TY - CONF A1 - Meng, Xiangmeng A1 - Artinov, Antoni A1 - Bachmann, Marcel A1 - Rethmeier, Michael T1 - A theoretical study of influence o f electromagnetic stirring on transport phenomena in wire feed laser beam welding N2 - The additional element from the filler wire in the laser beam welding is usually distributed inhomogeneously in the final weld due to the high solidification rate of weld pool. It has been found that the electromagnetic stirring produced by an external oscillating magnetic field can enhance the material mixing in the weld pool to achieve a more uniform element distribution. However, the magnetic field has a highly non-linear and multi-coupled interaction with the weld pool behavior, which makes the quantitative explanation of the physical mechanism difficult. In this study, the effect of electromagnetic stirring on the transport phenomena in the wire feed laser beam welding is investigated by a numerical modelling. A 3D transient multi-physical model considering the magnetohydrodynamics, heat transfer, fluid flow, keyhole dynamics and element transport is developed. The multiple reflections and the Fresnel absorption of the laser on the keyhole wall are calculated using the ray tracing method. The numerical results show that a Lorentz force produced by the oscillating magnetic field and its induced eddy current gives significant influence on the transport phenomena in the molten pool. The forward and downward flow is enhanced by the electromagnetic stirring, which homogenizes the distribution of the additional elements from a nickel-based filler wire in a steel weld pool. The numerical results show a good agreement with the high-speed images of the molten pool, the fusion line from the optical micrograph and the element distribution from the energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. This work provides a physical base for the electromagnetic-controlled laser beam welding and some guidance for the selection of electromagnetic parameters. T2 - ICALEO 2019 - 38th International congress on applications of lasers & electro-optics CY - Orlando, FL, USA DA - 07.10.2019 KW - Magnetohydrodynamics KW - Molten pool dynamics KW - Element transport KW - Laser beam welding PY - 2019 SN - 978-1-940168-1-42 SP - Paper # Macro 403 AN - OPUS4-49664 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - RPRT A1 - Bachmann, Marcel A1 - Rethmeier, Michael A1 - Meng, Xiangmeng T1 - Project title: Multi-physical simulation of the influence of an auxiliary magnetic field on the process porosity formation during high-power laser beam welding N2 - In this project, a multiphysically coupled numerical model will be developed to quantitatively describe porosity reduction in high-power laser beam welding of up to 10 mm thick AlMg3 using an oscillating magnetic field. The aim is to gain fundamental insights into the physical dependencies of the introduced electromagnetic forces on the melt pool behavior and the reduction of porosity. With the help of the numerical model, the transient, multi-coupled, three-dimensional problem of heat transfer, liquid flow, free surface deformation, and magnetic induction is to be solved, taking into account temperature-dependent material properties. The numerical modelling of the heat source will integrate all relevant physical mechanisms, for instance, multiple reflections of the laser radiation by an advanced ray tracing model, as well as local Fresnel absorption at the keyhole wall. This allows an analysis of the keyhole fluctuations, which have a dominant influence on the formation of process spores during deep penetration welding, based on physical principles. In addition, further physical factors such as the ablation pressure of the evaporating metal, the Laplace pressure, and Marangoni shear stresses are also to be integrated into the model. To evaluate the pore formation and reduction by means of the electromagnetic forces introduced in the molten pool, suitable models for describing the movement of the pores in the melt are to be developed. For the process pores, their movement can be implemented by tracking their surface under consideration of their internal pressure and temperature. With the help of the simulation model, all key factors for the formation of process pores during laser beam welding of the used aluminum alloy, as well as their avoidance, can be decoupled and analyzed. Accompanying welding tests are planned at BAM on a 20 kW fiber laser and a 16 kW disk laser. The magnetic flux density will be up to 500 mT at a maximum frequency of 5 kHz. The experimental results, in particular temperature measurements, weld cross sections, computer tomography, and X-ray examinations, will be used to verify the multiphysical model and its calibration. Moreover, the models will be validated and quantified by in situ high-speed imaging of the keyhole dynamics in a metal/quartz glass configuration with keyhole illumination by a diode laser coaxial to the processing laser. On the basis of the numerical and experimental results, the dependencies between applied magnetic field, melt pool behavior, and porosity formation will be revealed in this project. KW - Laser beam welding KW - Electromagnetic weld pool control KW - Numerical simulation KW - Process porosity PY - 2026 DO - https://doi.org/10.34657/27669 SP - 1 EP - 14 AN - OPUS4-65335 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Meng, Xiangmeng A1 - Bachmann, Marcel A1 - Kising, Pascal A1 - Yang, Fan A1 - Rethmeier, Michael T1 - Prediction of weld pool and keyhole geometries in high-power laser beam welding through a physics-informed generative artificial intelligence approach N2 - The weld pool and keyhole geometries are critical characteristics in evaluating the stability of the high-power laser beam welding (LBW) process and determining the resultant weld quality. However, obtaining these data through experimental or numerical methods remains challenging due to the difficulties in experimental measurements and the high computational demands of numerical modelling. This paper presents a physics-informed