A conduction model for deep penetration laser welding based on an actual keyhole

Using a specially designed experimental setup and properly choosing the sample material and the process parameters, we obtained a clear stable keyhole with a high-speed camera. On the basis of the actual keyhole profile, a conduction model with a cylindrical surface heat source has been developed under the assumption of the keyhole per thin layer being cylindrical. The model is numerically solved by the finite-difference method, the temperature field around the keyhole and the heat flux lost on the keyhole wall can be obtained. The effects of such factors as the shape and the size of the keyhole, the welding speed on the shape of the melt pool are studied. By comparing the laser intensity absorbed on the keyhole walls with the heat flux lost there, the mechanism of energy balance on the keyhole walls was investigated.     

An experimental study on the keyhole shapes in laser deep penetration welding

In this paper, the laser spot diameter and its intensity distribution are measured with a scanning pinhole, and the keyhole shapes are observed using a specially designed setup in laser deep penetration welding of glass GG17. Based on the above experimental results, the effects of the following factors on the keyhole shapes are studied: the laser spot diameter and its intensity distribution, defocus, welding speed and inverse Bremsstrahlung absorption of the plasma.     

A novel “sandwich” method for observation of the keyhole in deep penetration laser welding

A sandwich method was used to observe the keyhole in deep penetration laser welding, which provided an effective way to analyze both the Fresnel and inverse Bremsstrahlung absorption. In the transparent metal-analog system, different densities of metal vapor, ionized atoms, and free electrons in the keyhole can be simulated by changing the thickness of aluminum films. The research results show that inverse Bremsstrahlung absorption exerts a tremendous influence on the energy absorption of the laser beam for CO₂ laser welding. Low density of keyhole plasma benefits the incident laser energy coupling to the materials. However, excess density of keyhole plasma baffles the transmission of the incident laser beam to the interior material. By comparing inflow energy and outflow energy, there exits an energy balance on the keyhole wall by balancing the absorbed laser intensity and heat flux on the wall.     

Analysis of the correlation between plasma plume and keyhole behavior in laser metal welding for the modeling of the keyhole geometry

The process of laser metal welding is widely used in industry. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of complete process understanding and control. For analyzing the process we used two high-speed cameras. Therefore, we could image the plasma plume (which is directly accessible by a camera) and the keyhole (where most of the process instabilities occur) during laser welding isochronously. Applying different image processing steps we were able to find a correlation between those two process characteristics. Additionally we imaged the plasma plume from two directions and were able to calculate a volume with respect to the vaporized material the plasma plume carries. Due to these correlations we are able to conclude the keyhole stability from imaging the plasma plume and vice versa. We used the found correlation between the keyhole behavior and the plasma plume to explain the effect of changing laser power and feed rate on the keyhole geometry. Furthermore, we tried to outline the phenomena which have the biggest effect on the keyhole geometry during changes of feed rate and laser power.     

Distribution of the intensity absorbed by evaporative front in laser cutting nonmetallic material

The distribution of the intensity absorbed by the evaporative cutting front is investigated using ray-tracing method after the laser beam undergoes multiple reflections in an actual kerf photographed experimentally. The laser beam is characterized by focused Gauss beam. Fresnel absorption on the kerf is taken into account, while inverse bremsstrahlung absorption is negligible. The influences of the times of multiple reflections and laser beam's position on the absorbed intensity are also discussed. Results indicate front intensity absorption is mainly determined by the first three incident beams. The laser axis moves toward the front, which is affected by the cutting speed.     

Fresnel absorption and inverse bremsstrahlung absorption in an actual 3D keyhole during deep penetration CO2 laser welding of aluminum 6016

An actual keyhole is captured by a high-speed camera during deep penetration laser welding of aluminum alloy 6016. With the help of spectrograph, plasma spectra are acquired, and then after Abel transformation, electron temperature is calculated. Through Lorenz nonlinear fitting, the FWHM of Stark broadening lines is obtained to compute electron density. To know more about the mechanism of deep penetration laser welding, both the effect of Fresnel absorption and inverse bremsstrahlung absorption of plasma on the laser power distribution is considered. Results indicate that electron temperature is very unstable in the keyhole which has a declining tendency in the radius direction, electron density increases in the depth direction while it does not change too much along radius. Laser intensity absorbed on the keyhole wall through Fresnel absorption is hardly uniform and distributes mainly on the front wall and the bottom of keyhole wall, and inverse bremsstrahlung absorption of keyhole plasma plays a dominant role in absorbing laser power compared with Fresnel absorption.     

