TY - CONF A1 - Avilov, Vjaceslav A1 - Schneider, André A1 - Lammers, Marco A1 - Gumenyuk, Andrey A1 - Rethmeier, Michael T1 - Electromagnetic control of the weld pool dynamics in partial penetration laser beam welding of aluminium alloys N2 - An oscillating (AC) magnet field was used to suppress porosity formation and to stabilize the surface of the weld pool in bead-on-plate partial penetration 4.4 kW Nd:YAG laser beam welding of AW-5754 plates in PA position. The magnet was mounted on the laser welding head. The magnet field (up to 0.4 T and 10 kHz) was oriented perpendicular the welding direction. The analysis of the weld cross-sections and x-ray images shows a drastic reduction (up to 90%) of porosity contents in the welds. The observed effects can be explained in terms of electromagnetically (EM) induced 'Archimedes' forces as well as the EM stirring flow in the weld pool. Moreover, usage of AC magnetic fields results in a significant reduction (up to 50%) of the surface roughness of the welds. This effect can be explained in terms of electromagnetic (EM) contribution to the surface tension (the Garnier-Moreau effect) T2 - ICALEO 2012 - 31st International congress on applications of lasers & electro-optics CY - Anaheim, CA, USA DA - 23.09.2012 PY - 2012 IS - Paper 701 SP - 250 EP - 256 AN - OPUS4-27257 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Schneider, André A1 - Gumenyuk, Andrey A1 - Rethmeier, Michael T1 - Mobile vacuum device for laser beam welding of thick materials N2 - The development of the vapour plume during the laser beam welding of metals with propagation directions along the laser beam axis leads to a reduction of the absorbed laser power in the keyhole. These unfavourable effects can be significantly mitigated by the application of a reduced ambient pressure thus decreasing the interaction between the laser beam and evaporation products, which leads to more stable welding process and results in increased penetration depth. A conventional technique use a vacuum chamber principle, similar to that, used for electron beam welding. Application of this technique is restricted by the camera size and reduces thus the advantages of this approach especially for large components. We demonstrate a possibility of mobile local vacuum application, which allows to generate a reduced pressure only in small region around the keyhole. By using of specially designed mobile pressure lock which can be moved along the welding direction absolute pressure of around 200 mbar could be obtained. This is sufficient to increase the welding depth by around 50%. Coupons from S355 were welded with an incremental laser power from 5 kW to 12 kW at atmospheric pressure and compared to those welded at ambient pressure of 200 mbar. The evaluation of the longitudinal section revealed an increase of the welding depth by about 35%. Furthermore, the welding trials in butt joint configuration on 15 mm thick plates at various laser beam power performed for atmospheric and reduced ambient pressure of around 200 mbar. The increase in welding depth up to 40% was established for reduced pressure. Particularly, low welding speeds under reduced pressure were especially advantageous in terms of increasing the welding depth. T2 - 3rd International conference in Africa and Asia "Welding and failure analysis of engineering materials" CY - Luxor, Egypt DA - 02.11.2015 KW - High power laser beam welding KW - Mobile vacuum KW - Local reduced pressure KW - Vapour plume KW - Keyhole PY - 2015 SP - 1 EP - 7 AN - OPUS4-35094 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Schneider, André A1 - Gumenyuk, Andrey A1 - Rethmeier, Michael T1 - Laser beam welding of thick materials under the influence of local reduced ambient pressure N2 - The development of the vapour plume during the laser beam welding of metals with propagation directions along the laser beam axis leads to a reduction of the absorbed laser power in the keyhole. The main reasons are the scattering of the laser radiation on the condensed phase of metallic vapour as well as the defocusing of the laser beam due to the density gradient in the vapour plume. These unfavourable effects can be significantly mitigated by the application of a reduced ambient pressure thus decreasing the interaction between the laser beam and evaporation products, which leads to more stable welding process and results in increased penetration depth, as known from previous studies. A conventional technique use a vacuum chamber principle, similar to that, used for electron beam welding. Application of this technique is restricted by the chamber size and reduces thus the advantages of this approach especially for large components. We demonstrate a possibility of mobile local vacuum application, which allows to generate a reduced pressure only in small region around the keyhole. By using of specially designed mobile pressure lock which can be moved along the welding direction absolute pressure of around 200 mbar could be obtained. This is sufficient to increase the welding depth by around 50%. Coupons from S355 were welded with an incremental laser power from 5 kW to 12 kW at atmospheric pressure and compared to those welded at ambient pressure of 200 mbar. The evaluation of the longitudinal section revealed an increase of the welding depth by about 35%. Furthermore, the welding trials in butt joint configuration on 15 mm thick plates at various laser beam power performed for atmospheric and reduced ambient pressure of around 200 mbar. The increase in welding depth up to 40% was established for reduced pressure. Particularly, low welding speeds under reduced pressure were especially advantageous in terms of increasing the welding depth. T2 - VIII BTLA 2015 - 8th International conference "Beam technologies & laser application" CY - St. Petersburg, Russia DA - 21.09.2015 KW - High power laser beam welding KW - Mobile vacuum KW - Local reduced pressure KW - Vapour plume KW - Keyhole PY - 2015 SP - 45 EP - 46 AN - OPUS4-34973 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -