Complete Wire-Feed Laser Welding Guide

In real production, very few laser welds are “just a keyhole and no wire”. Once you start dealing with gaps, thin sheet metal or cosmetic requirements, wire feed quickly becomes the difference between a nice, repeatable weld and a daily struggle on the shop floor.

This guide looks at wire-feed laser welding from an industrial point of view: why you need it, how to choose wire diameter, how to set feed speed, and how wire feed interacts with power, frequency and wobble parameters. All example values come from real tests on GWEIKE M-Series 6-in-1 fiber laser systems (800 W / 1200 W), welding stainless steel, carbon steel and aluminum.

Why use wire feed in laser welding?

Compared with TIG/MIG, laser welding is very concentrated and narrow. Wire feed helps you:

• Bridge joint gaps that would otherwise cause undercut or lack of fusion.
• Build up bead height for parts that will see bending or dynamic loads.
• Reduce undercut and edge collapse on thin stainless and aluminum.
• Improve cosmetic appearance with a more regular “stacked dime” pattern.
• Stabilize the keyhole on thicker sections by feeding extra material.
• Compensate fit-up variation between different fixtures and shifts.

In short: the laser supplies concentrated energy and penetration; the wire gives you control over geometry, strength and tolerance to real-world gaps.

Common wire-feed configurations in laser welding

There are several ways to get filler wire into the molten pool. In practice, which one you choose depends on part geometry, access and whether you are retrofitting an existing workstation.

Push vs pull vs cold wire

• Push systems drive wire from the feeder towards the torch or welding head. This is common on shorter torch setups and works well with standard steel wires.
• Pull systems have an additional motor near the torch to pull the wire. These are often used for softer wires or longer distances.
• Cold wire feed — the wire is not preheated electrically. It enters the pool as a solid and is melted by the laser energy. This is the typical approach on fiber laser welding systems, including the GWEIKE M-Series.

Hot-wire systems (where the wire is resistively heated before entering the pool) exist as well, but they are more complex and often reserved for very thick sections or niche materials. For 0.5–4 mm sheet metal, cold wire feed with a wobble head is usually the most efficient and cost-effective option.

Wire position relative to the beam

• Leading wire (ahead of travel direction) — good for deeper penetration.
• Trailing wire — can help with bead buildup and surface smoothing.
• Side wire — often used when access is limited or in fillet welds.

On M-Series, the typical configuration for plate and simple fillet welds is cold wire feed, leading or slightly side-angled into the wobble pattern.

How wire diameter changes the process

Wire diameter is not just a purchasing decision — it directly sets how much material you add at a given feed speed. In practice, we usually see:

• 0.8 mm wire — light buildup, smaller beads, better for thin sheets.
• 1.0 mm wire — general-purpose for 1–1.5 mm stainless and aluminum.
• 1.2 mm wire — common choice for 1.5–2.5 mm stainless and carbon steel.
• 1.6 mm wire — used when bead buildup and strength are more important than speed.

From our internal process windows on M-Series, a simple rule emerges: rule-of-thumb

• For 1.0–1.2 mm sheet, use 0.8–1.0 mm wire wherever possible.
• For 1.5–2.0 mm sheet, 1.0–1.2 mm wire is usually the best balance.
• For 2.5–4.0 mm sheet, especially carbon steel, 1.2–1.6 mm wire gives better fill and strength.

Real wire-feed parameters from M-Series (1200 W)

The tables below summarize typical wire diameters and feed speeds we use on 1200 W M-Series systems for stainless steel, carbon steel and aluminum. These are not theoretical ranges; they are values that have been proven in production trials.

Stainless steel, 1200 W, cold wire

All tests above use nitrogen shielding, flow rate ≥ 20 L/min, focus at 0 on the surface.

Carbon steel, 1200 W, cold wire

Aluminum, 1200 W, cold wire

For aluminum we use nitrogen ≥ 20 L/min and raise the focus to +3–5 mm above the surface. This significantly improves stability and appearance.

Wire feed on 800 W systems

On 800 W sources, the logic is the same but with a lower power ceiling. The process window shifts slightly towards higher duty cycle and a narrower thickness range. Wire diameter and feed speeds remain very similar.

