Multipass welding of thick section steels using autogenous CO2 laser welding and CO2 laser-MIG hybrid welding

Laser multipass welding techniques for thick section steels have been developed using a new type of UV combined narrow groove. The shape and sizes at the bottom of groove are determined by analyzing the plasma behavior using high speed photographic equipment. A stable autogenous CO2 laser welding process and greater penetration are generated at the root pass because of strong reduction of the plasma volume. According to the waveforms of welding current and arc voltage, and the interaction between the arc and the laser induced plasma, a suitable groove angle is obtained. Laser-double MIG hybrid welding process is studied and the optimum distances between the laser and two arcs are determined. By using autogenous CO2 laser welding, CO2 laser-MIG hybrid welding and laser-double MIG hybrid welding, 28 mm thick steel plates are welded with four passes. The welds produced are assessed by X-ray. No crack is found and there is only a small amount of pores. The experimental results show that the multipuss welding procedures proposed can realize the joining of thick section steels with high efficiency and good quality.

Behavior of vapor/plasma within the keyhole and above the workpiece during CO_2 laser penetration welding

In this paper, a high-speed camera and an optical emission monitor were used to study the behavior of vapor/ plasma during CO2 laser welding of SUS304 stainless steel. Results of optical emission from vapor/plasma show that two characteristic frequency bands exist, 100 -500 Hz and 1 500 -3 500 Hz. At the same time, the changing images of vapor/ plasma and bottom pool also confirm that there are two different fluctuation frequency bands. One of the frequency bands represents the characteristic of vapor/plasma within the keyhole, and it is within 167 -500 Hz. Another frequency band is within 1 500 - 3 500 Hz, and it obviously derives from the shielding gas. Some factors may cause these frequency differences between the keyhole plasma and the shielding gas plasma. One of them is that the vapor/plasma pressure within the keyhole will increase slowly.

A study on the porosity of CO_2 laser welding of titanium alloy

The CO2 laser welding of BT20 titanium alloy and Ti-23Al-17Nb titanium aluminide was conducted to investigate into the porosity in titanium alloy weld. The results show that there are two sorts of porosities observed in welds of titanium alloy laser welding based on the microscopic characteristics of the porosities. One is the metallurgical porosity with round and smooth inner wall, which results from the surface contamination. The other is the processing porosity with irregular and rough inner wall that displays the trace of the pool flowing, which results from the ruffle on the keyhole wall gathering together locally and closing down the gas in the keyhole into bubbles because of the keyhole fluctuating. The CO2 laser welding could break down easily the surface oxide film and produce little metallurgical porosity, but produces easily processing porosity when partial penetration or unstable-full penetration laser welding is conducted, which always occurs in the center of weld.

Macrostructural and microstructural features of 1000 MPa grade TRIP steel joint by CO_2 laser welding

Bead-on-plate CO2 laser welding of 1 000 MPa grade transformation induced plasticity （TRIP） steel was conducted under different welding powers, welding speeds and shield gases. The macrostructural and microstructural features of the welded joint were investigated. The increase of welding speed reduced the width of the weld bead and the porosities in the weld bead resulting from the different flow mode of melted metal in weld pool. The decrease of welding power or use of shield gas of helium also contributed to the reduction of porosity in the weld bead due to the alleviation of induced plasma formation, thus stabilizing the keyhole. The porosity formation intimately correlated with the evaporation of alloy element Mn in the base metal. The laser welded metal had same martensite microstructure as that of water-quenched base metal. The welding parameters which increased cooling rate all led to fine microstructures of the weld bead.

Laser Welding of TC-1 Titanium Alloy

The technology of CO2 laser welding and joint properties of titanium alloy were investigated. The problem of molten pool protection was resolved by designing a shielding trailer and a special clamp. Joints with silvery appearance were obtained, which have no pore and crack. In addition, the welding speed could reach 3 m/min for the plate of 1.5 mm thickness being penetrated. The reason of the porosity formation in partial penetration joints is that the keyholes can be easily cut apart in the radial direction, which makes the gas enclosed in the molten pool. The surface oxide of specimens can not affect the porosity formation in welds directly.

Laser Beam Welding of 600 MPa Quenched and Tempered High-Strength Steel

Conventional fusion arc welding of high-strength quenched and tempered steel can be improved through the use of non-conventional laser beam welding. This article presents the investigations of autogenous bead on plate and butt CO2 Laser Welding (LW) of 7 mm thick high-strength quenched and tempered low alloy SM570 (JIS) steel plates. The influence of laser welding parameters, mainly welding speed, defocusing distance and shielding gas flow rate on the weld profile, i.e., weld zone penetration depth and width, microstructure and mechanical properties of welded joints was determined. All welded joints showed smooth and uniform weld beads free from superficial porosity and undercuts. The selected best welding conditions were a laser power of 5.0 kW, welding speed of 500 mm/min, argon gas shielding flow rate of 30 L/min and a defocusing distance of -0.5 mm. It was observed that these conditions gave complete penetration and minimized the width of the weld bead. The microstructure of the welded joints was evaluated by light optical microscopy. The weld metal (WM) and heat-affected zone (HAZ) near weld metal achieved maximum hardness (355 HV). The tensile fractured samples showed the ductile mode of failure and ultimate tensile strength of 580 MPa.

Secondary Austenite Morphologies in Fusion Zone of Welded Joint after Postweld Heat Treatment with a Continuous Wave Laser

In order to improve the weldability of duplex stainless steels,obtaining more secondary austenite in the weld metal is an effective way.Therefore,optimizing the secondary austenite by changing its morphology,volume fraction and stability may be expected to enhance the ductility of the weld.The secondary austenite morphologies in the fusion zone of the laser continuously heat treated welds of 2205 duplex stainless steel were investigated.The secondary austenite morphologies were found to be influenced by different laser power level.The secondary austenite with penniform,freely grown and dendritic shape appeared in the course of 4,6 and 8 kW continuous heat treatment,respectively.It was found that there were three kinds of morphologies of secondary austenite in the fusion zone treated by different power,i.e.,widmannst¨atten austenite,grain boundary austenite and intragranular austenite.The results demonstrated that the mechanism of the secondary austenite formation was a displacement mechanism during the initial austenite lath formation and a diffusion mechanism during cooling.The nitrides provided the nitrogen for the transformation and at the same time acted as nucleation sites for the secondary austenite.