The Welding Application of Fiber Laser in the Food and Beverage Industry

As is well known, food and beverage product manufacturers have strict requirements in ensuring the hygiene and cleanliness of their equipment. Once these devices and components are designed or manufactured improperly, they are likely to cause pollution, ultimately leading to health hazards, brand reputation damage, and expensive recall actions. The shortage of labor and raw materials further exacerbates these challenges, putting additional pressure on manufacturers to maintain competitiveness.

To maintain a leading position in these challenges, manufacturers need flexible manufacturing technologies that are easy to use, fast, capable of eliminating waste and rework, and producing equipment with excellent craftsmanship. Laser welding provides excellent processes that enable smooth surface treatment, faster processes, and eliminate potential bacterial contamination traps, making it expected to play a crucial role in the food and beverage industry. Materials and Connection Technologies in the Food and Beverage Industry.

The materials used in equipment often affect manufacturing. Stainless steel, especially grades 304 and 316, is the preferred material for food grade applications due to its cleanliness, corrosion resistance, and ease of disinfection. This type of steel has a high level of durability and wear resistance, and its presence is often found in food preparation, processing, brewing and distillation, catering, and restaurants. Fasteners such as bolts and rivets need to consider the joint structure and direction related to the food contact area. And this may impose limitations on the design and increase the cost of component manufacturing.

Fortunately, handheld laser welding technology has achieved a higher level of design flexibility, reducing the number of parts by eliminating nuts, bolts, and washers, and simplifying machining components by eliminating threaded holes. Due to its ease of use, versatility, and technological capabilities, this technology provides many opportunities for improvement for food and beverage manufacturers in the food and beverage industry.

Handheld laser welding can enable equipment designers to operate not only on food contact surfaces, but also on all surfaces of the equipment (such as welding closed frame pipes), bringing good results to improve cleaning efficiency.

Compared with MIG and TIG welding, the heat input is significantly reduced, and designers have more manufacturing options when using thinner materials, such as reducing raw material costs and related transportation costs in non load-bearing structures.

Handheld laser system for distortionless welding of mixed materials
In addition, the efficiency of laser welding manufacturing can also be improved, thereby increasing profits. Traditional technologies such as MIG and TIG welding require muscle memory and motor skills. A skilled welder may take several years to develop the required level of professional knowledge to enable the manufacturer's products to stand out in competition by producing high-quality welding. Laser welding can enable a worker with only basic dexterity or no welding experience to learn how to produce high-quality and consistent welds in a short amount of time.

High quality welding and easier post-processing
In addition, post-processing of welds, such as grinding and medium blasting, increases costs through equipment and additional labor. The low-cost and easy-to-use welding solution available breaks down the barriers to obtaining professional and skilled labor. Laser welding is also faster than traditional methods, four times faster than TIG welding.

The challenge of using traditional welding methods to achieve high-quality surface treatment for food grade processes is very significant. Laser welding capability - such as swing welding, which can quickly scan the entire welding path of the laser beam, minimize splashing, and enable imperfect parts to be welded, reducing the need for manual post-processing and improving product quality.

In addition, using a laser can use a wire feeder to fill materials where necessary. When combined with swing welding, it is easy to create superior joints, and in many cases, post-processing grinding may not be necessary.

Another key issue is the possibility of microcracks, which may occur on thinner joints when using traditional welding. This can avoid the low heat input and stable welding pool swing ability due to laser welding.

Before welding, debris on the surface of the part may produce inclusions and other defects. Currently, many handheld laser systems also offer laser cleaning capabilities, which can remove pre and post weld smoke and dust, as well as remove discoloration in heat affected areas and allow surface passivation.

Compared to resistance spot welding, laser spot welding is non-contact and precise, completely eliminating tip pressure and alignment issues, resulting in higher quality products and preventing problems such as indentation and asymmetric welds, which can lead to bacterial growth and visually inferior products, respectively.

In addition, laser spot welding only requires contact with one side of the part, providing more design flexibility. Compared to TIG welding, thin parts can be spot welded at significantly higher rates with minimal heat input.

Meeting the hygiene and cleanliness requirements of the food and beverage industry is a complex task. Handheld laser welding and cleaning technologies (such as IPG's LightWeld system) have significant advantages in food grade welding, providing flexibility in equipment design, improving productivity, reducing costs, and improving quality. By adopting this technology, manufacturers can improve food safety, simplify production processes, and ensure customer satisfaction.

Compared to traditional welding methods, handheld laser welding and cleaning have many advantages, which can help improve welding quality and consistency, while reducing production time and costs.

Source: OFweek