Characterisation of plasma induced during high power fibre laser welding of stainless steel

Abstract

The objective of this research is to obtain a fundamental knowledge of generation behaviour and ionised state of a plume or plasma induced during bead on plate welding of a 20 mm thick type 304 stainless steel plate with a 10 kW fibre laser beam of 0˙9 MW mm^–2 power density, on the basis of 10 000 to 40 000 flames s^–1 high speed video observation and spectroscopic analysis. The high power fibre laser produced a partial penetration weld of 12 mm in depth at 50 mm s^–1 welding speed. According to the high speed observation pictures, the laser induced plume was repeatedly generated from a keyhole at the interval of about 0&dot5 ms period to reach 12 mm in maximum height. The spectroscopy indicated the line spectra of neutral atoms of alloying elements of type 304 such as iron (Fe), chromium (Cr) and manganese (Mn). However, ionised spectra of alloying elements and line spectra of argon (Ar) neutral atom were not apparently detected under these welding conditions. Furthermore, the temperature and the ionisation degree of the laser induced plume were calculated to be approximately 6000 K and 0&dot02 respectively, by the Bolzman plots and Saha's equation. Consequently, the plume induced with the 10 kW fibre laser beam of the ultra high power density was judged to be weakly ionised plasma from these experimental results.     

High quality welding of stainless steel with 10 kW high power fibre laser

Abstract

The objectives of this research are to investigate penetration characteristics, to clarify welding phenomena and to develop high quality welding procedures in bead on plate welding of type 304 austenitic stainless steel plates with a 10 kW fibre laser beam. The penetration depth reached 18 mm at the maximum at 5 mm s^?1. At 50 mm s^?1 or lower welding speeds, however, porosity was generated at any fibre laser spot diameter. On the other hand, at 100 mm s^?1 or higher welding speeds, underfilling and humping weld beads were formed under the conventionally and tightly focused conditions respectively. The generation of spatters was influenced mainly by a strong shear force of a laser induced plume and was greatly reduced by controlling direction of the plume blowing out of a keyhole inlet. The humping formation was dependent upon several dynamic or static factors, such as melt volume above the surface, strong melt flow to the rear molten pool on the top surface, solidification rate and narrow molten pool width and corresponding high surface tension. Its suppression was effective by producing a wider weld bead width under the defocused laser beam conditions or reduction of melt volume out of keyhole inlet under the full penetration welding conditions. Concerning porosity, X-ray transmission in situ observation images demonstrated that pores were formed not only from the tip of the keyhole but also at the middle part because of high power density. The keyhole behaviour was stabilised using a nitrogen shielding gas, resulting in porosity prevention. Consequently, to produce high quality welds in 10 kW high power fibre laser welding, the reduction procedures of welding defects were required on the basis of understanding their formation mechanism, and 10 kW fibre laser power could produce sound deeply penetrated welds of 18 mm depth in a nitrogen shielding gas.     

Effect of active flux addition on laser welding of austenitic stainless steel

Abstract

The use of active flux in tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding is known to increase its weld depth. The present paper involves study of active flux laser beam welding (ALBW) of austenitic stainless steel sheets with respect to its effect on plasma plume, microstructure and mechanical properties of the resultant weldments. ALBW performed with SiO₂ as the flux significantly modified shape of the fusion zone (FZ) to produce narrower and deeper welds. Plasma plume associated with the process was considerably smaller and of lower intensity than that produced during bead on plate laser beam welding (LBW). Flux addition during LBW produced thin and rough weld bead associated with humping. The development of such a weld bead is cause by reversal in the direction of Marangoni flow by oxygen induced inversion of surface tension gradient, widely fluctuating plasma plume and presence of oxides on the weld pool surface preventing free flow of the melt. Active flux laser weldments exhibited lower ductility than that of bead on plate laser weldments.     

Novel laser surface treatment approach to suppress sensitisation in modified type 316(N) stainless steel weld metal

Abstract

Welded components are subjected to solution annealing heat treatment for achieving full stress relief and restoration of mechanical properties and corrosion resistance. During such heat treatments, optimum cooling rate has to be selected because very slow cooling rate will result in sensitisation and susceptibility to intergranular corrosion whereas fast cooling will result in reintroduction of residual stress. For 316 LN stainless steel which is welded using modified E316-15 electrodes (0·045–0·055%C), critical cooling rate above which there is no risk of sensitisation is 75 K h^?1. This paper presents a novel laser surface treatment which suppresses sensitisation in weld metal, even at a slower cooling rate of 65 K h^?1. Experiments involving laser surface melting were carried out with 150 W average power pulsed Nd:YAG laser and 10 kW CO₂ laser, in both continuous wave and pulse modulated (100 Hz) modes. Best results were obtained when surface melting was performed with high frequency pulse modulated CO₂ laser beam. The processed weld metal remained unsensitised after solution annealing followed by slower rate of cooling at 65 K h^?1. Numerical simulation study was performed with ANSYS 7·0 software to understand the physical reason behind the difference in sensitisation behaviour of CO₂ laser melted specimens under continuous wave and high frequency pulse modulated conditions and the predictions were validated using results of electron backscattered diffraction studies. Weld metal specimens treated with high frequency pulse modulated CO₂ laser clearly showed evolution of fine grains near the fusion boundary region which enhanced sensitisation resistance.     

