Surgically precise laser applications

It’s the fine wire that makes the difference

Medical equipment employs an incalculable number of different materials. Tools, implants and auxiliary materials consist of a very wide range of materials. When joining components by laser welding, the filler material plays a critical role.

With special process parameters and a component-specific welding strategy, welding technology can create crack-free and pore-free joints between materials. There are some materials that cannot be joined without using filler material. If a component cannot otherwise be welded free of cracks and pores, we use laser welding wire. We also use this filler material if the requirements for the weld seam are particularly demanding.

Laser welding with filler material demands special skills on the part of the laser operator. The joining of the base material by means of the laser welding wire requires manual infeeding of the filler wire.

The joining of the base material by means of the laser welding wire requires manual infeeding of the filler wire. The laser operator continually feeds filler wire of diameter 0.2 to 0.6 millimetres to the component to be welded, without causing any irregularities in the weld seam. The interplay of laser parameters, the rate of process feed and the manual skill of the operator are the be-all and end-all of these work processes.

In order to prepare our specialists in the laser welding department to perform these processes, each employee goes through an internal training program. The duration of the technical and practical education in handling laser welding wire lasts up to 2 years. Only when the employee has mastered the control of the fine wire may he be entrusted with production jobs for medical technology using filler material.