Fibre laser welding of aluminium alloy

The objectives of this research are to investigate the effects of various welding conditions on penetration and defect formation, to clarify their welding phenomena and to develop the procedure of reduction of the defect. Fibre laser bead-on-plate welding was performed on several aluminium alloys, in particular A5083, at the power of 6 or 10 kW and several power densities from 0.4 kW/mm². It was found that the weld beads were narrower and deeper with an increase in the laser power density. For example, fully penetrated weld beads in 10 mm thick plates were produced at the laser power density of 640 kW/mm² and the welding speed of 10 m/min. However, convex–concave bead surfaces were formed. Moreover, in the case of the high power density, no porosity and many pores were present at high and low welding speeds, respectively. On the other hand, in the case of the ultra-high power density, few pores were generated in high speed welding. These reasons were interpreted by observing keyhole behaviour, bubble formation and the molten pool geometry during high power fibre laser welding with a high-speed video camera and microfocused X-ray transmission in situ observation method. Moreover, the porosity in the weld bead was reduced and prevented by the utilization of nitrogen gas instead of Ar gas, or the forward inclination angle of 40° (50° from the right angle) in Ar shielding gas.     

Problems and solutions in deep penetration laser welding

Abstract

Keyhole dynamics in the high power continuous wave laser welding of aluminium alloys, in particular the role of keyhole instability in porosity formation, is discussed on the basis of high speed X-radiography observations. Motion in the weld pool was observed by introducing fine tungsten particles into the weld pool. A depression which moved periodically up and down the back wall of the keyhole gives rise to porosity, through bubbles formed at the bottom of the keyhole. The depression appears to be related to non-uniform evaporation on the front wall of the keyhole; both the keyhole and the weld pool are strongly disturbed by the dynamic pressure of the metallic vapour jet. The characteristic spherical and elongated pores were found to contain predominantly metal vapour and entrained shielding gas. Keyhole fluctuation in continuous wave laser welding can be suppressed by controlled pulse modulation, provided a suitable pulse frequency and duty cycle are selected.     

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.     

辅助增强匙孔气流对激光焊接不锈钢组织和显微硬度的影响

以HR-2抗氢钢为试验材料,利用板条型CO2连续激光器,采用喷嘴在前、入射角为60°的匙孔增强气流,进行了不同参数下的激光焊接试验.结果表明,在气流辅助增强匙孔激光焊中,匙孔气喷嘴在前的布局对熔池扰动小,能获得较好的焊缝成形;与传统激光焊接相比,熔深增加、熔宽明显减小,焊缝形状呈葫芦型,这是匙孔气流压制等离子体、使匙孔向底部凹陷的结果;从焊缝组织来看,增强激光焊焊缝的柱状晶较短小,焊缝中心呈现等轴晶形态,属于FA的不锈钢凝固模式.与传统激光焊不同,气流辅助增强匙孔激光焊的焊缝、热影响区显微硬度与母材相当,这可能是引入的增强匙孔气流改善了焊缝金属的冷却条件,更少铁素体析出的结果.     

Comparative evaluation of tungsten inert gas and laser welding of AZ31 magnesium alloy

Abstract

Welding of AZ31 Mg alloy was conducted using various welding techniques, namely, tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding with Ar shielding gas, TIG welding with He shielding gas, CO₂ laser welding, and YAG laser welding. The results were comparatively evaluated in terms of weld bead formation and microstructural characterisation. It was found that TIG welding with both Ar and He gas shielding produced good welds without major defects. The penetration capacity can be improved using He gas shielding. Owing to their high energy density, CO₂ and YAG lasers can produce weld beads having high aspect ratio. Among the four techniques used, the YAG laser produced the finest weld microstructure, whereas TIG with Ar gas shielding produced the coarsest microstructure. Shielding is a key factor controlling the O contents in the welds. The more effective the shielding provided the lower the O content in the weld. Hardness reduction in the weld metals and heat affected zones was observed for all the techniques owing to the elimination of strengthening effects by the welding operation. In summary, the present study demonstrated advantages and limitations of the various welding techniques and provided an in depth understanding of the weldability of AZ31 Mg alloy.     