Typical aluminum settings, 800 W

In practice, we recommend using 800 W for 1.0–1.5 mm aluminum and moving to 1200 W if you need consistent penetration or higher speed on 2 mm and above.

How wire feed interacts with power, frequency and wobble

Wire feed does not exist in isolation. On M-Series, wire speed, peak power, wobble frequency and wobble width all move together when you change thickness.

• Thinner material (around 1 mm) Higher scanning frequency (80–100 Hz), moderate peak power (50–60%), faster wire feed (13–15 mm/s), small wobble width (around 2.5 mm).
• Medium thickness (1.5 mm) Mid-range frequency (around 40–60 Hz), higher peak power (70%), wire feed ~12 mm/s, wobble width ~3 mm.
• Thicker sheet (2.0 mm and above) Lower scanning frequency (~40 Hz), high peak power (80–85%), slower wire feed (~10 mm/s), wider wobble (up to 4.0–4.5 mm).

If you change only one parameter (for example, wire speed) but ignore the others, you will quickly run into issues: excessive bead buildup, undercut or instability in the keyhole. That’s why starting from a tested process window is so valuable.

Wire-feed troubleshooting: what to adjust first

Below are typical issues we see in customer trials and how they relate to wire feed.

• Bead too high / excessive buildup
  Wire speed too high, or peak power too low. Reduce feed slightly (1–2 mm/s) or increase power by 5–10% while watching penetration.
• Bead underfilled / concave
  Wire feed too slow for the chosen wobble width and travel speed. Increase feed, or narrow the wobble.
• Burn-through at edges
  Peak power too high, focus too deep, or wire not entering the pool consistently. Move focus up, reduce power or switch to a slightly larger wire.
• Unstable bead on aluminum
  Check shielding gas (≥ 20 L/min), focus height (+3–5 mm) and ensure wire is not “pushing” the pool too aggressively. Sometimes dropping feed by 1–2 mm/s is enough.
• Spatter / rough surface
  Wobble frequency, amplitude and feed speed are out of sync. Try aligning wobble width and feed so that each oscillation has a consistent amount of filler.

Wire feed on aluminum vs stainless vs carbon steel

Different materials react differently to the same wire settings. The table below summarizes the typical trends we see on M-Series:

Recommended starting points on GWEIKE M-Series

If you are setting up wire-feed laser welding on M-Series for the first time, a practical way to start is:

• Stainless steel, 1.0–1.5 mm 0.8–1.0 mm wire, 15–18 mm/s feed, 30–45% peak power, wobble 2.5–3.0 mm.
• Carbon steel, 1.5–2.5 mm 1.0–1.2 mm wire, 10–12 mm/s feed, 40–70% peak power, wobble 3.0–4.0 mm.
• Aluminum, 1.0–2.0 mm 1.0–1.6 mm wire, 10–15 mm/s feed, 50–85% peak power, wobble 2.5–4.0 mm, nitrogen ≥ 20 L/min, focus +3–5 mm.

From there, small moves of 1–2 mm/s in wire speed and 5–10% in peak power are usually enough to dial in the final result on your own alloys and fixtures.

Wire-feed capability on GWEIKE M-Series

The GWEIKE M-Series 6-in-1 platform is designed to support wire-feed applications from day one:

• Integrated cold wire-feed system with stable drive for common diameters (0.8 / 1.0 / 1.2 / 1.6 mm).
• Bus-type CNC control for synchronized wobble, wire feed and travel speed.
• Automatic focusing welding head for easy switching between aluminum and steel (focus 0 vs +3–5 mm).
• Application parameter libraries for stainless, carbon steel and aluminum, including wire-feed windows like the ones in this article.

Instead of building your parameter set from scratch, you can start from a tested window and adjust for your own parts. That is often the difference between a project that launches in weeks versus one that drags on for months of trial and error.

Summary & next steps

Wire feed is not an optional extra in laser welding anymore. For 1–4 mm sheet metal, it is one of the main tools you have to control gap tolerance, bead shape and strength. With the right combination of wire diameter, feed speed, peak power and wobble, a fiber laser can replace or complement TIG/MIG in many aluminum, stainless and carbon steel applications.

The numbers in this guide are taken from real M-Series trials. They will not match every alloy and every joint, but they will get you very close to a workable process window from the first day. From there, it’s just a matter of fine-tuning.

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