APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR LASER DEPOSITION WELDING USING A POWDERY WELDING MATERIAL

An apparatus and method are provided for the laser deposition welding of powdery welding material having increased flexibility and reduced costs, in particular for systems engineering. The powdery welding material is conveyed via a nozzle coaxial with respect to a laser beam directed in a focused manner with a constant focal length onto a processing region of a workpiece through the nozzle onto the processing region. A plurality of optical elements are statically arranged in a laser optical unit for the shaping and beam guidance of the laser beam. The laser optical unit it attached to a processing head and can be moved with the processing head parallel to the optical axis of the laser beam by a first drive. The plane of the focal point can thereby be changed with respect to the workpiece surface and to the size of the surface of the focal point in the processing region. The nozzle can be moved independently of the laser optical unit parallel to the optical axis of the laser beam by a second drive.