Study of the phenomena of fiber laser-mag hybrid welding

Abstract

Laser hybrid welding processes are gaining more interest in many sectors of metal industry. The process is already in successful use for example in automotive, ship building and construction industry. The laser hybrid welding processes are traditionally a combination of CO2 or Nd:YAG laser together with MIG/MAG or TIG welding. The arc welding source is chosen depending on whether there is also need for extra material. The use of high power fiber lasers in hybrid welding is increasing because of the small size, good beam quality and high powers available.The aim of this study was to study the characteristics of laser hybrid welding with fiber laser: How do the airgap, torch direction and distance between the processes affect the welding performance. The maximum power of fiber laser used is 5 kW. The arc process used was MIG/MAG welding. Material used was mild steel S355 of thickness 6 mm and joint type was butt joint. Welding process phenomena is photographed with CCD and CMOS cameras to see the welding appearance.It is obvious that the distance between the laser beam and arc welding process and torch direction play a big role in how wide airgaps can be tolerated. Leading torch tolerates longer distance between the processes than trailing torch, but trailing torch has better gap bridging ability.Laser hybrid welding processes are gaining more interest in many sectors of metal industry. The process is already in successful use for example in automotive, ship building and construction industry. The laser hybrid welding processes are traditionally a combination of CO2 or Nd:YAG laser together with MIG/MAG or TIG welding. The arc welding source is chosen depending on whether there is also need for extra material. The use of high power fiber lasers in hybrid welding is increasing because of the small size, good beam quality and high powers available.The aim of this study was to study the characteristics of laser hybrid welding with fiber laser: How do the airgap, torch direction and distance between the processes affect the welding performance. The maximum power of fiber laser used is 5 kW. The arc process used was MIG/MAG welding. Material used was mild steel S355 of thickness 6 mm and joint type was butt joint. Welding process phenomena is photographed with CCD and CMOS cameras to see the welding ap...