Combination of laser keyhole and conduction welding: Dissimilar laser welding of niobium and Ti-6Al-4V

Pulsed Nd:YAG laser welding of pure niobium plate to titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V sheet in butt joint is studied regarding the laser/metal interaction modes. To obtain the optimized process parameters in dissimilar welding of Ti-6Al-4V/Nb, the melting ratio of laser beam energy for each weld counterpart is evaluated experimentally. Different laser welding modes of keyhole and conduction are predicted regarding the absorbed energy from the similar laser pulses on each weld counterpart. Laser keyhole and conduction welding were observed simultaneously through direct visualization of laser interaction with dissimilar metals using High Speed Imaging (HSI) system.     

Numerical simulation of transient temperature field during laser keyhole welding of 304 stainless steel sheet

A three-dimensional transient numerical model was developed to study the temperature field and molten pool shape during continuous laser keyhole welding. The volume-of-fluid (VOF) method was employed to track free surfaces. Melting and evaporation enthalpy, recoil pressure, surface tension, and energy loss due to evaporating materials were considered in this model. The enthalpy-porosity technique was employed to account for the latent heat during melting and solidification. Temperature fields and weld pool shape were calculated using FLUENT software. The calculated weld dimensions agreed reasonable well with the experimental results. The effectiveness of the developed computational procedure had been confirmed.     

Improvement of laser keyhole formation with the assistance of arc plasma in the hybrid welding process of magnesium alloy

In the previous work, low-power laser/arc hybrid welding technique is used to weld magnesium alloy and high-quality weld joints are obtained. In order to make clear the interactions between low-power laser pulse and arc plasma, the effect of arc plasma on laser pulse is studied in this article. The result shows that the penetration of low-power laser welding with the assistance of TIG arc is more than two times deeper than that of laser welding alone and laser welding transforms from thermal-conduction mode to keyhole mode. The plasma behaviors and spectra during the welding process are studied, and the transition mechanism of laser-welding mode is analyzed in detail. It is also found that with the assistance of arc plasma, the threshold value of average power density to form keyhole welding for YAG laser is only 3.3×10⁴ W/cm², and the average peak power density is 2.6×10⁵ W/cm² in the present experiment. Moreover, the distribution of energy density during laser pulse is modulated to improve the formation and stability of laser keyholes.     

Fibre laser welding for packaging of disposable polymeric microfluidic-biochips

An essential step in the development of microfluidic-biochips is represented by the assembly process. Among the thermal bonding processes used for the assembly of such devices the laser transmission welding of polymers offers several advantages, especially when it comes about local deposition of energy and minimum thermal distortion in the joining components.The research presented in this paper proposes a new approach for the laser transmission welding developed for the packaging of disposable polymeric microfluidic-biochips. The new approach based on the use of a fibre laser and a tailored method for the laser energy deposition was tested on the sealing of polymeric biochips made from plexiglas and polypropylene with a covering foil. This method combines the characteristics of the polymer contour welding and quasi-simultaneous welding and allows the achievement of contamination-free, high quality weld seams as narrow as 100 μm with a high dynamic making it suitable for the high volume production also.     

Three-dimensional transient thermoelectric currents in deep penetration laser welding of austenite stainless steel

The existence of thermoelectric currents (TECs) in workpieces during the laser welding of metals has been common knowledge for more than 15 years. However, the time-dependent evolutions of TECs in laser welding remain unclear. The present study developed a novel three-dimensional theoretical model of thermoelectric phenomena in the fiber laser welding of austenite stainless steel and used it to observe the time-dependent evolutions of TECs for the first time. Our model includes the complex physical effects of thermal, electromagnetic, fluid and phase transformation dynamics occurring at the millimeter laser ablated zone, which allowed us to simulate the TEC, self-induced magnetic field, Lorentz force, keyhole and weld pool behaviors varying with the welding time for different parameters. We found that TECs are truly three-dimensional, time-dependent, and uneven with a maximum current density of around 10⁷ A/m² located at the liquid-solid (L/S) interface near the front or bottom part of the keyhole at a laser power of 1.5 kW and a welding speed of 3 m/min. The TEC formed three-dimensional circulations moving from the melting front to solidification front in the solid part of workpiece, after which the contrary direction was followed in the liquid part. High frequency oscillation characteristics (2.2–8.5 kHz) were demonstrated in the TEC, which coincides with that of the keyhole instability (2.0–5.0 kHz). The magnitude of the self-induced magnetic field and Lorentz force can reach 0.1 mT and 1 kN/m³, respectively, which are both consistent with literature data. The predicted results of the weld dimensions by the proposed model agree well with the experimental results. Our findings could enhance the fundamental understanding of thermoelectric phenomena in laser welding.     

