Keyhole Instability Research Articles

Laser-arc hybrid welding of 12- and 15-mm thick structural steel

High-power lasers are very effective in welding of plates thicker than 10 mm due to the keyhole mode. High-power intensity generates a vapor-filled cavity which provides substantial penetration depth. Due to the narrow and deep weld geometry, there is susceptibility to high hardness and weld defects. Imperfections occur due to keyhole instability. A 16-kW disk laser was used for single-pass welding of 12- to 15-mm thick plates in a butt joint configuration. Root humping was the main imperfection and persisted within a wide range of process parameters. Added arc source to the laser beam process may cause increased root humping and sagging due to accelerated melt flow. Humping was mitigated by balancing certain arc and other process parameters. It was also found that lower welding speeds (< 1.2 m/min) combined with lower laser beam power (< 13 kW) can be more positive for suppression of humping. Machined edges provided more consistent root quality and integrity compared with plasma cut welded specimens. Higher heat input (> 0.80 kJ/mm) welds provided hardness level below 325 HV. The welded joints had good Charpy toughness at − 50 °C (> 50 J) and high tensile strength.

Experimental research on formation mechanism of porosity in magnetic field assisted laser welding of steel

The dynamic keyhole behaviors are directly observed in laser welding of AH36 steel/glass, and Zirconia particle is used to observe the convective pattern. The weld bead formation, keyhole instability and porosity formation are analyzed. Moreover, the differences in keyhole instability and porosity formation between no magnetic field assisted and magnetic field assisted laser welding are analyzed. With the magnetic field is added, the weld width, small concave, the formation of the keyhole collapse and the convective pattern are similar in laser welding of steel, and the generated Lorentz force hinders the flow of liquid metal. Widening of bottom weld width without undercut defect can be obtained with magnetic field assisted. The lower fluctuation of the weld depth, the longer time of plasma plume above the weld pool, fewer undercuts and spatter defects contributes to the increase of the keyhole stability, and thus restrains the porosity formation. Besides, an easier keyhole open, the larger bubble escape velocity and the lower solidification rate also promote the reduction of the porosity formation.

Porosity and liquation cracking of dissimilar Nd:YAG laser welding of SUS304 stainless steel to T2 copper

In this study, we present experimental laser welding SUS304 stainless steel to T2 copper. The forming mechanism of fusion zone polygonal porosity and heat affected zone (HAZ) liquation cracking were systemically investigated and possible solutions to the welding process were also proposed. We deemed that the generation of HAZ liquation cracking mainly underwent three stages: crack incubation, crack initiation and crack growth. Formation of HAZ liquation cracking was closely related to precipitation of Cu-Fe compounds at grain boundaries and grain boundary liquation. The occurrence of porosity was determined by the keyhole instability correlated with fluid flow, keyhole free surface evolutions and composition segregation in a welding process. The susceptibility to HAZ liquation cracking can be effectively lowered by controlling the heat input during laser welding. In addition, the porosity in the fusion zone can be eliminated by reasonably adjusting laser deflection angle in the experiments, which greatly improved the microstructure and mechanical properties of welded joints.

The porosity formation mechanism in the laser welded joint of TA15 titanium alloy

The laser welding of 5 mm thick TA15 titanium alloy was realized by fiber laser of IPG YLS-6000. The microstructure and porosity formation mechanism of the welded joints were investigated under different welding conditions. The microstructure and porosity of welded joints were observed using optical microscope and energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), respectively. Moreover, the influencing mechanisms of porosity formation and evolution induced by metallurgical and instability of keyhole were also discussed. The experimental results indicated that the outline of metallurgical porosity is regular, which is mainly caused by the absorption of water from the outside environment into the molten pool and the evaporation of Al element. Fast welding speed contributes to the keyhole fluctuating sharply or even collapsing, which causes the shielding gas to enter the molten pool and further form bubbles. The fundamental reason for the formation of porosity is that the laser welding speed is so fast that the molten pool cooling speed is high, which makes it difficult for dissolved gas to escape sufficiently and finally form porosities. It lays foundation for understanding the formation mechanism of porosity and optimizing the process for laser welding of TA15 titanium alloy.

