This report discusses the influence of beam-shaping on laser-beam welding. By image-processing the cross-section geometries and melt-pool areas, the effects of the different beam shaping profiles on them and how measurements of top-surface areas, widths and other image features are influenced by them are determined. Based on a data collection, both qualitative and quantitative analyses are carried out, which show that, depending on the case, beam-shaping can have a major influence on the welding process. The image processing of the gap-width before the welding is also described, so it can be determined which image features are showing the change in the gap-width between the plates to be welded.

It turns out that beam-shaping has a very large influence on the laser-beam welding process and produces different qualities when evaluating the welds. Furthermore, the estimation of the gap-width has been made possible, so a model can be developed in the future based on this work, which implements estimation of the gap-width during the welding process in a closed-loop system and makes the laser-beam welding process more efficient with high quality weld-seams.