Optimization of parameters in laser welding of aluminum alloy 5052-H32 using beam oscillation technique for mechanical performance improvement

Abstract

The beam oscillation is an innovative technique in laser welding resulting in important enhancement of the weld quality. This study assesses with numerical tools this improvement by investigating the effects of laser power, welding speed and amplitude on oscillated laser beam welding using a complete factorial design of three factors and two level followed by an analysis of variance (ANOVA) in aim to obtain repeatable high quality weld process for aluminum alloys. The result reveals that the amplitude has the most influential effect followed by the welding speed and the laser power. An increase of the amplitude oscillation tends weaken the mechanical resistance the weld by reducing the weld depth. An important interaction is found between the laser power and the welding in the statistical analysis and interpreted as the effect of specific point energy. An optimization using response surface method from the specific point energy and the amplitude figured out that the most resistant weld could be obtained by a specific point energy ranged between 25 J and 27 J combined with an amplitude of 0.75 mm. The results from validation test exhibit an increase of the welding speed by 66% for a tensile strength of 189 MPa denoting a gain in productivity for industrial application.