Dynamic keyhole behavior and keyhole instability in high power fiber laser welding of stainless steel

A three-dimensional numerical model, considering the real-time multiple reflections of a laser beam, adiabatic bubble model and shear stress, was developed to study the dynamic keyhole behavior and keyhole instability in fiber laser welding of stainless steel. The inner dynamic keyhole behavior and weld defect formation were directly observed in a high resolution assisted by transparent glass. The numerical and experimental results showed that the keyhole width reached the quasi-steady state earlier than the keyhole depth did during fiber laser welding of stainless steel. Due to the large recoil pressure at rear keyhole wall caused by the irradiation of laser energy reflected by the bulge at the front keyhole wall, the rear keyhole wall was severely deformed at keyhole bottom and keyhole middle. The rear keyhole wall was collapsed due to the high surface tension pressure and hydrostatic pressure. The whole keyhole collapse was attributable to the capillary instability of the keyhole associated with large depth/width ratio and the strong flow of the bulges at the keyhole wall. When the laser power was increased, the keyhole depth/width ratio was increased, so the keyhole was more capillary instable. The average inclined angle of the front keyhole wall was decreased.

Elucidation of keyhole induced bubble formation mechanism in fiber laser welding of low carbon steel

Laser welding experiment with the aid of glass, and numerical simulation are carried out to study the keyhole behavior and keyhole-induced bubble formation. Two mechanisms are responsible for keyhole-induced bubble formation. The first mechanism is the strong fluid flow inside the weld pool, and the capillary instability of the whole keyhole, causing the collapse between rear keyhole wall and front keyhole wall. This mechanism contributes to most of keyhole-induced bubble formation. The second mechanism is the instability of the rear keyhole wall caused by the increase absorption of laser energy reflected by the bulge at front keyhole wall. The breaking of molten bridge is analyzed based on static pressure balance. The molten bridge with large curvature and low temperature is difficult to be broken. Bubble coalescence can be clearly observed at the bottom of the weld pool. Large bubble and small bubble have high coalescence efficiency. The bubbles at keyhole bottom have more time to escape without broken by laser beam, and the bottom part of rear keyhole wall is more easily depressed, so bubbles are easily formed at the keyhole bottom.

Microstructural Characterization of a Laser Surface Remelted Cu-Based Shape Memory Alloy

Cu-based shape memory alloys (SMAs) present some advantages as higher transformation temperatures, lower costs and are easier to process than traditional Ti-based SMAs but they also show some disadvantages as low ductility and higher tendency for intergranular cracking. Several studies have sought for a way to improve the mechanical properties of these alloys and microstructural refinement has been frequently used. It can be obtained by laser remelting treatments. The aim of the present work was to investigate the influence of the laser surface remelting on the microstructure of a Cu-11.85Al-3.2Ni-3Mn (wt%) SMA. Plates were remelted using three different laser scanning speeds, i.e. 100, 300 and 500 mm/s. The remelted regions showed a T-shape morphology with a mean thickness of 52, 29 and 23 µm and an average grain size of 30, 29 and 23µm for plates remelted using scanning speed of 100, 300 and 500 mm/s, respectively. In the plates remelted with 100 and 300 mm/s some pores were found at the root of the keyhole due to the keyhole instability. We find that the instability of keyholes becomes more pronounced for lower scanning speeds. It was not observed any preferential orientation introduced by the laser treatment.

Numerical study of keyhole instability and porosity formation mechanism in laser welding of aluminum alloy and steel

The instability of the keyhole and bubble being captured by solidification interface are the main factors that affect the formation of porosity in laser welding of both aluminum alloy and steel. In laser welding of aluminum alloy, the more violent fluid flow behind the keyhole, the larger depth to width ratio can cause the keyhole more unstable, and susceptive to collapse that can be described as three necessary steps. The much larger solidification rate and longer escaping distance make the bubble easily captured by the solidification interface, and easily combined. All of these reasons contribute to the formation of larger number and size of porosity in laser welding of aluminum alloy. The numerical and experimental results are in good agreement.