Mechanical properties of 422 stainless steel repaired via wire feed laser welding

Abstract

Laser welding with filler wire additions could be used in restoration of components that are of high cost or sometimes difficult to procure, such as steam turbine blades in fossil fuel power plants. In the present work, machined V groove specimens were employed to simulate laser repair of Carpenter 636 stainless steel (SS), which has a similar composition to a blade material, type 422 SS. Before repair welding, a heat treatment procedure including solution and temper treatments of the specimens was carried out according to the mechanical and microstructural analyses of a used blade after 20 years service at about 540° C. Tensile, impact, and fatigue crack growth tests of weld repairs using 410 SS filler wire were conducted. The weld repairs exhibited an impact toughness similar to that of the base metal and a lower fatigue crack growth rate than the base metal. However, the lower hardness associated with 410 SS filler metal led to tensile fracture in the weld metal of repaired specimens. Accordingly, the use of 410 SS filler metal for repair welding type 422 SS components should be limited to regions under low stress.     

Erosive abrasive wear behaviour of stainless steel surface produced by plasma transferred arc hardfacing

Abstract

Erosive abrasive wear is caused by high speed impact of particles entrained in a fluid system on the surfaces of components such as boilers and furnaces. Erosive abrasive wear in boilers results from the impact of hard particles such as ash or clinker entrained in flue gases and can lead to serious damage. The life of boiler and furnace components encountering erosive abrasive wear in service, which are most commonly fabricated from carbon steels, can be improved by hardfacing with a wear resistant material. The effects of wear parameters such as particle size, flux and velocity on the erosive abrasive wear behaviour of a stainless steel surface produced by the plasma transferred arc hardfacing have been investigated using an experimental design approach. The wear resistance of the stainless steel surface was found to be twice that of the carbon steel substrate.     

Impact toughness of 316 stainless steel weld metal on elevated temperatures aging

Abstract

Shielded metal arc welding electrodes of a modified E316-15 austenitic stainless steel, for service at 673–823 K with delta ferrite in the range of 3–7 ferrite number, have been developed indigenously for welding of 316L(N) stainless steel structural materials for the Indian Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor. Delta ferrite content in weld metals for high temperature service is restricted for limiting the formation of embrittling secondary phases during service. To study the effect of high temperature exposure on microstructure and mechanical properties, the 316 weld metal was aged at three different temperatures of 923, 973 and 1023 K, for various durations up to 500 h. The activation energy for the transformation of delta ferrite has been estimated to analyse the mechanism associated with the micro structural changes that led to the deterioration in toughness on elevated temperature aging of this weld metal.     

High power laser welding of Nb microalloyed steel plates

Abstract

Laser welding studies on 12 mm thick Nb microalloyed steels were done using a 25 kW CO₂ laser at welding speeds of up to 3 m min^?1 with the aim of identifying the influences of Nb and carbon on laser weldability and weld properties. Welds were examined for solidification flaws, penetration characteristics, microstructure and mechanical properties. Solidification cracking did not appear to be influenced by carbon or Nb in the ranges studied when welding at power levels between 22 and 25 kW. The area fraction of martensite was shown to increase with decreasing energy input and increasing carbon content. Weld metal toughness was improved by reducing carbon content in the range 0·08–0·05%C but was little influenced by Nb. Weld metal and heat affected zone hardness levels were reduced, as expected, by reducing carbon content. The results show that increasing Nb content leads to higher strength material without significant loss of toughness, while lowering carbon content can improve toughness without loss of strength. Thus low carbon Nb microalloyed steels with about 0·05%C can achieve a good combination of parent plate and laser weld properties and appear to be suitable for high power laser welding situations.     

Effect of reduced pressure atmosphere on weld geometry in partial penetration laser welding of stainless steel and aluminium alloy with high power and high brightness laser

This study investigated the effect of reduced pressure atmosphere (from ambient pressure of 101–0·1 kPa) on partial penetration welding. A 16 kW disc laser with a 1030 nm wavelength was employed to weld SUS304 stainless steel and A5052 aluminium alloy at a welding speed of 17 mm s^?1. Penetration depths in the stainless steel and the aluminium alloy reached 26 and 23 mm respectively at a reduced pressure of 10 kPa. These depths are >1·6 times deeper than those obtained at 101 kPa. The high speed video imagery showed that in SUS304 welding, the keyhole inlet size decreased and the welding process was stabilised at lower pressures. In A5052 welding, in contrast, the keyhole inlet size increased by a factor of >4 at pressures of 1 and 0·1 kPa compared with that at 101 kPa, resulting in instable welding process and shallow penetration.     

