpose of which is to keep the temperature of key components constant, avoid changes in beam quality caused by temperature fluctuations, and damage to components caused by excessive temperature. For hand-held laser welding machines, how to use air cooling to achieve the same temperature control effect as water cooling has become a bottleneck restricting the industrial application of this new concept.

The first to break through this technical bottleneck is the global leader in fiber lasers - IPG. As early as November 2020, IPG has launched the fully air-cooled handheld laser welding machine LightWELD 1500, which represents the paradigm of other handheld laser welding systems on the market with its small size, light weight and unique air-cooled device change. In June of the following year, the product was launched in China.

Also in 2020, some domestic enterprises have also begun to carry out technical research around the air-cooling scheme of hand-held laser welding. In July 2021, Guanghui Laser (Shanghai) launched the first air-cooled A1500W intelligent laser welding machine; in October of the same year, Thermal Stimulation Light (Beijing) also released the FCA1500 air-cooled laser for handheld laser welding machines.

Although they are both air-cooled solutions, these three companies adopt different technical routes. According to Weike.com Laser, IPG's LightWELD 1500 handheld laser welding system uses a heat pipe radiator cooling solution, and the A1500W smart air-cooled handheld welding machine launched by Guanghui Laser uses a compressor cooling solution. Thermal stimulation light researches and develops FCA The series of air-cooled CW fiber lasers adopt the fan forced convection cooling method.

Handheld laser welding is favored by capital GW is committed to creating a new industrial ecology

In addition to the gratifying data on sales and orders, handheld laser welding (especially GW's air-cooled handheld laser welding) is also favored by the capital market.

In July 2021, shortly after the first domestic air-cooled hand-held laser welding was launched, Guanghui Laser won a strategic financing of 100 million yuan led by Shangqi Capital, a subsidiary of SAIC Group, and the joint participation of Dongtaipu Fund. In addition to continuing to strengthen the capacity expansion of the new generation of 10,000-watt laser products based on the 976nm technology route, this round of financing will also make a major entry into the new track of the 100 billion market for handheld laser welding machines.

In October of the same year, Guanghui Laser received another 50 million yuan strategic investment led by CCB Investment, a subsidiary of CCB Trust. The funds obtained will be used to create a new ecology of air-cooled laser hand-held welding, and is committed to leading a new era of new laser tooling revolution.

The funding of 150 million yuan not only helps Guanghui Laser to increase the production capacity of air-cooled hand-held laser welding machines, but also helps the performance of the air-cooled laser developed by Guanghui Laser to a higher level. Dr. Ding Jianwu said: "At present, the upper limit of the active heat dissipation scheme we use is high, which is enough to meet the heat dissipation of 1000W ~ 3000W power lasers. We have established a common platform for products similar to the automotive industry, and most parts can be shared, changed or added. Modules can quickly define new products, and the cost can be diluted, and can quickly enter the market. The 1500W air-cooled laser hand-held welding machine we are currently promoting is a product with balanced cost performance, and the air-cooled 3000W is our future direction. We will Continue to work hard to bring more reliable and efficient products to customers.”

In addition, the air-cooled 976 laser ecology that Guanghui Laser has been creating in an open and cooperative way has also taken shape. On the basis of the existing air-cooled 976 fiber laser technology, Guanghui Laser has deeply integrated the core components of the air-cooled 976 laser by cutting into the air-cooled handheld laser welding market, creating an air-cooled 976 laser core system, allowing OEMs and ODMs Equipment manufacturers have greater independent control, and can produce and sell laser welding machines on a large scale with high quality and quantity. At the same time, with the formation of the air-cooled 976 laser core system, Guanghui Laser also began to explore with partners the solutions of air-cooled hand-held laser cutting machines and air-cooled hand-held laser cleaning machines.

In the future, a handheld air-cooled laser machine with the advantages of energy saving and portability, compatible with the three functions of "cleaning + cutting + welding" is expected to be born in the air-cooled 976 laser ecology. The establishment of this new ecology of the laser industry will surely gather more laser industry chain enterprises, and will also bring new growth space for the increasingly competitive laser application market. Together, they will make the laser industry bigger and stronger, and light up China's hard-core scientific and technological power.