Three-dimensional transient thermoelectric currents in deep penetration laser welding of austenite stainless steel

The existence of thermoelectric currents (TECs) in workpieces during the laser welding of metals has been common knowledge for more than 15 years. However, the time-dependent evolutions of TECs in laser welding remain unclear. The present study developed a novel three-dimensional theoretical model of thermoelectric phenomena in the fiber laser welding of austenite stainless steel and used it to observe the time-dependent evolutions of TECs for the first time. Our model includes the complex physical effects of thermal, electromagnetic, fluid and phase transformation dynamics occurring at the millimeter laser ablated zone, which allowed us to simulate the TEC, self-induced magnetic field, Lorentz force, keyhole and weld pool behaviors varying with the welding time for different parameters. We found that TECs are truly three-dimensional, time-dependent, and uneven with a maximum current density of around 107A/m2 located at the liquid-solid (L/S) interface near the front or bottom part of the keyhole at a laser power of 1.5kW and a welding speed of 3m/min. The TEC formed three-dimensional circulations moving from the melting front to solidification front in the solid part of workpiece, after which the contrary direction was followed in the liquid part. High frequency oscillation characteristics (2.2–8.5kHz) were demonstrated in the TEC, which coincides with that of the keyhole instability (2.0–5.0kHz). The magnitude of the self-induced magnetic field and Lorentz force can reach 0.1mT and 1kN/m3, respectively, which are both consistent with literature data. The predicted results of the weld dimensions by the proposed model agree well with the experimental results. Our findings could enhance the fundamental understanding of thermoelectric phenomena in laser welding.

Numerical analysis of fluid transport phenomena and spiking defect formation during vacuum electron beam welding of 2219 aluminium alloy plate

In this paper, a 3D mathematical model is proposed to investigate the physical transport phenomena in weld pool and vapour plume during the stationary vacuum electron beam welding on 2219 aluminium alloy plate. Three beam current cases are employed to investigate the heat transfer, fluid flow, keyholing, keyhole backfilling and collapsing processes, and the resulting spiking defect and residual crater. In the model, a keyhole-tracing heat source is adopted to simulate the energy interactions between electron beam and material with the help of VOF technique. Results indicate that the beam profile and heat flux distribution decreases the growing speed of keyhole dimensions. The increase of beam current raises the evaporation intensity, keyhole wall temperature, keyholing depth and keyhole instability. On the premise of same heating time, a larger beam current produces a spiking defect in partially-penetrated weld. Finally, all the simulation results are validated against experiments.

Laser surface remelting of a Cu-Al-Ni-Mn shape memory alloy

Cu-based shape memory alloys (SMAs) show better thermal and electrical conductivity, lower cost and are easier to process than traditional Ti-based SMAs, but they exhibit a lower ductility and lower fatigue life. These properties can be improved by decreasing the grain size and reducing microstructural segregations, which may be obtained using laser surface remelting treatments. The aim of the present work was to produce and characterize laser remelted Cu-11.85Al-3.2Ni-3Mn SMA plates. Twelve plates with the dimensions of 50×10×1.5mm were produced by suction casting in a first step. The surface of the plates was remelted afterwards with a laser beam power of 300W, hatching of 50% and using three different scanning speeds: 100, 300 and 500mm/s. The plates were characterized by optical and scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry as well as by tensile and microhardness tests. The remelted region showed a T morphology, with average thickness of 52, 29 and 23µm for the plates remelted with scanning speeds of 100, 300 and 500 mm/s, respectively. In the plates remelted with 100 and 300mm/s, some pores were found around the center of the track, due to the keyhole instability. The same phase formed in the as-cast sample was obtained in the laser remelted coatings: the monoclinic β′1 martensitic phase with zig-zag morphology. However, the laser treated samples exhibit lower transformation temperatures than the as-cast sample, due to grain refinement at the surface. They also show an improvement in the mechanical properties, with an increase of up to 162MPa in fracture stress, up to 2.2% in ductility and up to 20.9 HV in microhardness when compared with the as-cast sample, which makes the laser surface remelting a promising method for improving the mechanical properties of Cu-based SMAs.