Effect of activating flux and shielding gas on microstructure of TIG welds in austenitic stainless steel

Abstract

The aim of this research is to study the effect of an activating flux, two shielding gases (100%Ar and 50%Ar z 50%He) and a range of weld currents on the microstructure of autogeneous A-TIG welds on an austenitic stainless steel. Metallographic, Mössbauer, X-ray diffraction and magnetic permeability methods were used in the study to evaluate ferrite content in the welds. The increase in welding current coarsened the microstructure and increased the retained ferrite content in welds made with and without flux. The activating flux increases the ferrite content and changes the distribution of ferrite in the welds. The influence of flux on ferrite content is less significant in Ar/He than in Ar shield welds. The process of filling steel samples, currently used in the Mössbauer method, drastically changes the microstructure of the parent and melted austenitic stainless steels.     

Evaluation of TIG flux welding on the characteristics of stainless steel

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of specific oxide fluxes on the surface appearance, weld morphology, retained δ ferrite content, hot cracking susceptibility, angular distortion and mechanical properties obtained with the tungsten inert gas (TIG) process applied to the welding of 5 mm thick austenitic stainless steel plates. An autogenous gas tungsten arc welding process was applied to stainless steels through a thin layer of activating flux to produce a bead on plate welded joint. The MnO₂ and ZnO fluxes used were packed in powdered form. The experimental results indicated that the 80% MnO₂–20% ZnO mixture can give full penetration and also a satisfactory surface appearance for type 304 stainless steel TIG flux welds. TIG welding with MnO₂ and/or ZnO can increase the measured ferrite number in welds, and tends to reduce hot cracking susceptibility in as welded structures. It was also found that TIG flux welding can significantly reduce the angular distortion of stainless steel weldments.     

电弧气体中CO_2含量对大功率激光复合焊等离子体及熔深影响的研究

文中采用大功率CO_2激光-熔化极电弧复合焊,以12 min厚船用E级钢板为试样进行堆焊,通过在电弧气体Ar中加入不同体积分数的CO_2,研究CO_2含量对激光电弧复合焊等离子体及焊缝熔深的影响。试验结果表明,电弧气体CO_2体积分数为15%与25%时,焊接过程等离子体比5%CO_2时有所减小;与此同时焊缝熔深有所增加。15%CO_2,25%CO_2时,焊缝熔深与5%CO_2相比分别增加3%,5.1%;25%CO_2时,焊缝熔深与15%CO_2相比增加2%。     

Numerical simulation of full penetration laser welding of thick steel plate with high power high brightness laser

Full penetration laser welding was carried out on a 10 mm steel plate using a 16 kW maximum power continuous wave thin disk laser. Upper surface and lower surface of molten pool were observed synchronously with two high speed CCD cameras during the welding process. The lower surface was much longer and more unstable than the upper one. A three dimensional laser deep penetration welding model in which volume of fluid (VOF) method was combined with a ray-tracing algorithm was used to simulate the dynamic coupling between keyhole and molten pool in laser full penetration welding. The calculated weld cross-section morphology and molten pool length on both upper side and lower side agree well with experimental results. Evolution of molten pool in lower side during full penetration laser welding was analyzed, periodical features of energy coupling, molten pool behavior and keyhole dynamics in laser full penetration welding were identified and discussed.     

Distinct morphology of keyhole wall during high power fibre laser deep penetration welding

Abstract

The keyhole wall is the interaction interface between the laser and the material during the laser deep penetration welding. Measuring the morphology of the keyhole wall is thus of significance for understanding the high power fibre laser deep penetration welding process. In this paper, the clear keyhole wall was reserved by suddenly closing laser during high power fibre laser welding of copper alloy. The results indicate that the keyhole can be divided into laser action region and metallic vapour pressure maintenance region. The laser action region is on the front wall of keyhole, and a series of concentric elliptical rings are observed in this region. In another region, its diameter is significantly larger than the spot diameter and the keyhole wall is basically smooth. The results are different from those generally accepted viewpoints, which clarify the flowing law of molten fluid in the keyhole and are thus of great guiding significance for optimising the welding technology.     

