Research on laser-arc hybrid welding technology for long-distance pipeline construction

In recent years, the research on pipeline laser-arc hybrid welding technology has been the important and difficult in the field of welding all over the world. China Petroleum Pipeline Research Institute Co. Ltd. has firstly developed pipeline laser-arc hybrid welding system in China, and executed the welding tests based on X70/X80 steel. Preliminary experiment results showed that hybrid welding could meet the requirements of related standards such as API1104,ASME,etc., the mechanical properties of girth seam are qualified in the case that there were no internal defects. With the development of high-power fiber laser and the continuous improvement of welding equipment, laser-arc hybrid welding technology for pipeline field welding will be available soon.

Microstructure and properties of laser-arc hybrid welding of high-strength low-alloy steel

Laser-arc hybrid welding has the characteristics of optimal surface formation and greater penetration;it is extensively used in the welding of plates of medium thickness.However, for hybrid welding of lasers, the welding seam cooling rate is rapid;thus, the welding seam has a higher tendency to significantly harden, which has a negative impact on the weld quality of the high-strength low-alloy(HSLA) steel plates of medium thickness.In this study, laser-arc hybrid welding is performed on the BG890 QL HSLA steel produced by Baoshan Iron & Steel Co.,Ltd.,and the quenching tendency of the welded structure is examined.The results demonstrate that the specific growth direction of the columnar crystal structure of the laser-arc hybrid welded joint is obvious.However, at the center and top of the welded seam, there are equiaxed crystals.The impact properties at room temperature and-40 ℃ of the weld area are 58.0 J and 40.0 J,respectively, and those of the heat-affected zone(HAZ) are 147.0 J and 66.5 J,respectively.The impact performance can meet these requirements.Laser-arc hybrid welding of HSLA steel can yield strong and durable welds and the HAZ structure to meet the requirements of engineering applications.

Numerical simulation of temperature field in laser-arc hybrid welding of wear-resistant steel

Using ABAQUS software and cylindrical ellipsoid and body heat sources with a peak-heat-flux- attenuation function, a finite element model of the temperature field in the laser-arc hybrid welding of 4.5-mm BW300TP wear-resistant steel is proposed. The proposed model considers convection, radiation, molten pool flow, and heat conduction effect on temperature. A comparison of the simulation and actual welding test results confirms the reliability of the model. This welding heat-process model can provide the cooling rate at any position in the heat affected zone （HAZ） and can be used as a reference for the analysis of material properties and for process optimization.

Beam oscillating parameters on pore inhibition,recrystallization and grain boundary characteristics of laser-arc hybrid welded AZ31 magnesium alloy

Oscillating laser-arc hybrid welding of AZ31B magnesium alloy was carried out,the effects of beam oscillation parameters on pore inhibition,microstructure,grain boundary characteristics and tensile properties were investigated.The results showed that the pore formation can be inhibited with oscillating frequency higher than 75 Hz and radius smaller than 0.5 mm.The columnar grains neighboring the fusion line can be broken by the beam oscillation behavior,while the grain growth was promoted with the increase of frequency or radius.It should be noted that the coincidence site lattice(CSL)boundaries were mainlyΣ13b andΣ29 boundaries,which were contributed by{10■2}tensile twins and{11■2}compression twins,respectively.The total fraction of CSL boundaries reached maximum at radius of 0.25 mm and frequency of 75 Hz,which was also confirmed as the optimized parameters.In this case,the elongation rate increased up to 13.2%,12.8%higher than that of the weld without beam oscillation.Finally,the pore formation and inhibition mechanisms were illustrated according to the state of melt flow and keyhole formation,the abnormal growth was discussed basing on secondary recrystallization,and the relationship among the pore formation,grain size,boundary characteristics and weld toughness were finally established.

Microstructure homogeneity and mechanical properties of laser-arc hybrid welded AZ31B magnesium alloy

Laser-arc hybrid welding of AZ31B magnesium alloy was carried out,the effects of welding parameters on weld formation,microstructure homogeneity and mechanical properties were investigated.The results showed that laser-arc hybrid welding was beneficial to improve the weld formation of magnesium alloy by inhibiting the defect of undercut and pores.The weld microstructure was mainly columnar grains neighboring the fusion line and equiaxed grains at the weld center.It was interesting that the grain size at the upper arc zone was smaller than that at the lower laser zone,with the difference mainly affected by laser power rather than welding current and welding speed.The welding parameters were optimized as laser power of 3.5 kW,welding current of 100 A and welding speed of 1.5 m/min.In this case,the weld was free of undercut and pores,and the tensile strength and elongation rate reached 252 MPa and 11.2%,respectively.Finally,the microstructure homogeneity was illustrated according to the heat distribution,and the evolution law of tensile properties was discussed basing on the weld formation and microstructure characteristics.

