How can laser technology contribute to the shipbuilding industry?

How can laser technology contribute to the shipbuilding industry?

In the shipbuilding industry, the main applied material is steel, and ships, as life-bearing tools, have extremely high requirements for this raw materials. Any slight skew or small problem in plate cutting can lead to a disaster.

With its advantages of high precision, high safety, and zero impact on materials, laser cutting machine is bound to become the new trend for the whole shipbuilding sheet metal manufacturing industry.

Laser cutting technology in shipbuilding

Compared with the traditional punching machine processing, laser cutting can greatly reduce the production cycle and save costs.

For example, the plasma cutting has to set the trim margin on the plate and trim it by hand while blanking the plates, which will result in uneven trim quality. However, laser cutting can effectively reduce the secondary trimming process on site, which not only reduces production cycle and labor cost, but also improves product quality.

HGTECH WALC series large-format laser cutting machines are designed for high-efficiency cutting of super large-format plates and can be applied to the shipbuilding industry in batch. In addition, we have developed our own large format 5-axis bevel cutting machine based on the market demand for the large volume of medium& thick plates bevel cutting.

Equipment features:

· Good cut quality, good verticality of the cut surface, no slag, thin oxide layer, and smooth surface

· No need for secondary processing, can be directly welded

· Small thermal deformation of steel plate, high accuracy of curve cutting

There is no doubt that laser cutting machines will be used in more shipbuilding enterprises in the future, and high power laser cutting machines are bound to be the future trend.

Laser welding technology in shipbuilding

Compared with traditional submerged arc welding and MIG/MAG welding, laser welding is more efficient, more accurate, more effective, and highly integratable in terms of automation and intelligence. It can be said that laser welding is very suitable for shipbuilding, aerospace and other high-end precision manufacturing.

The advantages of laser composite welding technology:

· Faster welding speed

· Less thermal deformation and rework

· Higher welding quality

· Less consumption

Check out the laser composite plate welding seam

For example, the speed of submerged arc welding is 550 mm/min, MIG/MAG can reach 700 mm/min, and double wire MIG/MAG can reach about 1500 mm/min, while the laser welding speed can reach 2400 mm/min, which has a great advantage in efficiency and is currently the fastest welding process for thin plate welding in ship construction.

In the shipbuilding process, the materials processed are mostly 3 - 12mm plates, and warping and deformation due to the heat input during the welding process are the main problems faced in traditional shipbuilding methods. Fortunately, the main advantage of laser welding technology is the low deformation.

With its advanced laser cutting technology and laser welding technology, HGTECH has become a common choice for many large foreign shipbuilding companies. Our cutting&welding equipment have been applied into lots of large offshore engineering manufacturers in China, Japan, the United States and Korea, as well as manufacturers of high-speed aluminum ships and luxury cruise ships in Australia, the United States and Europe.