正火温度对超高强度不锈钢组织与力学性能的影响

研究了正火工艺对新型超高强度不锈钢组织与力学性能的影响。结果表明,经1050 ℃正火不但改善了原始态的混晶组织,得到了等轴的晶粒,同时溶解了原始晶界上网状的M₂₃C₆型碳化物,明显提高了钢的韧性。经正火处理的试样再经1080 ℃固溶和540 ℃时效处理后,强度可达到1998 MPa,断裂韧性达到105 MPam^1/2,满足了工程技术的要求。     

Experimental and numerical investigation of an electromagnetic weld pool support system for high power laser beam welding of austenitic stainless steel

A three-dimensional turbulent steady state numerical model was used to investigate the influence of an alternating current (AC) magnetic field during high power laser beam keyhole welding of 20 mm thick stainless steel AISI 304 being modeled as an ideal non-ferromagnetic material. Three-dimensional heat transfer and fluid dynamics as well as the electromagnetic field equations were solved with the finite element package COMSOL Multiphysics 4.2 taking into account the most important physical effects of the process. Namely, the thermo-capillary (Marangoni) convection at the weld pool boundaries, natural convection due to gravity and density differences in the melt volume as well as latent heat of solid–liquid phase transitions at the phase boundaries were included in the model.It is shown that the gravity drop-out associated with the welding of thick plates due to the hydrostatic pressure can be prevented by the application of AC magnetic field between 80 mT and 135 mT for corresponding oscillation frequencies between 1 kHz and 10 kHz below the weld specimen. Experimentally, a value of the magnetic flux density of around 230 mT was found to be necessary to allow for single-pass laser beam welding without sagging or drop-out of melt for a 20 mm thick combination of austenitic stainless steel AISI 304 and ferritic construction steel S235JRC at an oscillation frequency of around 2.6 kHz.     

Development of delta ferrite on the weld and HAZ produced by pulsed plasma arc welding on a supermartensitic stainless steel

Delta ferrite is considered an undesirable phase in the microstructure of martensitic stainless steels, given its power to influence the performance of fatigue strength, toughness and corrosion under stress. This study aimed to investigate the effect of pulsed plasma welding on the distribution and amount of delta ferrite on a supermartensitic stainless steel (SMSS). Weld beads were obtained by surface melting on a sample of SMSS alloy using conventional and pulsed current. Then, the microstructural characterization was performed, in particular of the delta ferrite via metallographic analyses by optical and scanning electron microscopy. The experiments showed that for the same heat input, the pulse current promoted the formation of delta ferrite in the form of bands along the weld bead and a significant reduction of this phase in the heat-affected zone compared to conventional welding.     

Effect of semisolid casting process with cooling plate technique on microstructure and properties of high speed steel with high vanadium and carbon contents

Abstract

Semisolid metal processing with the cooling plate technique is one of the key technologies for producing advanced materials. The multitude of cast iron families with their wide range of mechanical properties and relatively low costs combined with the advantage of semisolid processing, give the merit of producing high quality cast components from cast iron. This research is based on high speed steel with high vanadium and carbon contents, which has not been studied enough. The authors researched the effect of semisolid casting with the cooling plate technique on microstructures and properties, wear resistance and mechanical properties, for example, hardness and tensile stress, of this alloy.     

高强不锈钢激光熔覆层的组织与性能

针对核装备零部件维修再制造的需要,采用激光熔覆技术制备高强韧马氏体不锈钢熔覆层,以改善核装备零部件的表面性能,随后对熔覆层试样分别进行300 ℃和500 ℃保温2 h的回火处理。采用OM、SEM、显微硬度计、万能拉伸试验机等设备测试了试样的组织和性能。结果表明,原始试样的抗拉强度为1719 MPa,断后伸长率在15%左右,硬度为550 HV0.2,耐磨性较差;当回火温度为300 ℃时,出现逆转变奥氏体,硬度降至500 HV0.2,抗拉强度降为1662 MPa,断后伸长率超过15%,耐磨性提高;当回火温度上升到500 ℃时,逆转变奥氏体减少,碳化物逐渐析出,出现二次硬化,硬度又上升至530 HV0.2,抗拉强度降至1582 MPa,断后伸长率降至14%左右,耐磨性与原始试样相当。该高强马氏体不锈钢熔覆层整体耐腐蚀性均优于1Cr13钢,具有良好的耐腐蚀能力。     

Analysis on characteristics of laser induced plasma during laser welding of A304 stainless steel sheet

A group of the stainless steel laser welding was performed using continuous wave (CW) laser and pulsed laser. During the welding process the laser induced plasma behavior was recorded by high-speed video camera, while the plasma spectrum was acquired by the spectrometer. The plasma temperature was calculated based on the spectroscopic analysis of the optical emission and the results show that different output mode of laser source led to big difference of plasma temperature. The high-speed video images showed that the plasma was very steady and kept certain strength in CW laser welding, while the plasma erupted a little later after the laser peak arising during the pulsed laser welding. During a period of time about 2ms just after the laser peak arising during the pulsed laser welding, much more laser energy reached the workpiece. This made the workpiece fully penetrated with a lower average power.