Microstructure and mechanical performance of AZ31/6061 lap joints welded by laser-TIG hybrid welding with Zn-Al alloy filler metal

A series of Zn-xAl(x=0-35 wt.%)alloy filler metals were designed to join AZ31 Mg alloy to 6061 Al alloy by laser-TIG hybrid welding.The effect of Al content on the wettability of filler metals,microstructure evolution and strength of joint was investigated.The results indicated that the strength of joints was improved with the increase of Al content in filler metals.When Zn-15Al filler was used,the ultimate fracture load reached the maximum of 1475.3 N/cm,which was increased by 28%than that with pure Zn filler.The reason is that the Al element acts as a"reaction depressant"in filler metal,which contributes to inhibiting the dissolution of Mg base metal and the Mg-Zn reaction.The addition of appropriate quantity of Al element promoted the precipitation of Al-rich solid solution instead of Zn solid solution.The MgZn_(2) IMCs have lower lattice mismatch with Al solid solution than Zn solid solution,thus the strength of joints is improved.However,the excessive addition of Al caused the formation of brittle Mg32(Al,Zn)49 ternary compounds,leading to the deterioration of joint performance.

Effect of adhesive on laser-arc hybrid welding of aluminum alloy to high-strength steel joint

Aluminum alloy 6061 and high-strength steel Q460 were joined by laser-arc-adhesive hybrid welding technology successfully.A Cu alloy interlayer was added between Al alloy and high-strength steel.The effect of the adhesive on laser-arc-adhesive hybrid welding of Al alloy to high-strength steel was discussed.The optical microscope,scanning electron microscope and electron probe micro-analysis were applied to observe the microstructural evolution and phase transition at Al-Fe interface of laser-arc-adhesive hybrid welded joints.The results showed the maximum tensile shear strength of the joint without adhesive was 256 MPa.After adding adhesive,the maximum tensile shear strength reached 282 MPa.The combination of the mechanical bonding and the metallurgical effect could improve the mechanical performances.The shape of the joint in Al alloy changed into a canine-like morphology.There was no porosity in welds because the molten pool of Al alloy and the special keyhole phenomenon of laser welding provided a channel for the decomposed gas to escape from fusion zone.

High-speed butt welding of magnesium alloy using pulsed laser-arc hybrid heat source

Laser-arc hybrid welding at a speed of 6 000 mm/min is carried out on 2 mm thick magnesium alloy AZ61 plateand completely-penetrated butt joints are obtained, lnvestigations of the influence of parameters on weld formation show that Ihe addition of pulsed laser can effctively enhance tlle heat penetrability attd directivity nf the hybrid heat source. Measurements on microstructures and mechanical properties the joint indicate that grain in the.fhsion zone is refined and the grain size is sensitive to the arc current ; the fitsioa zone exhibits the highest hardaess; the tensile strength of the joint reaches 93% of base metal; there is the brittle fracture along the grain bozmdaries in the fusion zone. High-speed camera images exhibit that although the two adjacent laser pulses can not overlap, the recorery relaxation of the concentrated electric arc after laser intlse action can still maintain the continuous welding process.

Microstructures and properties of welded joint of aluminum alloy to galvanized steel by Nd:YAG laser + MIG arc hybrid brazing-fusion welding

According to the differences in melting point between aluminum alloy and steel, 6013-T4 aluminum alloy was joined to galvanized steel by large spot Nd：YAG laser ＋ MIG arc hybrid brazing-fusion welding with ER4043（AlSi5） filler wire. The microstructures and mechanical properties of the brazed-fusion welded joint were investigated. The joint is divided into two parts of fusion weld and brazed seam. There is a zinc-rich zone at fusion weld toe, which consists of α（Al）-Zn solid solution and Al-Zn eutectic. The brazed seam is the Fe-Al intermetallic compounds （IMCs） layer of 2-4μm in thickness, and the IMCs include FeAl2, Fe2Al5 and Fe4Al13. FeAl2 and Fe2Al5 are located in the compact reaction layer near the steel side, and Fe4Al13 with tongue shape or sawtooth shape grows towards the fusion weld. The tensile strength of the joint firstly increases and then decreases as the welding current and laser power increase, the highest tensile strength can be up to 247.3 MPa, and the fracture usually occurs at fusion zone of the fusion weld. The hardness is the highest at the brazed seam because of hard Fe-Al IMCs, and gradually decreases along the fusion weld and galvanized steel, respectively.