Dynamics of vapor plume in transient keyhole during laser welding of stainless steel: Local evaporation, plume swing and gas entrapment into porosity

In order to better understand the local evaporation phenomena of keyhole wall, vapor plume swing above the keyhole and ambient gas entrapment into the porosity defects, the 3D time-dependent dynamics of the metallic vapor plume in a transient keyhole during fiber laser welding is numerically investigated. The vapor dynamical parameters, including the velocity and pressure, are successfully predicted and obtain good agreements with the experimental and literature data. It is found that the vapor plume flow inside the keyhole has complex multiple directions, and this various directions characteristic of the vapor plume is resulted from the dynamic evaporation phenomena with variable locations and orientations on the keyhole wall. The results also demonstrate that because of this dynamic local evaporation, the ejected vapor plume from the keyhole opening is usually in high frequency swinging. The results further indicate that the oscillation frequency of the plume swing angle is around 2.0–8.0kHz, which is of the same order of magnitude with that of the keyhole depth (2.0–5.0kHz). This consistency clearly shows that the swing of the ejected vapor plume is closely associated with the keyhole instability during laser welding. Furthermore, it is learned that there is usually a negative pressure region (several hundred Pa lower than the atmospheric pressure) of the vapor flow around the keyhole opening. This pressure could lead to a strong vortex flow near the rear keyhole wall, especially when the velocity of the ejected metallic vapor from the keyhole opening is high. Under the effect of this flow, the ambient gas is involved into the keyhole, and could finally be entrapped into the bubbles within a very short time (<0.2ms) due to the complex flow inside the keyhole.

3D transient multiphase model for keyhole, vapor plume, and weld pool dynamics in laser welding including the ambient pressure effect

The physical process of deep penetration laser welding involves complex, self-consistent multiphase keyhole, metallic vapor plume, and weld pool dynamics. Currently, efforts are still needed to understand these multiphase dynamics. In this paper, a novel 3D transient multiphase model capable of describing a self-consistent keyhole, metallic vapor plume in the keyhole, and weld pool dynamics in deep penetration fiber laser welding is proposed. Major physical factors of the welding process, such as recoil pressure, surface tension, Marangoni shear stress, Fresnel absorptions mechanisms, heat transfer, and fluid flow in weld pool, keyhole free surface evolutions and solid–liquid–vapor three phase transformations are coupling considered. The effect of ambient pressure in laser welding is rigorously treated using an improved recoil pressure model. The predicated weld bead dimensions, transient keyhole instability, weld pool dynamics, and vapor plume dynamics are compared with experimental and literature results, and good agreements are obtained. The predicted results are investigated by not considering the effects of the ambient pressure. It is found that by not considering the effects of ambient pressure, the average keyhole wall temperature is underestimated about 500K; besides, the average speed of metallic vapor will be significantly overestimated. The ambient pressure is an essential physical factor for a comprehensive understanding the dynamics of deep penetration laser welding.

Self-consistent modeling of keyhole and weld pool dynamics in tandem dual beam laser welding of aluminum alloy

A three dimensional model incorporating heat transfer, fluid flow and the keyhole free surface, Marangoni force, surface tension and recoil pressure is described. Possible multiple reflection Fresnel absorptions in complex keyhole profiles and laser plume interactions are also treated in the model. The results show that the keyhole is usually highly unstable and its depth undergoes severe oscillations in deep penetration tandem dual beam laser welding. The frequency of the depth oscillations is several kHz, which is comparable to that in single beam laser welding. Under the same heat input conditions, the amplitude of keyhole depth oscillations is smaller than that in single beam laser welding. Increasing the welding speed could improve the keyhole instability in dual beam laser welding. The mechanism of process stabilization of tandem dual beam laser welding over single beam laser welding is a joint effect of several beneficial physical factors, but not only the common known degassing effect. Good agreement is obtained between simulation results and prior experiments.

Erratum to: A Quantitative Model of Keyhole Instability Induced Porosity in Laser Welding of Titanium Alloy

SHENGYONG PANG, Assistant Professor, WEIDONG CHEN, Master Student, and WEN WANG, Ph.D. Student, are with the State Key Laboratory of Materials Processing and Die & Mould Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Wuhan 430074, P.R. China. Contact e-mail: spang@hust.edu.cn The online version of the original article can be found under doi: 10.1007/s11661-014-2231-3. Article published online April 3, 2014

A Quantitative Model of Keyhole Instability Induced Porosity in Laser Welding of Titanium Alloy

Quantitative prediction of the porosity defects in deep penetration laser welding has generally been considered as a very challenging task. In this study, a quantitative model of porosity defects induced by keyhole instability in partial penetration CO2 laser welding of a titanium alloy is proposed. The three-dimensional keyhole instability, weld pool dynamics, and pore formation are determined by direct numerical simulation, and the results are compared to prior experimental results. It is shown that the simulated keyhole depth fluctuations could represent the variation trends in the number and average size of pores for the studied process conditions. Moreover, it is found that it is possible to use the predicted keyhole depth fluctuations as a quantitative measure of the average size of porosity. The results also suggest that due to the shadowing effect of keyhole wall humps, the rapid cooling of the surface of the keyhole tip before keyhole collapse could lead to a substantial decrease in vapor pressure inside the keyhole tip, which is suggested to be the mechanism by which shielding gas enters into the porosity.