Dual beam method for laser welding of galvanized steel: Experimentation and prospects

Laser welding of zinc-coated steel sheets in lap configuration poses a challenging problem, because of the zinc vapours spoiling the quality of the weld. In continuation to the earlier work, the novel solution of dual laser beam method for lap welding of galvanized steel sheets is discussed here in view of the recently obtained observations and ensuing concerns. In this method the precursor beam cuts a slot, thus making an exit path for the zinc vapours, while the second beam performs the needed welding. The metallurgical analysis of the welds is encouraging showing absence of zinc in the welded area. In the current work on this technique, new experimental results have been obtained verifying the earlier observations. Along with this, the possibility of using a transversely split-up beam for the welding purposes with this approach is discussed and analyzed in this paper. This new technique is expected to be very useful in prospective industrial applications requiring higher welding throughput along with the needed quality.     

A study on shielding gas contamination in laser welding of non-ferrous alloys

Laser welding of non-ferrous alloys is a high-productivity and cost-effective joining technology, which gained an undoubted interest especially in aerospace, chemical and medical industry, where high strength and corrosion resistant mechanical parts are required. Unfortunately some of the most used non-ferrous alloys are highly reactive with respect to the components of the environmental atmosphere: oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen and humidity. This reactivity leads to the formation of porosities and to oxides and nitrides inclusion, which are responsible for a decrease of ductility and strength in welded joints.According to this a good shielding technique of the weld pool is of primary importance in order to obtain sound beads and reliable manufacturings. This paper deals with the opportunity of simulating the shielding gas behavior by means of Computational Fluid Dynamics software in order to understand the relationship among the outlet position, the shielding gas type and its flow rate.A simulation activity was carried out in order to evaluate the behavior of shielding gas concentration surrounding the weld pool. The simulated welding environment was simplified without considering the presence and the effect of the plasma plume. The main results concern the shielding gas contamination prediction with respect to the distance from the beam-material interaction zone.     

Research on laser welding of vehicle body

Based on many experiments of CO₂ laser welding of vehicle body, joint microstructure and stress–strain curve of specimen are analyzed. The deep punching performance acquired by adopting Ar as protective gas is better than that of the one acquired by adopting N₂ as protective gas. Meanwhile the percentage of zinc in welding seam can be effectively controlled by means of blowing side protective gas. In this paper, welding penetration and width are shown to vary with laser power and speed of welding. The results indicate that some flaws such as gas hole, crack and softening of HAZ do not appear in laser welding seam in sheet steel of automobile bodies if technology parameters optimizes. The deep punching performance of tailor-welding sheet is fine.     

Modelling the spot shape influence on high-speed transmission lap welding of thermoplastics films

Modelling high-speed laser lap welding of thermoplastic films has been accomplished and the influence of laser beam spot shape, dimensions, and position relative to sample displacement was analysed.Engineering parameters predicted by the model were applied to lap weld of high- and low-density polyethylene transparent samples with thickness between 10 and 100 μm, and experimentally validated. Experimental set-up allowed reaching welding constant linear velocities up to 10 m/s.Theoretical and experimental data show coincidence. Weld strength increases for larger beam spot diameters, and elliptical beam spots increase weld efficiency, allowing higher processing speeds or decreasing required laser power. An angular deviation of elliptical beam spot with regard to the sample's movement direction causes an increase of weld strength and a decrease of welding speed.     

