A method for joining metallic workpieces (12, 14, 150), the method comprising: a workpiece stack (10) is provided having three
metal workpieces (12, 14, 150) overlapping to define a
welding area (16), wherein the
welding area (16) of the workpiece stack (10) has a top surface (20) and a bottom surface (22) and further establishes a butt interface (34) between each pair of adjacent
metal workpieces (12, 14, 150) included in the workpiece stack (10), and wherein all of the
metal workpieces in the workpiece stack (10) are
magnesium workpieces; an
optical scanning laser head (42) of a remote
laser welding device (18) is operated to direct a first
laser beam (24') onto the upper surface (20) of the workpiece stack (10) and additionally to move a beam spot (44) of the first laser beam (24') relative to the upper surface (20) of the workpiece stack (10) within the welding area (16) and along a linear beam path pattern (80) to form a
keyhole (70) and to displace a surrounding
molten metal weld pool (68) along a corresponding path within the workpiece stack (10), wherein a single translation of the
keyhole (70) and the surrounding
molten metal weld pool (68) creates a linear laser seam weld joint (66) extending into the workpiece stack (10) and intersecting each butt interface (34) formed between the top and bottom surfaces (22) of the workpiece stack (10) to weld the three metallic workpieces (12, 14, 150) together, the laser seam weld joint (66) having an initial top surface (76) adjacent the top surface (20) of the workpiece stack (10); the scanning optical laser head (42) of the remote laser welding device (18) is operated to impinge on the initial upper surface (76) of the laser seam weld joint (66) with a second laser beam (24") and additionally to move the second laser beam (24") sinusoidally along the initial upper surface (76) of the linear laser seam weld joint (66) to melt an upper portion of the laser seam weld joint (66) including the initial upper surface (76) of the laser seam weld joint (66), wherein the upper portion melted by the second laser beam (24") constitutes between 10 vol.% and 30 vol.% of the laser seam weld joint (66); and the second laser beam (24") is removed from the laser seam weld joint (66) to allow the upper portion of the laser seam weld joint (66) to resolidify and to provide the laser seam weld joint (66) with a modified upper surface (84) that is smoother than the initial upper surface (76) of the laser seam weld joint (66) wherein the first laser beam (24') is a
solid-state laser beam, wherein the first laser beam (24') is moved relative to the upper surface (20) of the workpiece stack (10) along the beam travel pattern (80) at a travel speed
ranging from 2 m / min to 50 m / min, while a
power level of the first laser beam (24') ranges from 2 kW to 6 kW and a focus position of the first laser beam (24') ranges from +10 mm above the upper surface (20) of the workpiece stack (10) to -10 mm below the upper surface (20) of the workpiece stack (10); and wherein the second laser beam (24") is a
solid-state laser beam, wherein the second laser beam (24") is moved along the initial upper surface (76) of the laser seam weld joint (66) at a travel speed
ranging from 50 m / min to 130 m / min, while a
power level of the second laser beam (24") ranges from 1 kW to 3 kW and a focus position of the second laser beam (24") ranges from 0 mm to -50 mm below the upper surface (20) of the workpiece stack (10).