• Journal of Welding and Joining
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.27-31
• /
• 2006

Optimization of process parameters for laser-arc hybrid welding process is intrinsically sophisticated because the process has three kinds of parameters-arc, laser and hybrid welding parameters. In this paper, the relationship between weldability and several process parameters such as laser beam-arc distance, electrode height, welding current and welding speed, were investigated by the full factorial experimental design. Weld quality was evaluated by using weight of spatters which is related with the pore area. It was found that the weld quality was increased with the increases in laser beam-arc distance and welding current, and decreased with the increases in electrode height and welding speed.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.22-26
• /
• 2006

In lap welding of zinc-coated steel, porosity formation is one of most significant weld defects, which is caused by zinc vapor generated between the steel sheets. Various solutions have been proposed in the past years but development of more effective method is a worthwhile subject to be investigated. In this study, autogenous laser welding and laser-TIG hybrid welding was applied to the lap welding of zinc-coated steel without gap, and weld pool behaviors were observed by using high speed camera and the porosity generation mechanism was analyzed. The weld defects were successfully eliminated by laser-TIG hybrid welding. This is because the leading TIG arc partially melted the upper sheet and vaporized/oxidized the coated zinc on the lapped surfaces prior to the trailing laser illuminating the specimen.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.56-63
• /
• 2006

The characteristics of $CO_2$ or Nd:YAG laser welded 600MPa ade TRIP steel was investigated. He or Ar gas was used as a shield gas in case of $CO_2$ laser welding, but the shield gas was not used in case of Nd:YAG laser welding. Bead on plate welding was performed with various welding conditions. Defects in the joints of both welding type occurred at 1.8m/min but were not observed over the welding speed of 2.1m/min in case of Nd:YAG laser welding. However, porosity occurred in $CO_2$ laser welding and the tendency of decreasing with the increase of welding speed. The hardness was the highest at heat affected zone near fusion zone as well as at the fusion zone and decreased on approaching the base metal. In a perpendicular tensile test to the weld line, all specimens that have been welded at optimum conditions were fractured at the base metal, and the tensile properties showed the rather higher than those of raw material. In a parallel tensile test, the strength of the joints was higher than that of the base metal. Elongation was found to be lower than that of the raw material. Forming height by Erichsen test and elongation were deeply related with the ratio of base metal/weld metal and the maximum hardness of the weld metal. Also porosity induced to decrease the strength and the elongation. The maximum formability was recorded at approximately 80% as compared with that of the raw material with the optimum condition.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.88-92
• /
• 2006

Laser-rotating arc hybrid welding was introduced by combining $CO_2$ laser and rotating gas metal arc welding. While the arc rotation enhances the weld pool motion, it reduces the undercut formation which is one of most critical weld defects in the conventional laser-arc hybrid welding. This research investigated the bead characteristics according to the welding parameters such as frequency of rotation, welding voltage, shielding gas composition and interspacing distance between laser and we. The welding parameters were selected to reduce spatter generation and ensure sound weld beads fur bead welding and butt welding with various joint gaps. Gap bridging ability was improved, such that the sound weld beads were achieved for butt joint with up to 2mm joint sap, with no adjustment of CTWD(Contact tip-to-workpiece distance) and electrode diameter.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
• /
• v.22 no.6
• /
• pp.19-24
• /
• 2004

The laser welding and its analysis of thin-sheet carbon steels were carried out with high power $CO_{2}$ laser. The main factor of weld quality of laser welding is gap and edge quality. This work was preformed to focus on the gap tolerance problem during laser welding. First, bead on plate welding of thin sheet was examined to investigate the effect of laser welding variables, and to obtain optimum welding condition. Butt welding was also carried out to show the effect of gap on the laser weldability of thin sheet. In order to investigate the effect of gap on formability of welded thin sheet, LDH test was caried out. At high welding speed, the partial penetration was obtained by low heat input. Otherwise, porosity was formed in the bead at low weld speed because of too much heat input. The optimum welding condition of welding was derived from bead width, penetration and hardness property. The maximum gap tolerance on laser welding was observed to be about 0.2mm. This gap size has good relationship with beam size of laser spot(about 0.3mm). The formability of welded sheet was about $80{\%}$ value of base metal and the gap size has not affected on the formability, although weld quality is dependent on the gap size.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
• /
• v.24 no.5
• /
• pp.49-56
• /
• 2006