Effect of keyhole characteristics on porosity formation during pulsed laser-GTA hybrid welding of AZ31B magnesium alloy

This paper experimentally investigates the relationship between laser keyhole characteristics on the porosity formation during pulsed laser-GTA welding of magnesium alloy. Based on direct observations during welding process, the influences of laser keyhole state on the porosity formation were studied. Results show that the porosities in the joint are always at the bottom of fusion zone of the joint, which is closely related to the keyhole behavior. A large depth to wide ratio always leads to the increase of porosity generation chance. Keeping the keyhole outlet open for a longer time benefits the porosity restriction. Overlap of adjacent laser keyhole can effectively decrease the porosity generation, due to the cutting effect between adjacent laser keyholes. There are threshold overlap rate values for laser keyholes in different state.     

3D transient multiphase model for keyhole,vapor plume,and weld pool dynamics in laser welding including the ambient pressure effect

The physical process of deep penetration laser welding involves complex, self-consistent multiphase keyhole, metallic vapor plume, and weld pool dynamics. Currently, efforts are still needed to understand these multiphase dynamics. In this paper, a novel 3D transient multiphase model capable of describing a self-consistent keyhole, metallic vapor plume in the keyhole, and weld pool dynamics in deep penetration fiber laser welding is proposed. Major physical factors of the welding process, such as recoil pressure, surface tension, Marangoni shear stress, Fresnel absorptions mechanisms, heat transfer, and fluid flow in weld pool, keyhole free surface evolutions and solid–liquid–vapor three phase transformations are coupling considered. The effect of ambient pressure in laser welding is rigorously treated using an improved recoil pressure model. The predicated weld bead dimensions, transient keyhole instability, weld pool dynamics, and vapor plume dynamics are compared with experimental and literature results, and good agreements are obtained. The predicted results are investigated by not considering the effects of the ambient pressure. It is found that by not considering the effects of ambient pressure, the average keyhole wall temperature is underestimated about 500 K; besides, the average speed of metallic vapor will be significantly overestimated. The ambient pressure is an essential physical factor for a comprehensive understanding the dynamics of deep penetration laser welding.     

Characteristics of deep penetration laser welding of dissimilar metal Ni-based cast superalloy K418 and alloy steel 42CrMo

Experimental trials of autogenous deep penetration welding between dissimilar cast Ni-based superalloy K418 and alloy steel 42CrMo flat plates with 5.0 mm thickness were conducted using a 3 kW continuous wave (CW) Nd:YAG laser. The influences of laser output power, welding velocity and defocusing distance on the morphology, welding depth and width as well as quality of the welded seam were investigated. Results show that full keyhole welding is not formed on both K418 and 42CrMo side, simultaneously, due to the relatively low output power. Partial fusion is observed on the welded seam near 42CrMo side because of the large disparity of thermal–physical and high-temperature mechanical properties of these two materials. The microhardness of the laser-welded joint was also examined and analyzed. It is suggested that applying negative defocusing in the range of Raylei length can increase the welding depth and improve the coupling efficiency of the laser materials interaction.     

A study of the shielding gas influence on the laser beam welding of AA5083 aluminium alloys by in-process spectroscopic investigation

In laser welding, the shielding gas is commonly used to stabilize the welding process, to improve welded joints features and to protect the welded seam against oxidization. Besides the type of shielding gas used, the nozzle parameters play an essential role. In fact, the chemical composition of the shielding gas and the flow geometry are key factors limiting the size of the plasma plume and its contamination by the surrounding atmosphere, and affecting the final quality of the welded joints.In this work, we present an experimental study on the complex physical phenomena occurring during the interaction between the plasma plume, the laser beam and the shielding gas by using an in-process spectroscopic investigation of the plasma plume characteristics under different operating conditions. A correlation was found between the spectral features and the formation of oxide layers on the surface of the welding seam, caused by defective gas shielding and by the vaporization of alloying elements. Experimental results have given useful indications for the development of innovative welding nozzle for application in laser welding of aluminium alloys.     

Second harmonic generation: Effects of the multiple reflections of the fundamental and the second harmonic waves on the Maker fringes

The Maker fringes technique is commonly used for the determination of nonlinear optical coefficients. In this article, we present a new formulation of Maker fringes in parallel-surface samples, using boundary conditions taking into account the anisotropy of the crystal, the refractive-index dispersion, and the reflections of the fundamental and the second harmonic waves inside the material. Complete expressions for the generated second harmonic intensity are given for birefringent crystals for the case of no pump depletion. A comparison between theory and experimental results is made, showing the accuracy of our theoretical expressions.