METHOD OF CONTACTLESS EXCITATION OF WELDING ARC Russian patent published in 1995 - IPC

FIELD: mechanical engineering and other branches of industry. SUBSTANCE: after no-load voltage of welding source 3 is applied to the arc gap, plasma of pulse optical discharge (laser-induced spark 5) is produced by means of pulse laser radiation, directed in the form of focused beam 4 to the gap between welding electrode 1 and workpiece 2. To enhanced the reliability of arc excitation, laser beam 4 is directed towards workpiece 2 at sharp angle α to the axis of electrode 1 and focused in the middle of the arc gap. The gap length should not exceed value l_opt·cosα, where l_opt is the maximum size of the high-temperature nucleus of laser spark along the optical axis during existence of spark in used gas at preset parameters of the laser radiation pulse and focusing system. EFFECT: facilitated procedure. 2 cl, 1 dwg