For laser welding in shipbuilding industry, gap bridging capability is one of the most important characteristics to achieve the high productivity and good weld quality. Recently, laser-GMA hybrid welding process is regarded as a distinctive method to overcome the tight gap tolerance with improving the productivity. In this study, the influence of process parameters on the bead formation was experimentally analyzed and the relationship between the process parameters and geometric imperfections was investigated. It was revealed that undercut, excessive weld metal, excessive penetration and incompletely filled groove were the major geometric imperfections. The optimized wire feeding and arc pressure were necessary to ensure the gap bridging ability. The approach to select the process parameters was conducted for butt welding with up to 2mm joint gap, in which the sound weld beads were generated without changing the welding speed.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.71-78
• /
• 2006

It has been reported that good quality weld beads are not easily obtained during the $CO_2$ CW laser welding of primer coated plate. However, by introducing a small gap clearance in the lap position, the zinc vapor can escape through it and sound weld beads can be acquired. Therefore, this study examines for keyhole behavior by observing the laser-induced plasma and investigates the relation between keyhole behavior and formation of weld defect. Laser-induced plasma has accompanied with the vaporizing pressure of zinc ejecting from keyhole to surface of primer coated plate. This dynamic behavior of plasma was very unstable and this instability was closely related to the unstable motion of keyhole during laser welding. As a result of observing the composition of porosity, much of Zn element was found from inner surface of porosity. But Zn was not found from the dimple structure fractured at the weld metal. By analyzing of vaporizing element in laser welding, a component ratio of Zn was decreased by introducing a small gap clearance. Therefore we can prove that the major cause of porosity is the vaporization of primer in lap position. Mechanism of porosity-formation is that the primer vaporized from the lap position accelerates dynamic behavior of the key hole and the bubble separated from the key hole is trapped in the solidification boundary and romaines as porosity.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.15-21
• /
• 2006

The aim of present study is to investigate the effect of welding parameters and heat treatment conditions on the formability of the $CO_2$ laser welded silicon steel sheet. It was found that there is optimum range of the heat input ($0.6{\sim}0.7kJ/cm$) and gap distance ($0.125{\sim}0.150mm$) for the high tensile strength and the avoidance of the fracture in weld metal. Also, it was essential fur the improvement of formability to perform pre- and post-welding heat treatment which cause the uniform mixture of base metal and welding consumable.

• Laser Solutions
• /
• v.3 no.2
• /
• pp.13-24
• /
• 2000

The weldability of dissimilar materials between sintered materials which are consisted of Co, Co＋Ni and carbon steel has been investigated using CO$_2$ laser. Autogeneous CO$_2$ laser welding were run along the butt between two alloys using sets of parameters variation-power and travel speed. In order to study weldability, mechanical tests (bending strength test, microhardness test) and metallurgical analyses (microstructure, phase transformation, fracture mode) were carried out. From the results obtained, it was found that the porosity which exists in a weld metal greatly affects the soundness of the weld. The optimum energy input to have a proper strength over than the requirement by a specification, found to be around 0.3-0.35kJ/m. There are two kinds of fracture mode in the weld metal, depending upon alloy combination, brittle fracture in the case of Co-carbon steel and a ductile fracture in the case of Co＋Ni-carbon steel. In general, Co＋Ni sintered material showed a better weld properties as compared to the Co sintered material.

• International Journal of Korean Welding Society
• /
• v.2 no.1
• /
• pp.21-24
• /
• 2002

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the formation mechanisms of imperfections such as irregular humps, outer cavity and inner cavity in the laser fusion zone of diamond saw blade. Laser beam welding was conducted to join two parts of blade; mild steel shank and Fe-Co-Ni sintered tip. The variables were beam power and travel speed. The microstructure and elements distributions of specimens were analyzed with SEM, AES, EPMA and so on. It was found that these imperfections were responded to heat input. Irregular humps were reduced in 10.4∼l7.6kJ/m heat input range. However there were no clear evidences, which could explain the relations between humps formation and heat input. The number of outer cavity and inner cavity decreased as heat input was increased. Considering both possible defects formations mechanisms, it could be thought that outer cavity was caused by insufficient refill of keyhole, which was from rapid solidification of molten metal and fast molten metal flow to the rear keyhole wall at low heat input. More inner cavities were found near the interface of the fusion zone and sintered segment and in the bottom of the fusion zone. Inner cavity was mainly formed in the upper fusion zone at high heat input whereas was in the bottom at low heat input. Inner cavity was from trapping of coarsened preexist pores in the sintered tip and metal vapor due to rapid solidification of molten metal before the bubbles escaped.