Rolling +
Laser Seam Welding

The gain is one less transfer and one less clamping; the cost is that a single fault affects both halves. So the two halves must move and be tuned independently: if the welding head has a problem, rolling can still run empty; if you change the rolling die, the welding recipe library is untouched. If you want belt-and-braces, two separate machines also work — the price is an extra load/unload and one more positioning error.

A leaking longitudinal seam is usually lack of penetration or porosity. Three things matter in laser welding: gap, power and shielding gas. If the gap exceeds tolerance it won't penetrate, so butt accuracy after rolling must be stable — which is exactly why rolling and welding belong on one machine: one less transfer is one less chance to deform. Seam integrity is verified by pressure test or leak test, sampled per batch.

Rolling changeover means a different roll or die; welding means a different program. Same diameter, different height: ten minutes of programming. Different diameter: change the rolling module, half a day. How many sizes you run per month decides whether we build quick-change into the machine — and that has to be settled at proposal stage.

Absorption is lower than carbon steel, but it welds perfectly well — the parameters have to be calibrated to material and surface condition. Brushed, mirror and oiled parts all need different settings. We sample each part, store a parameter set as a recipe, and recall it on the next run. It isn't a knob an operator twiddles on the day.

Driven by cylinder diameter range, whether you need automatic loading, and whether rolling and welding are one machine or two. The price gap and the throughput difference both need to be laid out. Send diameter range, sheet thickness and target cycle time, and I'll quote a range against a proposal.

The laser source is maintenance-free. Protective lenses are inspected and replaced on a schedule, and cooling water is changed on the maker's interval. Those three decide whether a laser stays reliable long term — cheap, but somebody has to own them, so we write them into your check sheet.

Yes. Send sheet or semi-finished cylinders, we weld, then pressure test and section the seam to check penetration. Sectioning is the only honest way to judge a weld; photographs are not.

Same diameter, different height: ten minutes of programming. Different diameter: change the rolling module, half a day. How many diameters you intend to run is what decides whether we build quick-change in from the start.