保护气体对高强铝合金的焊缝组织及气孔敏感性的影响

采用普通电弧焊对2519铝合金进行焊接,研究了Ar和He二元混合气体以及Ar、He和CO2三元混合气体对接头的气孔数目、焊缝组织的影响.研究表明,采用Ar和He二元混合保护气体可以明显减少接头气孔的数目和尺寸,促进焊缝中心组织由柱状晶向等轴晶转变,且细化焊缝组织,当He气达到70%时,接头气孔数目已显著减少,焊缝中心完全呈等轴晶状态,晶粒最为细小.往30%Ar 69%He二元混合气体添加1%的CO2后接头的气孔数目进一步减少,但是焊缝组织没有明显变化.添加了He气还可以减少热影响区宽度,减弱热影响区的软化程度.     

The effect of residual stresses in weld reinforcement on the propagation of fatigue cracks

Summary

A series of systematic studies was undertaken to clarify the effect of CO₂ laser welding conditions on melting characteristics, porosity formation, cracking susceptibility, hardness profiles, macro- and micro-distribution of Mg, and tensile properties of aluminium alloys. Bead-on-plate welding was performed on different commercially available alloys such as A5052, 5083, 5182, 6061 and 7N01 with a CO₂ laser under various conditions of laser power, welding speed and defocused distance. In this paper, the influence of various welding conditions on melting characteristics was investigated from a fundamental viewpoint. In particular, laser beam modes and pressure distribution under various gas flow rates were measured, and it was consequently demonstrated that melting behaviour was greatly affected by the laser mode in the welding direction and the gas flow rate or pressure. Also the effect of Ar/He gas ratio on melting was investigated, and it was revealed that the use of Ar was beneficial to weld more highly-conductive and reflective alloys at lower power and higher welding speed, while a higher content of He was good for higher power and lower welding speed. Furthermore, it was confirmed that a larger amount of Mg was evaporated even under conditions producing a shallow weld molten pool leading to more deeply penetrated welds.     

1Cr22Mn16N高氮钢激光焊接I.焊接保护气体组成和热输入对焊缝氮含量及气孔性的影响

利用CO2激光对1Cr22Mn16N高氮钢进行了焊接,研究了焊接热输入和保护气体组成对焊缝氮含量、气孔的影响。结果表明,在相同激光焊接热输入条件下,随着保护气体中氮含量的增加,高氮钢焊缝中的氮含量略有增加。当采用纯氩作为焊接保护气体时,焊缝氮含量随热输入的增加而减小;当保护气体中的氮比例达到一定比例时,焊缝氮含量随热输入的增加而增大。焊接热输入较小的条件下焊缝易产生气孔,较大的热输入将抑制焊缝中气孔的产生,而且保护气体中氮含量越高,焊缝中产生气孔的倾向越小。     

Weld porosity in fibre laser weld of thixomolded heat resistant Mg alloys

Abstract

Porosity in fibre laser welds of two thixomolded heat resistant magnesium alloys AE42 and AS41 was investigated in detail, and porosity formation mechanism was discussed in terms of gas compositions in porosity. It is found that the area percentage of porosity in welds decreases with increasing welding speed, and can be correlated to width of weld metal. Microstructure observation and gas composition analysis in porosity show that the porosity in welds is mainly attributed to the micropores pre-existing in base metals during melting of AE42 and AS41 alloys by fibre laser welding, which are formed due to air entrapment during thixomolding process. Hydrogen rejection and Ar shielding gas entrapment are also the possible reasons for the porosity formation; however, their contribution is much smaller than that of pores in base metals. Furthermore, the addition of rare earth element may probably decrease porosity amount in the thixomolded Mg alloys and their welds.     

