This work present lap welding of zinc coated sheets and leads to the realization of an industrial process.
The difficulty comes from the fact that the zinc boiling point (1180K) is lower than the steel melting point (1800K) leading to violent boiling of zinc in steel.
We choose a two-spots process: first one concerns the zinc coating vaporization; second one allows welding.
Previously, we develop a numerical modelling that permits a process parameters choice and limits the plan of experimentations.
Scanning speed, laser power, size and shape of the two spots were optimised. Our numerical software leads to the choice of a zinc vaporization elliptic spotlight.
Experimentations confirm the predicted tendency.