Simulation of hybrid (LASER-TIG) welding of stainless steel plates using design of experiments

Abstract

A solid drive for the improvement of higher productivity welding forms lead to the advancement of Hybrid welding process. This research combines arc and laser welding processes providing more robust joints. Hybrid laser welding is a perfect combination of the advantages of laser and arc welding processes. It provides high welding depth at high welding speeds and also good gap bridging capability. This process finds potential applications in shipbuilding, pipeline and automotive industries where high productivity and quality are important. Many researches are in progress to analyze the effect of process variables. This present work is mainly carried out to study the effect of various process parameters like laser beam power, arc power, welding speed on the weld bead dimensions, i.e., bead width and depth of penetration. A three-dimensional transient thermal analysis has been performed for the hybrid welding (LASER + TIG) process using ANSYS. The computed results of width and depth of fusion zone indicates the weld pool shapes. Good agreement was achieved between computed and experimental weld bead dimensions. Mathematical equations were developed using a three factor 5-level factorial technique to predict the geometry of the weld bead. These equations were used to correlate the hybrid welding process parameters with the bead geometry. From these mathematical equations the response of weld bead dimensions with the variation of various hybrid welding parameter were predicted.