Weldability of 1.6 mm thick aluminium alloy 5182 sheet by single and dual beam Nd: YAG laser welding

Abstract

The weldability of 1.6 mm thick 5182 Al–Mg alloy sheet by the single- and dual-beam Nd:YAG laser welding processes has been examined. Bead-on-plate welds were made using total laser powers from 2.5 to 6 kW, dual-beam lead/lag laser beam power ratios ranging from 3:2 to 2:3 and travel speeds from 4 to 15 m min^-1. The effects of focal position and shielding gas conditions on weld quality were also investigated. Whereas full penetration laser welds could be made using the 3 kW single-beam laser welder at speeds up to 15 m min^-1, the underbead surface was always very rough with undercutting and numerous projections or spikes of solidified ejected metal. This 'spikey' underbead surface geometry was attributed to the effects of the high vapour pressure Mg in the alloy on the keyhole dynamics. The undesirable 'spikey' underbead geometry was unaffected by changes in focal position, shielding gas parameters or other single-beam welding process parameters. Most full penetration dual-beam laser welds exhibited either blow-through porosity at low welding speeds (4–6 m min^-1) or unacceptable 'spikey' underbead surface quality at increased welding speeds up to 13.5 m min^-1. Radiography revealed significant occluded porosity within borderline or partial penetration welds. This was thought to be caused by significant keyhole instability that exists under these welding conditions. A limited range of dual-beam laser process conditions was found that produced sound, pore-free laser welds with good top and underbead surface quality. Acceptable welds were produced at welding speeds of 6 to 7.5 m min^-1 using total laser powers of 4.5–5 kW, but only when the lead laser beam power was greater than or equal to the lagging beam power. The improved underbead quality was attributed to the effect of the second lagging laser beam on keyhole stability, venting of the high vapour pressure Mg from the keyhole and solidification of the underbead weld metal during full penetration dual-beam laser welding.     

脉冲激光-电弧复合焊接镁合金过程中熔池行为与气孔产生的关系研究

激光-电弧复合焊接镁合金过程中气孔是一种重要缺陷。本文针对复合热源焊接过程中熔池行为和激光匙孔引起的气孔之间的关系进行了实验研究。研究中重点考查了激光脉冲对熔池的冲击作用,匙孔的动态行为以及气孔的形成规律。研究结果表明激光脉冲的参数决定其对液态熔池的冲击作用,较强的激光脉冲作用可以有效抑制气孔的形成;液态金属的行为主要有匙孔行为主导;匙孔的尺寸和开-闭状态直接影响焊后气孔的形成;过高的激光脉冲功率会导致焊后气孔的形成;匙孔开口维持时间越长,焊后气孔数量越少。     

低合金钢气体保护焊焊丝残余Al对焊缝氢气孔的影响

低合金钢气体保护焊实心焊丝中的残余Al对焊缝金属氢气孔的影响,既取决于焊丝的合金体系,又与保护气体氧化性的强弱有关。含有一定量残余Al的低合金耐热钢焊丝在80％Ar 20%CO2富氩混合气体保护焊工艺条件下,其焊缝金属极易产生氢气孔。     

Control of aluminium laser welding conditions with the help of numerical modelling

Numerical modelling of laser welding in both conduction and keyhole modes is studied to highlight the influence of the main welding parameters on assembly performance.Numerical simulation enables the thermal history of assembly weld joints to be described. A hot cracking criterion is proposed. The model predicts that (1) a deviation in the localization of the shielding gas does not affect instability and that (2) fluctuations of the absorbed laser beam power generate cooling speed deviations. The results also demonstrate that laser welding in keyhole mode, when compared to laser welding in conduction mode, is more likely to induce higher cooling speeds, greater risks of hot cracking but better sensitivity to post weld age hardening heat treatment.     

Hump formation mechanism in gas-jet-assisted keyhole laser welding of HR-2 stainless steel

Gas-jet-assisted keyhole laser welding offers the possibility of a breakthrough in the limitations of penetration depth in laser welding,which currently suffers from equipment restrictions.A gas jet of sufficient intensity to assist the keyhole should be used to obtain suppressed plasma,a deepened keyhole,and increased penetration depth.However,an excessively strong gas jet gives rise to humps.The incident angle of the keyhole-assisted gas jet is 60°,with a nozzle ahead of the laser beam.A series of experiments were carried out with different welding velocities and gas parameters by using HR-2 hydrogen-resistant stainless steel and a slab CO_2 continuous-wave laser welding machine.The weld profiles can be categorized into four types,welds of traditional laser welding,welds of enhanced laser welding,undercut welds,and humping welds with increased gas pressure.A high-speed camera was employed in the experiments to monitor the formation of humps under an excessively strong gas jet.The results of analysis show that hump formation can be divided into six stages.Its main driving force is the intense turbulence of gas jet.There are two main reasons for hump formation:premature solidification of the molten pool caused by the large temperature gradient between the front and rear parts of the molten pool,and the emergence of a thin layer liquid bridge with one-directional flow under the enhanced cooling effect of excessively strong gas.     