generative approach for predicting weld pool and keyhole geometries in the LBW process. With the help of a well experimentally validated numerical model considering the underlying physics in the LBW, the geometries of the weld pool and keyhole under various welding conditions are calculated, serving as the dataset of the generative model. A Conditional Variational Autoencoder (CVAE) model is employed to generate realistic 2D weld pool and keyhole geometries from the welding parameters. We utilize a β-VAE model with the Evidence Lower Bound (ELBO) loss function and include Kullback-Leibler divergence annealing to better optimize model performance and stability during training. The generated results show a good agreement with the ground truth from the numerical simulation. The proposed approach exhibits the potential of physics-informed generative models for a rapid and accurate prediction of the weld pool geometries across a diverse range of process parameters, offering a computationally efficient alternative to full numerical simulations for process optimization and control in laser beam welding processes. T2 - International Congress of Applications of Lasers & Electro-Optics 2025 CY - Orlando, USA DA - 12.10.2025 KW - Laser beam welding KW - Generative artificial intelligence KW - Machine learning KW - numerical simulation PY - 2025 SP - 1 EP - 10 AN - OPUS4-65075 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bachmann, Marcel A1 - Putra, Stephen Nugraha A1 - Yang, Fan A1 - Meng, Xiangmeng A1 - Pusbatzkies, Pablo A1 - Rethmeier, Michael T1 - Elucidation of the laser beam energy attenuation by the vapor plume formation during high-power laser beam welding N2 - In high-power laser beam welding, a common phenomenon is the formation of a keyhole caused by the rapid evaporation of the material. Under atmospheric pressure, this evaporation generates a vapor plume that interacts with the laser beam, leading to energy attenuation and scattering of the laser radiation along its path. These interactions affect the stability of the process and the overall weld quality. This study investigates the influence of the vapor plume on the weld pool and keyhole dynamics during high-power laser beam welding of AlMg3 aluminum alloy through experimental and numerical approaches. The primary goal is to identify key vapor plume characteristics, particularly its length fluctuations, and to improve the accuracy of the numerical models. To achieve this, an algorithm was developed for the automated measurement of the vapor plume length using high-speed imaging and advanced data processing techniques. The measured plume length is then used to estimate additional vapor heating and laser energy attenuation using the Beer–Lambert law. A refined numerical CFD model, incorporating 3D transient heat transfer, fluid flow, and ray tracing, was developed to evaluate the vapor plume’s impact. Results show that already the time-averaged plume length effectively captures its transient influence and aligns well with experimental weld seam geometries. Additionally, energy scattering and absorption caused by the vapor plume led to a wider weld pool at the top surface. The study also shows an increased percentage of keyhole collapses due to the reduced laser power absorption at the keyhole bottom, further highlighting the importance of accurately modeling vapor plume effects. T2 - International Congress of Applications of Lasers & Electro-Optics 2025 CY - Orlando, USA DA - 12.10.2025 KW - Laser beam welding KW - Vapor plume formation KW - Weld pool KW - Keyhole dynamics KW - Numerical modeling PY - 2026 DO - https://doi.org/10.2351/7.0001863 SN - 1938-1387 IS - 38 SP - 012001-1 EP - 012001-9 PB - Laser Institute of America AN - OPUS4-64949 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bachmann, Marcel A1 - Avilov, Vjaceslav A1 - Gumenyuk, Andrey A1 - Rethmeier, Michael T1 - Experimental and numerical investigation of an electromagnetic weld pool control for laser beam welding N2 - The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of externally applied magnetic fields on the weld quality in laser beam welding. The optimization of the process parameters was performed using the results of computer simulations. Welding tests were performed with up to 20 kW laser beam power. It was shown that the AC magnet with 3 kW power supply allows for a prevention of the gravity drop-out for full penetration welding of 20 mm thick stainless steel plates. For partial penetration welding it was shown that an0.5 T DC magnetic field is enough for a suppression of convective flows in the weld pool. Partial penetration welding tests with 4 kW beam power showed that the application of AC magnetic fields can reduce weld porosity by a factor of 10 compared to the reference joints. The weld surface roughness was improved by 50%. KW - Laser beam welding KW - Electromagnetic weld pool support KW - Hartmann effect KW - Electromagnetic rectification PY - 2014 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-314405 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phpro.2014.08.006 SN - 1875-3892 VL - 56 SP - 515 EP - 524 PB - Elsevier B.V. CY - Amsterdam [u.a.] AN - OPUS4-31440 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Yang, Chunliang A1 - Yang, Fan A1 - Meng, Xiangmeng A1 - Putra, Stephen Nugraha A1 - Bachmann, Marcel A1 - Rethmeier, Michael T1 - Phase-field simulation of the dendrite fragmentation by electromagnetic stirring in AA5754 aluminum alloy laser beam welding N2 - A phase-field model including magnetic field induced dendrite fragmentation was established and applied to the cases with different initial crystal nuclear positions for AA5754 aluminum alloy electromagnetic laser beam welding. Compare the calculated results that include dendrite fragmentation caused by the thermal electromagnetic Lorentz force with the results that consider only the thermal electromagnetic Lorentz force, without fragmentation, at the characteristic time instants. Both in the early and late stages, the small fragmentation at the dendrite tip promotes the