Effect of gap on plasma and molten pool dynamics during laser lap welding for T-joints

The aim of the present research is to discuss the effect of gap on plasma plume, keyhole, and molten pool dynamics during laser lap welding for T-joints. The authors observe plasma plume, keyhole opening, and molten pool images by high-speed camera in different gaps during CO2 laser overlap welding of T-joints. The results show that gap causes beam energy fluctuations in the keyhole and leads to the instability of welding process. In laser spot welding, zero-gap and small gap greatly affect the stability of plasma and keyhole, which causes the formation of cavities in the weld metal, while a proper gap can help prevent porosity formation. In laser continuous welding, the disruption and closure of front keyhole wall at the gap periodically changes with the gap, which causes the formation of plenty of porosities at the gap. The instability of keyhole is closely related to dynamics of plume and molten pool, which gives an insight into the mechanism of porosity formation during laser overlap welding.

Laser welding of die-cast AZ91D magnesium alloy

It is well known in welding of die-cast magnesium alloys that porosity is easily formed and degrades the performance of the welded joints. The porosity produced inevitably during laser deep-penetration welding has been studied through metallographic observation, gas content analyses and a high-speed X-ray transmission real-time imaging system. Porosity formation was chiefly attributed to the phenomena that the gases in the pre-existing pores in the base material were swelled to form bubbles during welding and these bubbles had few chances to escape from the weld molten pool because of the vigorous melt flows and the rapid solidification associated with high welding speeds. It was also observed that keyhole instability contributed to porosity formation by generating bubbles from a keyhole tip or a bulged keyhole. Moreover, the insertion of an extruded porosity-free alloy sheet between the die-cast alloy parts resulted in 50% reduction in the weld metal porosity.

A three-dimensional sharp interface model for self-consistent keyhole and weld pool dynamics in deep penetration laser welding

A three-dimensional sharp interface model is proposed to investigate the self-consistent keyhole and weld pool dynamics in deep penetration laser welding. The coupling of three-dimensional heat transfer, fluid flow and keyhole free surface evolutions in the welding process is simulated. It is theoretically confirmed that under certain low heat input welding conditions deep penetration laser welding with a collapsing free keyhole could be obtained and the flow directions near the keyhole wall are upwards and approximately parallel to the keyhole wall. However, significantly different weld pool dynamics in a welding process with an unstable keyhole are numerically found. Many flow patterns in the welding process with an unstable keyhole, verified by x-ray transmission experiments, were successfully simulated and analysed. Periodical keyhole collapsing and bubble formation processes are also successfully simulated and believed to be in good agreement with experiments. The mechanisms of keyhole instability are found to be closely associated with the behaviour of humps on the keyhole wall, and it is found that the welding speed and surface tension are closely related to the formation of humps on the keyhole wall. It is also shown that the weld pool dynamics in laser welding with an unstable keyhole are closely associated with the transient keyhole instability and therefore modelling keyhole and weld pool in a self-consistent way is significant to understand the physics of laser welding.

Keyhole depth instability in case of CW CO2 laser beam welding of mild steel

The study of keyhole (KH) instability in deep penetration laser beam welding (LBW) is essential to understand welding process and appearance of weld seam defects. The main cause of keyhole collapse is the instability in KH dynamics during the LBW process. This is mainly due to the surface tension forces associated with the KH collapse and the stabilizing action of vapour pressure. A deep penetration high power CW CO2 laser was used to generate KH in mild steel (MS) in two different welding conditions i.e. ambient atmospheric welding (AAW) and under water welding (UWW). KH, formed in case of under water welding, was deeper and narrower than keyhole formed in ambient and atmospheric condition. The number and dimensions of irregular humps increased in case of ambient and under water condition due to larger and rapid keyhole collapse also studied. The thermocapillary convection is considered to explain KH instability, which in turn gives rise to irregular humps.