Abstract
Abstract Laser beam welding under vacuum (LaVa) offers advantages regarding the achievable weld penetration depths compared to conventional laser beam welding. Thus, it is increasingly used in industry. Despite the high weld penetration depths that can be achieved and the good inner seam qualities, undesirable reworking is often necessary due to surface deposits on the welded sample. The causes of these surface deposits have not yet been investigated in depth. In this context, the influence of the residual oxygen present inside the vacuum chamber is investigated in this study. For this purpose, the oxygen content within the chamber is recorded for LaVa welds at different working pressures and different evacuation times. The welded specimens are evaluated metallographically and investigated with regard to an influence of the oxygen content within the working chamber. This study shows that the residual oxygen content considerably influences the weld formation and the surface weld appearance for all working pressures investigated. For lower oxygen contents, the weld penetration depth decreases, and the weld width, on the other hand, increases. These observations can be explained in good agreement with findings for the influence of oxygen on the weld appearance for other material joining processes, such as TIG welding.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
