Patents by Inventor Fenggui Lu

Fenggui Lu has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Hot cracking reduction in aluminum laser welding
    Patent number: 10675712
    Abstract: A method of laser welding a workpiece stack-up that includes two or three overlapping aluminum alloy workpieces involves constraining a free end of an overlapping portion of a first aluminum alloy workpiece against movement away from an underlying second aluminum alloy workpiece to counteract the thermally-induced forces that cause out-of-plane deformation of one or more of the aluminum alloy workpieces during laser welding. Such constraint of the free end of the first aluminum alloy workpiece may be accomplished by clamping, spot welding, or any other suitable practice. By constraining the free end of the first aluminum alloy workpiece, and thus inhibiting out-of-plane deformation of the aluminum alloy workpieces when laser welding is practiced in a nearby welding region, the occurrence of hot cracking is minimized or altogether eliminated in the final laser weld joint.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 9, 2020
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Hui-Ping Wang, Michael G. Poss, Blair E. Carlson, Fenggui Lu, Haichao Cui
  • HOT CRACKING REDUCTION IN ALUMINUM LASER WELDING
    Publication number: 20180111226
    Abstract: A method of laser welding a workpiece stack-up that includes two or three overlapping aluminum alloy workpieces involves constraining a free end of an overlapping portion of a first aluminum alloy workpiece against movement away from an underlying second aluminum alloy workpiece to counteract the thermally-induced forces that cause out-of-plane deformation of one or more of the aluminum alloy workpieces during laser welding. Such constraint of the free end of the first aluminum alloy workpiece may be accomplished by clamping, spot welding, or any other suitable practice. By constraining the free end of the first aluminum alloy workpiece, and thus inhibiting out-of-plane deformation of the aluminum alloy workpieces when laser welding is practiced in a nearby welding region, the occurrence of hot cracking is minimized or altogether eliminated in the final laser weld joint.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 30, 2015
    Publication date: April 26, 2018
    Inventors: Hui-Ping Wang, Michael G. Poss, Blair E. Carlson, Fenggui Lu, Haichao Cui