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Abstract
In the automotive industry, the use of zinc coated sheet steel is rapidly increasing as a result of consumer demand for improved corrosion resistance of automobile bodies. Laser welding of these zinc coated steels is currently under investigation with a strong emphasis on the overlap joint geometry. In the work presented in the present study, continuous wave laser welds have been performed on zinc coated steels in overlap configuration without a gap. It is shown that with suitable parameters, no detrimental effects occur as result of zinc vapour formation. Furthermore, a preliminary explanation is given indicating why stable welding is possible for certain power–speed combinations while in other cases it fails. From the results of this work, it can be concluded that stake welding of zinc coated steel is possible without the need for a gap or special beam manipulation techniques.
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