TPT September 2011

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Welding Equipment
Perfect start for the EU project CLAiM
THE goal of a new European consortiumwith
six partners from research and industry is to
perfect a laser-stabilised plasma welding
process. About 50 interested enterprises
came to the one-day, start-up workshop for
CLAiM in Turkey, and attentively followed
the lectures on the planned optimisations
for welding thin metal sheets.
There is a clear trend in both the
transport and the automobile industries
towards light-weight construction using
high-strength sheets made of stainless
steel and aluminium. SMEs (small and
middle sized enterprises) are particularly
interested in fast manufacturing processes
without quality losses, to maintain a high
competitive position on the market. For
this reason, the goal of the project CLAiM
(Customised Laser-Aided Plasma Arc
Welding of Light Alloys and Steels) is to
shorten the processing time for established
plasma welding processes, and at the
same time to significantly increase welding
seam quality.
The basic idea is to use a laser-stabilised
welding process, such as a similar process
with excellent results for light arc welding.
Combining a laser with 400W output and
a plasma welding source can bring about
a 50% increase in the maximum welding
speed. This would not only reduce the
heat input into the metal sheet, but also
significantly improve the weld seam quality.
A further aim of the project is to achieve a
30 per cent increase in the welding depth.
The project was introduced to about
50 participating enterprises at the first
CLAiM workshop in Turkey this spring.
At the workshop, the German firm Merkle
presented the necessary welding system,
the Laser Zentrum Hannover eV (LZH)
explained the process idea, and the Spanish
partner Tecnalia the welding process control
concept. Also, the Turkish companies at the
workshop were informed of the possibilities
of participating in EU projects and in further
funding initiatives for cooperating with
German partners. Professor Arif Demir,
vice-president of the university of Kocaeli,
hosted the workshop.
An important goal of CLAiM is to
strengthen the position of SMEs on
the market by providing a significantly
improved welding process for sheet
metals, with low investment costs. “The
high number of SMEs participating in
the workshop was great for a kick-off
meeting,” says Jörg Hermsdorf from the
LZH. “By starting with close cooperation
with small and middle-sized enterprises,
we can expect a quicker transfer of the
project results to the target group.”
In the project CLAiM, two European
research institutes and four industrial
enterprises will be working together until
September 2012: Tecnalia Automotive
and Taller de Modelos y Troqueles, SL
(Spain), Form Engineering Ltd (Turkey),
Laser-Tech (Czech Republic) as well as
Merkle Schweißanlagen-Technik and the
Laser Zentrum Hannover (Germany).
The research and development activities
are financially supported by the 7th
framework programme of the EU. Project
management is carried out by the REA-
Research Executive Agency.
Laser Zentrum Hannover – Germany
Fax: +49 511 2788 100
Email:
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