光束摆动法减小激光焊接气孔倾向

针对激光深熔焊过程中易出现的气孔问题,作者提出光束摆动激光焊接减小气孔倾向的工艺。利用3kW快轴流CO2激光器分别对激光焊接过程中可能出现的氮气孔和氩气孔进行了试验研究。结果表明,光束摆动激光焊接对氮气孔有显著的消除效果,随着摆动频率的增加,气孔急剧减少,并且在摆动幅度仅为0．5mm的情况下,就可以起到消除气孔的效果;光束摆动激光焊接对于抑制氩气孔也有一定作用,摆动频率越大,摆动幅度越大,对熔池的搅拌越大,越有利于气泡的逸出,焊缝中氩气孔越少。     

1420铝锂合金激光焊接气孔抑制技术

分别采用气体和固体两种类型、三台激光器对1420铝锂合金消除气孔的焊接工艺进行了试验研究.结果表明,1420铝合金表面氧化膜对产生气孔有很大影响,化学清理可以获得气孔较少的焊缝.保护气体种类、气体流量、焊接速度对1420铝锂合金气孔都有影响.适宜的双激光束焊接工艺可以获得成形美观且无气孔的优质1420铝锂合金焊缝,是1420铝锂合金焊接较为理想的焊接工艺.     

激光摆动焊接工艺参数对不锈钢焊缝成形与气孔率的影响

采用激光摆动焊接实现了5 mm厚1Cr18Ni9Ti不锈钢的焊接,获得成形良好、低气孔率的接头.分析了焊接速度、摆动幅值、摆动频率、摆动形式对焊缝成形和气孔率的影响,从匙孔、熔池流动、气泡逸出的角度揭示了工艺参数影响气孔率的主要机理. 结果表明,对于5 mm厚不锈钢激光摆动焊接,适当提高焊接速度和摆动幅值,更利于减小气孔率;激光摆动频率在100 ~ 300 Hz可以兼顾较低气孔率和较好的焊缝成形;“8”形摆动激光可以获得相对较优的焊缝成形,焊缝气孔率最低,达到2.94%;而线性摆动激光获得焊缝成形最差,气孔率最高,达到19.13%.     

Macrostructural and microstructural features of 1 000 MPa grade TRIP steel joint by CO2 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.     

Gas contamination during plasma welding in Al–Li alloy 2195

Abstract

Keyhole and cover pass variable polarity plasma arc welds were made on aluminium alloy 2195 with measured contamination levels of nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen. Contamination levels ranged from less than 10 to 500 ppm in both the argon plasma gas and the helium shield gas. It was found that nitrogen leads to more severe porosity than either hydrogen or oxygen, and that rear shielding is required for keyhole welding of Al–Li 2195 alloy to protect the weld from nitrogen in the atmosphere. Both nitrogen and oxygen contamination produced a dark surface on the weld bead, which comprised metallic aluminium particles, nucleated in the melt, that had aggregated at the surface of the weld pool.     

双光束激光填丝焊工艺对铝合金焊接气孔率的影响

以LF6铝合金为材料,CO2激光为热源,开展了双光束激光填丝焊气孔特性分析.与单光束激光填丝焊及双光束自熔焊相比,双光束激光填丝焊能够抑制气孔的产生,尤其是并行双光束激光焊抑制气孔效果更明显.在此基础上进一步分析了保护气体成分和激光能量对焊接气孔率的影响.结果表明,采用氦气保护时,等离子体对激光的屏蔽作用小,能够稳定焊接过程;激光功率过大或者过小都会导致匙孔的不稳定,造成焊缝气孔率增加.