Recently we have investigated the manufacture of diamond cutting discs in our laser welding laboratory. Discs are used mainly in the construction field, allowing clean and quick cuts in a wide range of materials. They are constructed by a serrated disc, with a hardened outer zone, usually with diamond.
In the performed tests, we joined the diamond sintered tabs and the steel part of the disc.
A laser SLAB CO2 has performed the welding, applying it only by one face, to reach all the disc thickness, about 3mm.
One of the biggest obstacles to the consecution of the best welding performance has been the avoidance diamonds particles of the sintered area in the space designed for the welding in order to avoid pores in the welding.The sintered tab provided must assure a diamond-free zone in the base of the tab to provide a good area for the welding.
After different tests, we have obtained some good results, producing uniform welding seams in a 300mm diameter disc and with a higher welding strength that the required by the client.
The 1m/min welding speed allows a high working pace.
Once the test results are verified, an automation of the process will be developed, integrating the cutting and the tab laser welding process.