Laser-pulsed MIG hybrid welding technology of A6N01S aluminum alloy

Welding research of A6N01S-T5 aluminum alloy profile for high-speed train was done by using laser-MIG hybrid welding and MIG welding individually. And the weld appearance,welding distortion,mechanical properties of the joints and microstructures were analyzed. The test results demonstrated that high-efficient welding for the profile can be achieved by using laser-MIG hybrid welding,the speed of which can be over 3. 0 m/min. The processing had a good gap bridging ability,even if the gap of the butt joint was up to 2. 0 mm,a good weld appearance can also be got. While the hybrid welding speed was greater than 2. 5 m/min,the welding distortion of the laser-tandem MIG hybrid joints was just about 33% of that of the MIG joints,but the welding efficiency was over 3 times of MIG welding. And tensile strength of the hybrid joints was 85% of that of A6N01S-T5 base metal,9% higher than that of the MIG joints. Fatigue properties was tested individually with pulsed tensile fatigue method in the condition of 1 × 10~7 lifetime. The test results demonstrated that the fatigue strength of the joints was a little lower than that of base material,which could be up to 115 MPa. But the fatigue strength of hybrid welding joints was 107. 5 MPa,which was 23% higher than 87 MPa of MIG welding joints.

Characteristic of laser-MIG hybrid welding with filling additional cold wire for aluminum alloy

The weld appearance, deposition rate, welding efficiency, stability of arc, laser keyhole characteristic, and weld property were studied by using a novel laser-MIG hybrid welding process with filling wire of aluminum alloy. The results were also compared with those by conventional laser-MIG hybrid welding process. It was found that with the suitable process parameters this novel welding process for aluminum alloy was stable and final weld bead had fine appearance. Compared to conventional laser-MIG hybrid welding process, during this novel welding process the stability of arc, the laser keyhole characteristic and the weld property were similar, while the keyhole cycle frequency and keyhole opening area had differences of 1.23% and 15.34%, respectively, and the welding efficiency increased by about 31% without increasing heat input.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of the joint of 6061 aluminum alloy by plasma-MIG hybrid welding

Plasma-MIG {metal inert gas arc welding） hybrid welding of aluminum alloy with 6 mm thickness using ER5356 welding wire was carried out. The microstructures and mechanical properties of the welded joint were investigated by optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction （XRD） , energy dispersive spectroscopy （EDS） , tensile test, hardness test and scanning electron microscope （ SEM） were used to judge the type of tensile fracture. The results showed that the tensile strength of welded joint was 142 MPa which was 53. 6% o f the strength o f the base metal. The welding seam zone was characterized by dendritic structure. In the fusion zone, the columnar grains existed at one side of the welding seam. The fibrous organization was found in the base metal, and also in the heat affected zone （HAZ） where the recrystallization occurred. The HAZ was the weakest position of the welded joint due to the coarsening of Mg2Si phase. The type of tensile fracture was ductile fracture.

CHARACTERISTICS OF DROPLET TRANSFER IN CO_2 LASER-MIG HYBRID WELDING WITH SHORTCIRCUITING MODE

LF6 aluminum alloy plates with 4.5 mm thickness are welded in this experiment. Welding is carried out by using the CO2 laser-MIG paraxial hybrid welding in fiat position. The experimental results indicate that the inherent droplet transfer cycle time of conventional MIG arc is changed due to the interaction between CO2 laser beam and MIG arc in the short-circuiting mode of laser-MIG hybrid welding. Because of the preheating action of CO2 laser to electrode and base material, the droplet transfer frequency of MIG arc is increased in the hybrid welding process. When laser power is increased to a certain degree, the droplet transfer frequency is decreased due to the effect of laser-induced keyhole. Furthermore, through analyzing the MIG welding current and arc voltage waveforms and the characteristics of droplet transfer in the hybrid welding process, the effect of laser energy and the action point between laser beam and arc on the frequency of droplet transfer and weld appearance is investigated in details.

MODEL OF LASER-TIG HYBRID WELDING HEAT SOURCE

The welding mechanism of laser-TIG hybrid welding process is analyzed. Withthe variation of arc current, the welding process is divided into two patterns: deep-penetrationwelding and heat conductive welding. The heat flow model of hybrid welding is presented. As todeep-penetration welding, the heat source includes a surface heat flux and a volume heat flux. Theheat source of heat conductive welding is composed of two Gaussian distribute surface heat sources.With this heat source model, a temperature field is calculated. The finite element code MARC isemployed for this purpose. The calculation results show a good agreement with the experimental data.

Wettability, microstructure and properties of 6061 aluminum alloy/304 stainless steel butt joint achieved by laser-metal inert-gas hybrid welding-brazing

Laser-metal inert-gas(MIG)hybrid welding-brazing was applied to the butt joint of 6061-T6 aluminum alloy and 304 stainless steel.The microstructure and mechanical properties of the joint were studied.An excellent joint-section shape was achieved from good wettability on both sides of the stainless steel.Scanning electron microscopy,energy-dispersive spectroscopy and X-ray diffractometry indicated an intermetallic compound(IMC)layer at the 6061-T6/304 interface.The IMC thickness was controlled to be^2μm,which was attributed to the advantage of the laser-MIG hybrid method.Fe3Al dominated in the IMC layer at the interface between the stainless steel and the back reinforcement.The IMC layer in the remaining regions consisted mainly of Fe4Al13.A thinner IMC layer and better wettability on both sides of the stainless steel were obtained,because of the optimized energy distribution from a combination of a laser beam with a MIG arc.The average tensile strength of the joint with reinforcement using laser-MIG hybrid process was improved to be 174 MPa(60%of the 6061-T6 tensile strength),which was significantly higher than that of the joint by traditional MIG process.

