The new LAAW of arc welding.(Brief Article)

Arc welding hasn't changed much throughout five decades, but there may be a new system governing the process that joins metal parts on everything from cars to boats to airplanes.

Charles Albright, professor of industrial welding and systems engineering, and a group of researchers at Ohio State University found a way to guide the position of welds with a special low-power laser beam. They call the newly patented technique laser-assisted arc welding (LAAW).

The method improves the precision of arc welding and helps manufacturers save energy and equipment costs