Characteristics of multi-pass narrow-gap laser welding of D406A ultra-high strength steel

Abstract

A universal and applicable method to predict bonding quality in narrow-gap laser beam filler wire welding of D406A ultra-high strength steel was presented. Defect-free joint could be achieved under the predicted optimal welding condition, while the production efficiency of narrow-gap laser beam filler wire welding under optimized welding condition was about 3.75 times that of traditional tungsten arc welding currently used in practical industry. Compared with the tungsten arc welding joint, microstructure in the fusion zone of laser welded joint was more uniform, which brought out a less fluctuation in the microhardness of fusion zone along the thickness direction. The tensile strength of as-welded laser welding joint was slightly higher than that of as-welded tungsten arc welding joint while the elongation of the former increased by 15.9% over that of the latter. A binocular stereo three-dimensional scanning method was adopted to compare the residual distortion of D406A joints between laser welding and tungsten arc welding. Notably, the distortion of laser welded joint was about 21% of that of the tungsten arc welding joint. Narrow-gap laser filler wire welding is a feasible substitute for conventional tungsten arc welding in the fabrication of welded construction of D406A steel.