62836 2025 eng 885 896 141 article 1 -- -- -- The behavior of the molten pool and final weld qualities in high-power laser welding are significantly influenced by laser absorption and keyhole stability. However, the dynamic features involved make the in-depth analyses challenging. This study addresses the challenges by conducting a thorough statistical evaluation of the effects of key welding parameters on laser absorption and keyhole fluctuations, using experimental investigations and a robustly validated multi-physics model. From a statistical aspect, the laser energy distribution and the keyhole collapse, commonly considered to be highly time-varying, show certain regularities, for example, three distinct regions of the temporally averaged energy distribution and a universal normal distribution of the keyhole collapse positions. Further discussion is performed to clarify the greater potential of the statistical data in revealing some well-known, industry-related but unclearly explained findings, such as the saturation of the weld penetration with increasing heat input and the physical basis of the contributions of different welding parameters in the porosity reduction. Journal of Manufacturing Processes 10.1016/j.jmapro.2025.03.053 2212-4616 urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-628367 publish 03.04.2025 false true Creative Commons - CC BY - Namensnennung 4.0 International Xiangmeng Meng Stephen Nugraha Putra Marcel Bachmann Michael Rethmeier eng uncontrolled Laser welding eng uncontrolled Laser absorption eng uncontrolled Keyhole stability eng uncontrolled Porosity defect eng uncontrolled Multi-physics modeling Ingenieurwissenschaften und zugeordnete Tätigkeiten 9 Komponentensicherheit 9.3 Schweißtechnische Fertigungsverfahren Material Degradationsmechanismen Verlagsliteratur Datei für die Öffentlichkeit verfügbar ("Open Access") Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-bam/files/62836/1-s2.0-S1526612525003056-main.pdf