CO_2 laser-micro plasma arc hybrid welding for galvanized steel sheets

A laser lap welding process for zinc-coated steel has a well-known unsolved problem-porosity formation. The boiling temperature of coated zinc is lower than the melting temperature of the base metal, which is steel. In the autogenous laser welding, the zinc vapor generates from the lapped surfaces expels the molten pool and the expulsion causes numerous weld defects, such as spatters and blow holes on the weld surface and porosity inside the welds. The laser-arc hybrid welding was suggested as an alternative method for the laser lap welding because the arc can preheat or post-beat the weldment according to the arrangement of the laser beam and the arc. CO2 laser-micro plasma hybrid welding was applied to the lap welding of zinc-coated steel with zero-gap. The relationships among the weld quality and process parameters of the laser-arc arrangement, and the laser-arc interspacing distance and arc current were investigated using a full-factorial experimental design. The effect of laser-arc arrangement is dominant because the leading plasma arc partially melts the upper steel sheets and vaporizes or oxidizes the coated zinc on the lapped surfaces. Compared with the result from the laser-TIG hybrid welding, the heat input from arc can be reduced by 40%.

Stability of fiber laser-MIG hybrid welding of high strength aluminum alloy

The effect of fiber laser on MIG arc was investigated with 8 mm 7075-T6 high strength aluminum alloy as base material.The arc shape,droplet transfer form and electrical signal in the process of MIG welding and laser-MIG hybrid welding were analyzed.The stability of the hybrid welding process was evaluated by standard deviation analysis.The results show that with the increase of laser power,a large number of laser-induced plasma enters the arc column area,providing more conductive channels,which makes the heat of MIG arc more concentrated and the short circuit transition disappear.Due to the continuous effect of laser,the keyhole becomes a continuous electron emission source,and a stable cathode spot will be formed near the keyhole,which enhances the stability of MIG arc at the base current state.By using the method of standard deviation analysis,the voltage standard deviation of single MIG welding arc and laser-MIG hybrid arc within 4 seconds was calculated.The standard deviation of single MIG arc voltage was 1.05,and the standard deviation of MIG arc voltage in laser-MIG hybrid welding was 0.71–0.86,so the hybrid welding process was more stable.

The numerical simulation of laser-MIG hybrid welding for Invar alloy

Composites are widely applied to the manufacturing of aircraft in aviation. Forming of large-scale composite component in aircraft requires the corresponding mold with precise size. The laser-MIG hybrid welding has a significant advantage in the manufacturing of Invar mold for aircraft composites. This paper mainly introduces the application of the laser-MIG hybrid welding,and the distribution of thermal field and flow field on the Invar alloy laser-MIG hybrid three-layer welding is analyzed and discussed specifically.

Welding characteristics in different laser-TIG hybrid manners

An experiment for determining the laser-TIG hybrid welding characteristics was carried out in three kinds of hybrid methods: CO_2 laser-TIG coaxial hybrid, CO_2 laser-TIG paraxial hybrid and Nd: YAG laser-TIG paraxial hybrid. The experimental results indicate that hybrid welding has two welding mechanisms in CO_2 laser-TIG hybrid welding: deep penetration welding and heat conduction welding. As the effect of the laser-induced keyhole, the arc root is condensed, the current density and penetration depth increase significantly, the welding characteristic is apt to deep penetration welding. When current increases to some degree, the keyhole induced by laser disappears, which produces a shallow penetration and wide bead. The weld exhibits heat conduction welding characteristics. Furthermore, the arc images and weld bead cross-sections of three kinds of hybrid manners were also compared and analyzed at different welding currents, which established the foundation for understanding the welding characteristics of laser-TIG hybrid welding comprehensively.

Effect of laser-wire distance on temperature distribution in laser ＋ GMAW-P hybrid welding

The temperature fields in laser ＋ GMAW-P hybrid welding for different laser-wire distances in quasi-steady state were calculated using an developed combined heat source model, and the influence of laser-wire distance on them was analyzed. The results show tbat, at a low level of arc power, the temperature profiles caused by laser and arc energy respecively cannot couple well when the laser-wire distance reaches 4 mm, a trend of separation between them beginning to take place. In the case of high arc power, both the critical laser-wire distance and HAZ width increase.