number of higher-order branches and their growth, especially in the direction perpendicular to the solidification. The later stage fragmentation has the possibility of breaking one grain into several, which verifies the possibility of grain refinement caused by dendrite fragmentation. The fracture surface caused by fragmentation also makes more solid-liquid interfaces and their growth. In addition, the cases with different initial nuclear positions were compared. The grain growth in the low-temperature zone can be inhibited by the equiaxed grains' fragmentation at the high-temperature area (179.8 μm² and 14.7 % start at the center, 115.4 μm² and 9.4 % start at the high-temperature corner, 134.3 μm² and 10.9 % start at the low-temperature corner), which is another kind of grain refinement by the dendrite fragmentation. This kind of inhibition effect on grain growth in the low-temperature region will be enhanced with the increasing time interval between the two crystal nuclei’ appearance (179.8 μm² and 14.7 % when virtual grains appear at t = 4.3803 s and t = 4.3803 s, 134.3 μm² and 10.9 % at t = 4.0977 s and t = 3.9564 s, and 115.4 μm² and 9.4 % at t = 3.8151 s and t = 3.5325 s). KW - Laser beam welding KW - Electromagnetic KW - Aluminum alloys KW - Phase field method KW - Equiaxed grain KW - Dendrite fragmentation PY - 2026 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-656610 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cwe.2025.100014 SN - 3117-4159 VL - 35 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 12 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-65661 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Meng, Xiangmeng A1 - Bachmann, Marcel A1 - Kising, Pascal A1 - Yang, Fan A1 - Rethmeier, Michael T1 - Prediction of weld pool and keyhole geometries in high-power laser beam welding through a physics-informed generative artificial intelligence approach N2 - The weld pool and keyhole geometries are critical characteristics in evaluating the stability of the high-power laser beam welding (LBW) process and determining the resultant weld quality. However, obtaining these data through experimental or numerical methods remains challenging due to the difficulties in experimental measurements and the high computational demands of numerical modelling. This paper presents a physics-informed generative approach for predicting weld pool and keyhole geometries in the LBW process. With the help of a well experimentally validated numerical model considering the underlying physics in the LBW, the geometries of the weld pool and keyhole under various welding conditions are calculated, serving as the dataset of the generative model. A conditional variational autoencoder model is employed to generate realistic 2D weld pool and keyhole geometries from the welding parameters. We utilize a β-variational autoencoder model with the evidence lower bound loss function and include Kullback–Leibler divergence annealing to better optimize model performance and stability during training. The generated results show a good agreement with the ground truth from the numerical simulation. The proposed approach exhibits the potential of physics-informed generative models for a rapid and accurate prediction of the weld pool geometries across a diverse range of process parameters, offering a computationally efficient alternative to full numerical simulations for process optimization and control in laser beam welding processes. KW - Laser beam welding KW - Generative artificial intelligence KW - Machine learning KW - Numerical simulation KW - Weld pool KW - Keyhole dynamics PY - 2026 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-656621 DO - https://doi.org/10.2351/7.0001862 SN - 1042-346X VL - 38 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 8 PB - Laser Institute of America AN - OPUS4-65662 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Meng, Xiangmeng A1 - Bachmann, Marcel A1 - Yang, Fan A1 - Rethmeier, Michael T1 - Porosity prediction in laser beam welding with a multimodal physics-informed machine learning framework N2 - Laser beam welding (LBW) of metallic components is a knowledge‑intensive manufacturing process whose quality depends on the complex multi‑physics. However, its engineering application is often hindered by the occurrence of porosity defects. Achieving a thorough understanding and reliable prediction of porosity defects remains difficult because it demands robust representation and reasoning over nonlinear and hard‑to‑observe physical information. In this study, we propose an integrated multimodal physics-informed machine learning (PIML) framework with the help of multi-physical modelling and experimental data to predict the porosity defects in laser beam welding of aluminum alloys. The whole framework contains a multimodal PIML model for predicting the porosity ratio and an ML-based estimator for relevant physical information. By utilizing the scalar welding parameters and high-dimensional physical information (probability of keyhole collapses, cumulative existing time of collapses, and molten pool geometry) as inputs, the multimodal PIML model shows great superiority in predicting the porosity ratio, with a reduction of the mean square error by 45%, compared with the ML model trained only with welding parameters. The ML-based estimator constructed with an encoder‐decoder architecture can accurately reproduce the critical physical information within a timeframe of seconds. By integrating these two ML models, the proposed framework advances engineering informatics by offering a scalable, physics-knowledge‑centric solution for fast and accurate porosity prediction in LBW manufacturing. KW - Laser beam welding KW - Porosity defect KW - Physics-informed machine learning KW - Multimodal model KW - Simulation PY - 2026 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-657589 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aei.2026.104611 SN - 1474-0346 VL - 74 SP - 1 EP - 12 PB - Elsevier Ltd. AN - OPUS4-65758 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -