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Despite the advances in hardware and software techniques, standard numerical methods fail in providing real-time simulations, especially for complex processes such as additive manufacturing applications. A real-time simulation enables process control through the combination of process monitoring and automated feedback, which increases the flexibil- ity and quality of a process. Typically, before producing a whole additive manufacturing structure, a simplified experiment in form of a bead-on- plate experiment is performed to get a first insight into the process and to set parameters suitably. In this work, a reduced order model for the transient thermal problem of the bead-on-plate weld simulation is devel- oped, allowing an efficient model calibration and control of the process. The proposed approach applies the proper generalized decomposition (PGD) method, a popular model order reduction technique, to decrease the computational effort of each model evaluation required multiple times in parameter estimation, control and optimization. The welding torch is modeled by a moving heat source, which leads to difficulties separating space and time, a key ingredient in PGD simulations. A novel approach for separating space and time is applied and extended to 3D problems allowing the derivation of an efficient separated representation of the tem- perature. The results are verified against a standard finite element model showing excellent agreement. The reduced order model is also leveraged in a Bayesian model parameter estimation setup, speeding up calibrations and ultimately leading to an optimized real-time simulation approach for welding experiment using synthetic as well as real measurement data.
Abstract
In the post-processing of large maritime components, a considerable amount of waste in the form of milling and grinding chips is produced. At the same time, additive manufacturing technologies have shown great potential in producing high-volume parts for maritime applications, allowing novel design approaches and short lead times. In this context, this study presents a sustainable approach to recycle and use aluminium bronze waste material, generated during post-processing of large cast ship propellers, as feedstock for laser-powder directed energy deposition. The recycling technology used to produce powder batches is inductive re-melting in combination with ultrasonic atomization. The derived metal powders are characterized using digital image analysis, powder flowability tests, scanning electron microscopy as well as energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Compared to conventional metal powders produced by gas atomization, the recycled material shows excellent sphericity and a powder size distribution with a higher content of finer and coarser particles. Metallographic sections of deposited additively produced specimens show an increased hardness and reduced ductility, but also competitive densities and higher yield and ultimate tensile strength compared to cast material. The process chain shows high potential for the maritime sector to enable circular and sustainable manufacturing.
The effect of the oscillating metal vapor plume on the keyhole and molten pool behavior during the laser beam welding of AlMg3 aluminum alloys is investigated by the experimental and numerical method. The real-time height of the metal vapor plume is measured by high-speed camera observation. The obtained experimental results are used to evaluate the additional heating source and laser beam attenuation caused by the scattering and absorption based on the Beer-Lambert theory. Furthermore, the dynamic behavior of the metal vapor plume is incorporated into a 3D transient heat transfer and fluid flow model, coupled with the ray tracing method, for the laser beam welding of the AlMg3 alloy. It is found that the additional heating resulting from the scattered and absorbed laser beam energy by the metal vapor plume significantly expands the shape of the molten pool on the top region. Moreover, the oscillating metal vapor plume caused the fluctuation of the molten pool shape. The probability of keyhole collapse at the bottom increases significantly to 72% due to the oscillating laser power induced by the laser beam attenuation. The internal interplay between the metal vapor plume, molten pool shape, and the keyhole collapse are obtained. The developed model has been validated by the experiments, which shows a good agreement.
Through experimental observation and auxiliary numerical simulation, this investigation studies the different types of grain refinement of 5754 aluminum alloy laser beam welding by applying a transverse oscillating magnetic field. Scanning electron microscope results have proved that the application of a magnetic field can reduce the average crystal branch width and increase its number. The interaction between the induced eddy current generated by the Seebeck effect and the applied external magnetic field produces a Lorentz force, which is important for the increase of the number of crystal branches. Based on the theory of dendrite fragmentation and the magnetic field-induced branches increment, the grain size reduction caused by the magnetic field is studied. Furthermore, the effects of the magnetic field are analyzed by combining a phase field method model and simulations of nucleation and grain growth. The grain distribution and average grain size after welding verifies the reliability of the model. In addition, the introduction of a magnetic field can increase the number of periodic three-dimensional solidification patterns. In the intersection of two periods of solidification patterns, the metal can be re-melted and then re-solidified, which prevents the grains that have been solidified and formed previously from further growth and generates some small cellular grains in the new fusion line. The magnetic field increases the building frequency of these solidification structures and thus promotes this kind of grain refinement.
The weld quality and the possible defect formation are directly determined by the weld pool shape and the thermo-fluid dynamics therein. In this paper, an untypical weld pool profile, i.e., elongated at its top and bottom but narrowed at the middle, is found experimentally and numerically in the wire feed laser beam welding. The detrimental influence of the weld pool narrowing on the element transport is analyzed and discussed. A magnetohydrodynamic technique is utilized to suppress the narrowing, aiming at a more homogenous element distribution. It is found that a low-temperature region is formed in the middle of the weld pool due to the interaction of the two dominant circulations from the top and bottom regions. The weld pool is significantly narrowed due to the untypical growth of the mushy zone in the low-temperature region, which results in a direct blocking effect on the downward flow and the premature solidification in the middle region. The Lorentz force produced by a transverse oscillating magnetic field shows the potential to change the flow pattern into a single-circulation type and the low-temperature-gradient region is mitigated.
Therefore, the downward transfer channel is widened, and its premature solidification is prevented. The numerical results are well validated by experimental measurements of metal/glass observation and X-ray fluorescence element mapping.
Numerical analysis of ultrasonic vibration enhanced friction stir welding of dissimilar Al/Mg alloys
(2023)
The ultrasonic vibration enhanced friction stir welding (UVeFSW) process has unique advantages in joining dissimilar Al/Mg alloys. While there are complex coupling mechanisms of multi-fields in the process, it is of great significance to model this process, to reveal the influence mechanism of ultrasonic vibration on the formation of Al/Mg joints.
In this study, the acoustic-plastic constitutive equation was established by considering the influence of both ultrasonic softening and residual hardening on the flow stress at different temperatures and strain rates. And the ultrasonic induced friction reduction (UiFR) effect on friction coefficient in different relative directions at the FSW tool-workpiece interface was quantitatively calculated and analyzed.
The Al/Mg UVeFSW process model was developed through introducing the above acoustic effects into the model of Al/Mg friction stir welding (FSW). The ultrasonic energy is stronger on the aluminum alloy side. In the stirred zone, there is the pattern distribution of ultrasonic sound pressure and energy. The heat generation at the tool-workpiece contact interface and viscous dissipation were reduced after applying ultrasonic vibra-tion. Due to the UiFR effect, the projection of friction coefficient and heat flux distributions at the tool-workpiece interface present a "deformed" butterfly shape. The calculated results show that ultrasonic vibra-tion enhanced the material flow and promoted the mixing of dissimilar materials.
The contactless magnetohydrodynamic technology has been considered as a potential and promising method to improve the weld qualities of deep penetration laser beam welding. In this paper, numerical investigations are conducted to study the influence of the auxiliary oscillating magnetic field on the porosity suppression in laser beam welding of 5754 aluminum alloy. To obtain a deeper insight into the suppression mechanism, a three-dimensional transient multi-physical model is developed to calculate the heat transfer, fluid flow, keyhole dynamic, and magnetohydrodynamics. A ray tracing algorithm is employed to calculate the laser energy distribution on the keyhole wall. A time-averaged downward Lorentz force is produced by an oscillating magnetic field. This force acts in the molten pool, leading to a dominant downward flow motion in the longitudinal section, which blocks the bubble migration from the keyhole tip to the rear part of the molten pool. Therefore, the possibility for the bubbles to be captured by the solidification front is reduced. The electromagnetic expulsive force provides an additional upward escaping speed for the bubbles of 1 m/s ~ 5 m/s in the lower and middle region of the molten pool. The simulation results are in a good agreement with experimental measurements. Based on the results obtained in this study, a better understanding of the underlying physics in laser beam welding enhanced by an auxiliary oscillating magnetic field can be provided and thus the welding process can be further optimized reducing the porosity formation.
A three-dimensional numerical model was developed to accurately predict the steady-state weld pool shape in full penetration laser beam welding. The model accounts for the coupling between the heat transfer and the fluid dynamics by considering the effects of solid/liquid phase transition, thermo-capillary convection, natural convection, and phase-specific and temperature-dependent material properties up to the evaporation temperature. A fixed right circular cone was utilized as a keyhole geometry to consider the heat absorbed from the laser beam. The model was used to analyze the influence of the thermodynamic activity of solutes and turbulence on the weld pool shape. A mesh sensitivity analysis was performed on a hybrid mesh combining hexahedral and tetrahedral elements. For the case of full penetration laser beam welding of 8 mm thick unalloyed steel sheets, the dependence of the weld pool shape on the surface-active element sulfur was found to be negligible. The analysis of the results showed that a laminar formulation is sufficient for accurately predicting the weld pool shape since the turbulence has a minor impact on the flow dynamics in the weld pool. The validity of the numerical results was backed up by experimental measurements and observations, including weld pool length, local temperature history, and a range of metallographic crosssections.
Numerical study on the formation of a bulging region in partial penetration laser beam welding
(2023)
A transient three-dimensional thermo-fluid dynamics numerical model was developed to study the formation of a bulging region in partial penetration laser beam welding. The model accounts for the coupling between the fluid flow, the heat transfer, and the keyhole dynamics by considering the effects of multiple reflections and Fresnel absorption of the laser beam in the keyhole, the phase transitions during melting and evaporating, the thermo-capillary convection, the natural convection, and the phase-specific and temperature-dependent material properties up to the evaporation temperature. The validity of the model was backed up by experimentally obtained data, including the drilling time, the weld pool length, the local temperature history outside the weld pool, the process efficiency, and a range of metallographic crosssections.
The model was applied for the cases of partial penetration laser beam welding of 8 mm and 12 mm thick unalloyed steel sheets. The obtained experimental and numerical results reveal that the bulging region forms transiently depending on the penetration depth of the weld, showing a tendency to transition from a slight bulging to a fully developed bulging region between penetration depths of 6 mm and 9 mm, respectively.
The present work deals with the recently confirmed widening of the weld pool interface, known as a bulging effect, and its relevance in high power laser beam welding. A combined experimental and numerical approach is utilized to study the influence of the bulge on the hot cracking formation and the transport of alloying elements in the molten pool. A technique using a quartz glass, a direct-diode laser illumination, a high-speed camera, and two thermal imaging cameras is applied to visualize the weld pool geometry in the longitudinal section. The study examines the relevance of the bulging effect on both, partial and complete penetration, as well as for different sheet thicknesses ranging from 8 mm to 25 mm. The numerical analysis shows that the formation of a bulge region is highly dependent on the penetration depth and occurs above 10 mm penetration depth. The location of the bulge correlates strongly with the cracking location. The obtained experimental and numerical results reveal that the bulging effect increases the hot cracking susceptibility and limits the transfer of alloying elements from the top of the weld pool to the weld root.
The amount of absorbed energy in the keyhole as well as its spatial and temporal distribution is essential to model the laser beam welding process. The recoil pressure, which develops because of the evaporation process induced by the absorbed laser energy at the keyhole wall, is a key determining factor for the macroscopic flow of the molten metal in the weld pool during high-power laser beam welding. Consequently, a realistic implementation of the effect of the laser radiation on the weld metal is crucial to obtain reliable and accurate simulation results.
In this paper, we discuss manyfold different improvements on the laser-material interaction, namely the ray-tracing method, in the numerical simulation of the laser beam welding process. The first improvement relates to locating the exact reflection points in the ray tracing method using a so-called cosine condition in the determination algorithm for the intersection of the reflected rays and the keyhole surface. A second correction refers to the numerical treatment of the Gaussian distribution of the laser beam, whose beam width is defined by a decay of the laser intensity by a factor of 1/e2 thus ignoring around 14 % of the total laser beam energy. In a third step, the changes in the laser radiation distribution in the vertical direction were adapted by using different approximations for the converging and the diverging regions of the laser beam thus mimicking the beam caustic. Finally, a virtual mesh refinement was adopted in the ray tracing routine. The obtained numerical results were validated with experimental measurements.
New developments in nickel-based superalloys and production methods, such as the use of additive manufacturing (AM), can result in innovative designs for turbines. It is crucial to understand how the material behaves during the AM process to advance industrial use of these techniques. An analytical model based on reaction-diffusion formalism is developed to better explain the solidification behavior of the material during laser metal deposition (LMD). The well-known Scheil-Gulliver theory has some drawbacks, such as the assumption of equilibrium at the solid-liquid interface, which is addressed by this method. The solidified fractions under the Scheil model and the pure equilibrium model are calculated using CALPHAD simulations. Differential scanning calorimeter is used to measure the heat flow during the solid-liquid phase transformation, the result of which is further converted to solidified fractions. The analytical model is compared with all the other models for validation.
Hybrid laser-arc welding (HLAW) was applied for butt welding of 14.5 mm thick plates of ferritic cryogenic steel X8Ni9 containing 9% Ni, which is used for manufacturing storage and transport facilities of liquefied natural gas (LNG). The weld seam formation and the achievable metallurgical and mechanical properties of the hybrid welds were investigated experimentally for two types of filler wire, an austenitic wire dissimilar to the base metal (BM) and an experimentally produced matching ferritic wire. Safe penetration and uniform distribution of the austenitic filler metal in the narrow hybrid weld could only be achieved in the upper, arcdominated part of the weld. The pronounced heterogeneous distribution of the austenitic filler metal in the middle part and in the root area of the weld could not ensure sufficient notched impact toughness of the weld metal (WM). As a result, a decrease in the impact energy down to 17±3 J was observed, which is below the acceptance level of ≥34 J for cryogenic applications. In contrast, the use of a matching ferritic filler wire resulted in satisfactory impact energy of the hybrid welds of up to 134±52 J at the concerned cryogenic temperature of -196 °C. The obtained results contribute to an important and remarkable conversion in automated manufacturing of LNG facilities. In other words, the results will help to develop a new laser-based welding technology, where both quality and productivity are considered.The efficiency of the developed welding process has been demonstrated by manufacturing a prototype where a segment of the inner wall of large size LNG storage tank was constructed. In this concern, hybrid laser arc welding was conducted in both horizontal (2G) and vertical (3G) positions as a simulation to the actual onsite manufacturing. The prototype was fabricated twice where its quality was confirmed based on non-destructive and destructive examinations.
Through experimental observation and auxiliary numerical simulation, this investigation studies the different types of grain refinement of 5754 aluminum alloy laser beam welding by applying a transverse oscillating magnetic field. Scanning electron microscope results have proved that the application of a magnetic field can reduce the average crystal branch width and increase its number. The interaction between the induced eddy current generated by the Seebeck effect and the applied external magnetic field produces a Lorentz force, which is important for the increase in the number of crystal branches. Based on the theory of dendrite fragmentation and the magnetic field-induced branches increment, the grain size reduction caused by the magnetic field is studied. Furthermore, the effects of the magnetic field are ana lyzed by combining a phase field method model and simulations of nucleation and grain growth. The grain distribution and average grain size after welding verify the reliability of the model. In addition, the introduction of a magnetic field can increase the number of periodic three-dimensional solidification patterns. In the intersection of two periods of solidification patterns, the metal can be re-melted and then re-solidified, which prevents the grains, that have been solidified and formed previously, from further growth and generates some small cel lular grains in the new fusion line. The magnetic field increases the building frequency of these solidification structures and thus promotes this kind of grain refinement.
Laser-based Powder Bed Fusion of Metal (PBF-LB/M) is a broadly used metal additive manufacturing (AM) method for fabricating complex metallic parts, whose sizes are however limited by the build envelope of PBF-LB/M machines. Laser welding arises as a valid joining method for effectively integrating these AM parts into larger assemblies.
PBF-LB/M components must usually be stress-relieved before they can be separated from the build plate. An additional heat treatment can be beneficial for obtaining homogeneous mechanical properties across the seam or for the formation of desired precipitations in nickel-based-alloys.
Therefore, the tensile performance of laser welded hybrid (AM/wrought) and AM-AM tensile samples of Inconel 718 is examined after undergoing three different heat treatments and considering three relevant build directions. It can be shown that the build orientation is an influencing factor on weld properties even after two applied heat treatments.
Laser beam welding is a widely used joining technique in many industrial applications. This is mainly due to its many unique advantages, especially compared to conventional arc welding processes. These advantages include, among others, highly concentrated energy deposition, low total heat input and a capacity to penetrate deep into the material while causing only small welding distortions.
However, at the same time, the small dimension of the laser spot, high solidification rates, and small dimensions of the weld pool itself can provoke issues regarding the assembly tolerances of the workpiece, the hot-cracking phenomena, as well as keyhole-induced bubbles escaping from the melt.
Weld pool shapes in laser beam welding are elongated at the external, free surfaces under the action of the main driving forces in the melt – such as recoil pressure and surface tension forces – while being shorter in the internal areas of the weld pool. This leads to a regular solidification sequence from the internal zones toward the free surfaces, e.g. from the bottom to the top in partial penetration welding. However, in recent studies reported in the literature and seen in the experimental and numerical investigations of BAM Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung in Berlin, it was found that an internal narrowing phenomenon can occur that is often accompanied by a distinct bulging of the weld bead in deeper zones.
As the internal behaviour of the melt during the process is hardly optically accessible, several numerical models and experimental techniques were established to visualise the mechanisms of the formation of the bulging and the narrowing phenomenon and to reveal the consequences on the solidification sequence, pore formation, and filler metal dilution.
Offshore wind energy plays an important role for the desired transition towards a carbon dioxide free industry within the next decades. However, the grounding of the offshore wind plants governs the overall installation process besides bureaucratic bottlenecks.
The application of lightweight principles in steel construction, e.g. the usage dissolved load-bearing structures, so called Jackets foundations, offer great potential in reducing the resource consumption, especially with respect to the needed amount of steel.
In this context this paper focuses on a fully digitalization of the welding manufacturing and as well as testing chain to enable a fully automated manufacturing as well as quality assessment of tubular nodes as key element of Jackets foundation structures. Furthermore, the relationship between the seam shape geometry and resulting fatigue strength is evaluated by numerical methods incorporating bionic principles. It is shown that tubular nodes can be welded fully automatically taking geometry tolerances into account. Moreover, the seam shape could be manufactured as requested by the numerical models which offers great potential for an extended lifetime. Subsequently, the improvements in resource efficiency and reduction of carbon dioxide emissions are evaluated by a life-cycle-assessment.
An accurate and efficient description of the spatial distribution of laser energy is a crucial factor for the modeling of laser material processing, e.g., laser welding, laser cutting, or laser-based additive manufacturing. In this study, a 3D heat transfer and fluid flow model coupled with the volume-of-fluid algorithm for free surface tracking is developed for the simulation of molten pool dynamics in high-power laser beam welding. The underlying laser-material interactions, i.e., the multiple reflections and Fresnel absorption, are considered by a ray-tracing method. Two strategies of free surface reconstruction used in the ray-tracing method are investigated: a typical piecewise linear interface calculation (PLIC)-based method and a novel localized Level-Set method. The PLIC-based method is discrete, resulting in non-continuous free surface reconstruction. In the localized Level-Set method, a continuous free surface is reconstructed, and thus the exact reflection points can be determined. The calculated spatial laser energy distribution and the corresponding molten pool dynamics from the two methods are analyzed and compared. The obtained numerical results are evaluated with experimental measurements to assure the validity of the proposed model. It is found that distinct patterns of the beam multiple reflections are obtained with the different free surface reconstructions, which shows significant influence not only on the molten pool behaviors but also on the localized keyhole dynamics.
This study presents mechanisms of the evolution of a narrowed region in the weld pool center during deep penetration laser beam welding. In numerous numerical studies presented in this study, it was also found that the local reduction of the weld pool size can cause detrimental effects on the melt flow behavior and the resulting properties of the welds. A particularly large influence of this effect was identified in three aspects. Firstly, the local variation of the solidification sequence of the weld pool causes an increase in the hot-cracking susceptibility due to a locally delayed solidification. Secondly, it was proven that a change in the local length and width of the weld pool is associated with an adverse impact on the potential flow routes of the molten material that induces stronger local variations of its solidification. Thus, the element mixing, e.g. during the welding with filler materials, is blocked. This leads to a non-homogeneous chemical composition of the final weld and can cause undesired effects on the final material properties. Finally, another observed effect is related to the reduced ability of process pores to reach the top surface. As this type of porosity is usually produced around the keyhole tip, the change of the fluid flow regime above this area plays a significant role in determining the final path of the pores until the premature solidification in the middle of the weld pool captures them. This study summarizes mainly numerical results which were supported by selected experimental validation results.
Solidification cracking is still a serious problem in laser beam welding, especially in the welding of thick-walled plates. The influence of weld pool geometry on solidification cracking in partial penetration welding of thick plates is investigated within scope of this study. Therefore, a specific experimental setup of steel and quartz glass in butt configuration and on the side with high-speed camera were used to record the weld pool shape. In addition, the influence of laser inclination angle on the weld pool geometry and on solidification crack formation was investigated. The results show a bulge in the weld pool root, which is separated from an upper region by a necking region. This leads to a case where there are three different longitudinal region lengths with different solidification zones. This temporal sequence of solidification strongly promotes the formation of solidification cracks in the weld root.
-With modern high-power lasers (and vacuum) penetration around 100 mm is possible
-Important for industrial applications: single-pass full penetration welds with tolerances
-Contactless EM-backing helps to overcome many main restrictions:
-Single-pass HLAW of up to 30 mm can be realized with 20 kW laser power
-Increase of the gap bridgeability and misalignement of edges
-Lower sensitivity to manufacturing tolerances and edge quality; samples can be prepared by a plasma-cut instead of time-consuming milling process
-Gives the possibility to increase the welding parameter window and cooling rate so that the required mechanical properties can be reached
-Improved filler wire mixing behaviour
With additive manufacturing in the powder bed, the component size is limited by the installation space. Joint welding of additively manufactured parts offers a possibility to remove this size limitation. However, due to the specific stress and microstructure state in the additively built material, it is unclear to what extent existing evaluation rules of joint welding are also suitable for welds on additive components. This is investigated using laser beam welding of additively manufactured pipe joints. The welds are evaluated by means of visual inspection, metallographic examinations as well as computed tomography. The types of defects found are comparable to conventional components. This is an indicator that existing evaluation regulations also map the possible defects occurring for weld seams on additive components.
The study deals with the influence of the heat input and the resulting cooling times on the microstructure and Charpy impact toughness of single-pass laser hybrid welded 20-mm thick high-strength steel S690QL. The main focus is on the change of the mechanical properties over the entire seam thickness. The cooling times were measured in-situ using a pyrometer and an optical fibre in three different depths of the seam where Charpy impact test specimens were also later taken. Thereby, three different heat inputs from 1.3 kJ/mm to 2 kJ/mm were investigated. Despite the observed decreased values of both t8/5-cooling time and the Charpy impact toughness in the root part of the seam, the required impact toughness of 38 J/cm2 could be reached in dependance on applied heat input, especially at the heat input of 1.6 kJ/mm.
Laser welding is an appropriate technique for joining Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) parts together and to conventional wrought ones. The potential consists of profiting from synergies between additive and conventional manufacturing methods and overcoming the existing limitations of both. On the one hand, L-PBF is a widely spread metal-based additive manufacturing technique suitable for generating complex parts which can present intrinsic designed cavities, conformal cooling channels, and filigree structures contributing to sustainable manufacturing and efficiency-oriented designs. On the other hand, chamber sizes for producing L-PBF parts are limited, and the process is time-consuming. Thus, its employment is not for every geometry justified. Additionally, they are in most cases individual elements of a larger assembly and need to be joined together to conventionally fabricated parts.
The present research suggests laser welding parameters to adequately bond pairs of wrought and L-PBF processed plates and two L-PBF plates of Inconel 718 in butt position. L-PBF samples are printed in three different build-up orientations. Additionally, the influence of as-built L-PBF roughness qualities and usual pre-weld preparations such as edge milling are examined. The effect of normed pre-weld heat treatments is also contemplated. Identified cracks are analyzed by means of EDS in order to confirm the present phases on the areas of interest. EBSD is also employed to obtain a clear depiction of the crystallographic texture and distribution of the hot cracks.
The quality of the weldment was examined according to existing standards. Substantial differences in seam geometry and microstructure across different edge’s surface qualities and build directions of stress relieved L-PBF parts have not been detected. Nevertheless, even if no other irregularities are present in the seam, variability in liquation cracking susceptibility has been confirmed. This defect is prone to happen when parts made of this nickel-based superalloy are welded together when not enough precautions are taken. It has been determined that grain size and ductility of the material before welding play a crucial role and mitigating or intensifying these imperfections. Moreover, recommendations are presented to avoid this potential welding defect.
With regard to efficient production, it is desirable to combine the respective advantages of additively and conventionally manufactured components. Particularly in the case of large-volume components that also include filigree or complex structures, it makes sense to divide the overall part into individual elements, which afterwards have to be joined by welding.
The following research represents a first step in fundamentally investigating and characterizing the joint welding of Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) components made of Inconel 718. For this purpose, bead-on-plate welds were performed on plates manufactured using the L-PBF process and compared with the conventionally manufactured material. Conventional laser beam welding was used as welding process. The weld geometry was investigated as a function of the L-PBF build-up orientation. It was found that the welding depth and weld geometry differ depending on this orientation and in comparison to the conventional material.
Laser metal deposition (LMD) as an additive manufacturing technique became increasingly important in recent years and thus the demand for component safety. This is the reason, for the need for reliable in-situ defect detection techniques. For laser beam weld seams an optical measurement technique based on an optical flow algorithm was successfully used to define the critical straining conditions that lead to hot cracking. This algorithm was adapted for bead-on-plate weld seams on LMD deposited layers of IN718 alloy while performing external strain on the specimen in an externally loaded hot cacking test facility. The resulting transversal hot cracks along the weld seam were localized via X-Ray inspection and the type of cracking confirmed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The strain distribution was measured in the vicinity of the solidification front and correlated to the detected hot cracks. Based on the results this technique could be adopted for LMD experiments.
During resistance spot welding of zinc-coated advanced high-strength steels (AHSSs) for automotive production, liquid metal embrittlement (LME) cracking may occur in the event of a combination of various unfavorable influences. In this study, the interactions of different welding current levels and weld times on the tendency for LME cracking in third-generation AHSSs were investigated. LME manifested itself as high penetration cracks around the circumference of the spot welds for welding currents closely below the expulsion limit. At the same time, the observed tendency for LME cracking showed no direct correlation with the overall heat input of the investigated welding processes. To identify a reliable indicator of the tendency for LME cracking, the local strain rate at the origin of the observed cracks was analyzed over the course of the welding process via finite element simulation. While the local strain rate showed a good correlation with the process-specific LME cracking tendency, it was difficult to interpret due to its discontinuous course. Therefore, based on the experimental measurement of electrode displacement during welding, electrode indentation velocity was proposed as a descriptive indicator for quantifying cracking tendency.
The Directed Energy Deposition process is used in a wide range of applications including the repair, coating or modification of existing structures and the additive manufacturing of individual parts. As the process is frequently applied in the aerospace industry, the requirements for quality assurance are extremely high. Therefore, more and more sensor systems are being implemented for process monitoring. To evaluate the generated data, suitable methods must be developed. A solution, in this context, was the application of artificial neural networks (ANNs). This article demonstrates how measurement data can be used as input data for ANNs. The measurement data were generated using a pyrometer, an emission spectrometer, a camera (Charge-Coupled Device) and a laser scanner. First, a concept for the extraction of relevant features from dynamic measurement data series was presented. The developed method was then applied to generate a data set for the quality prediction of various geometries, including weld beads, coatings and cubes. The results were compared to ANNs trained with process parameters such as laser power, scan speed and powder mass flow. It was shown that the use of measurement data provides additional value. Neural networks trained with measurement data achieve significantly higher prediction accuracy, especially for more complex geometries.
Duplex stainless steels combine the positive properties of its two phases, austenite and ferrite. Due to its good corrosion resistance, high tensile strength and good ductility it has multiple applications. But laser beam welding of duplex steels changes the balanced phase distribution in favor of ferrite. This results in a higher vulnerability to corrosion and a lower ductility. In this study different powder combinations consisting of duplex and nickel for coating layers by laser metal deposition are investigated. Afterwards laser tracks are welded, and the temperature cycles measured. The ferrite content of the tracks are analyzed by feritscope, metallographic analysis and Electron Backscatter Diffraction. The goal is the development of a powder mixture allowing for a duplex microstructure in a two-step process, where firstly the edges of the weld partners are coated with the powder mixture by LMD and secondly those edges are laser beam welded. The powder mixture identified by the pretests is tested in the two-step process and analyzed by metallographic analysis, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and Vickers hardness tests. The resulting weld seams show a balanced duplex microstructure with a homogenous nickel distribution and a hardness of the weld seam similar to the base material.
Ensuring the required mechanical-technological properties of welds is a critical issue in the application of multi-wire submerged arc welding processes for welding high-strength fine-grained steels. Excessive heat input is one of the main causes for microstructural zones with deteriorated mechanical properties of the welded joint, such as a reduced notched impact strength and a lower structural robustness. A process variant is proposed which reduces the weld volume as well as the heat input by adjusting the welding wire configuration as well as the energetic parameters of the arcs, while retaining the advantages of multiwire submerged arc welding such as high process stability and production speed.
This paper presents investigation results of a process for defect-free hybrid laser arc welding (HLAW) of closed circumferential welds. The process aims to avoid weld imperfections in the overlap area of a HLAW circumferential weld. A process control strategy for closing the circumferential weld was developed to achieve a defect-free overlap region by controlling the solidification conditions at the end of the weld. The controlled heat flow is achieved by adjusting the parameters of both welding processes involved, the laser beam as well as gas metal arc welding (GMAW) process. Experimental investigations were carried out on 12 mm to 15 mm thick tube sections. The influence of process parameters such as the laser ramp time, the change in magnification scale and the defocusing of the laser beam on the solidifi-cation conditions at the end of the circumferential weld was investigated to find an optimum strategy for ramping out the process energy. Within the framework of the experimental studies, it was demonstrated that defocusing the laser beam in the range between 60 mm and 100 mm over a short run-out area of the weld of approximately 15 mm led to a significantly better weld formation in the overlap area. A favourable cup-shaped weld shape could be achieved without a tendency to crack. The laser optics with a motor-driven lens system made it possible to increase the laser beam diameter without changing the position of the GMAW arc relative to the component surface.
The present work deals with the recently confirmed widening of the weld pool interface, known as a bulging effect, and its relevance in high power laser beam welding. A combined experimental and numerical approach is utilized to study the influence of the bulge on the hot cracking formation and the transport of alloying elements in the molten pool. A technique using a quartz glass, a direct-diode laser illumination, a high speed camera, and two thermal imaging cameras is applied to visualize the weld pool geometry in the longitudinal section. The study examines the relevance of the bulging effect on both, partial and complete penetration, as well as for different sheet thicknesses ranging from 8 mm to 25 mm. The numerical analysis shows that the formation of a bulge region is highly dependent on the penetration depth and occurs above 10 mm penetration depth. The location of the bulge correlates strongly with the cracking location. The obtained experimental and numerical results reveal that the bulging effect increases the hot cracking susceptibility and limits the transfer of alloying elements from the top of the weld pool to the weld root
Additive manufacturing promises a high potential for the maritime sector. Directed Energy Deposition (DED) in particular offers the opportunity to produce large-volume maritime components like propeller hubs or blades without the need of a costly casting process. The post processing of such components usually generates a large amount of aluminum bronze grinding waste. The aim of the presented project is to develop a sustainable circular AM process chain for maritime components by recycling aluminum bronze grinding waste to be used as raw material to manufacture ship Propellers with a laser-powder DED process. In the present paper, grinding waste is investigated using a dynamic image Analysis system and compared to commercial DED powder. To be able to compare the material quality and to verify DED process parameters, semi-academic sample geometries are manufactured.
A mathematical model for physical processes in fusion welding has been developed. It is based on the equivalent heat source concept and consists of two parts: thermo-hydrodynamics of the weld pool and heat conduction in the weldment outside the pool. In thermo-hydrodynamic problem, temperature – dependent material properties, keyhole shape, thermo-capillary and natural convection, phase transformations and other physical phenomena are taken into consideration.
Solution of the thermo-hydrodynamic problem by the finite element method is demonstrated with keyhole laser beam welding of a 15 mm thick steel plate. Thermo-capillary convection is primarily responsible for the intricate convex-concave melt pool shape and pool enlargement near the plate surfaces. The calculated and experimental molten pool dimensions are in close agreement.
The contact between train wheels and rail tracks is known to induce material degradation in the form of wear, and rolling contact fatigue in the railhead. Rails with a pearlitic microstructure have proven to provide the best wear resistance under severe wheel-rail interaction in heavy haul applications. High speed laser cladding, a state-of-the-art surface engineering technique, is a promising solution to repair damaged railheads. However, without appropriate preheating or processing strategies, the utilized steel grades lead to martensite formation and cracking during deposition welding.
In this study, laser cladding of low-alloy steel at very high speeds was investigated, without preheating the railheads. Process speeds of up to 27 m/min and laser power of 2 kW are used. The clad, heat affected zone and base material are examined for cracks and martensite formation by hardness tests and metallographic inspections. A methodology for process optimization is presented and the specimens are characterized for suitability. Within the resulting narrow HAZ, the hardness could be significantly reduced.
The study deals with the influence of the heat input on the thermal cycles and Charpy impact toughness for hybrid laser-arc welding of 25 mm thick structural steel S355J2 using a 20-kW high-power laser in combination with an electromagnetic weld pool support. The main focus is on the change of the mechanical properties over the entire seam thickness. The cooling times were measured using a pyrometer in combination with an optical fibre in three different locations near to fusion lines corresponding to different heights of the seam. Also, Charpy impact specimens were taken from different parts of the weld joint corresponding to the different heights. The influence of the heat input was investigated for 1.8 kJ mm-1 and 3.2 kJ mm-1. Despite the observed decreased values of both t8/5-cooling time and the Charpy impact toughness in the root part of the seam, the required values could be reached in dependance on applied heat input.
One of the challenges of the high-power hybrid laser welding of thick steels is the sensitivity of the process of the process to manufacturing tolerances. This usually leads to a time-consuming preparation of the welding edges, such as milling. The study deals with the influence of the edge quality of milled and plasma-cut steel made of S355J2 with a wall thickness of 20 mm on the laser hybrid welded seam quality. Furthermore, the gap bridgeability and the tolerances towards edge misalignment was investigated. An AC magnet was used as backing support to prevent sagging and positioned under the workpiece, to generate an upwards directed electromagnetic pressure. The profiles of the edges and the gap on the top and root side were measured using a digital camera. Single-pass laser hybrid welds of plasma-cut edges could be welded using a laser beam power of just 13.7 kW. A gap bridgeability up to 2 mm and misalignment of edges up to 2 mm could be achieved successful. Additionally, the independence of the cutting side and the welding side was shown, so that samples were welded to the opposite side to their cutting. For evaluation of internal defects or irregularities, X-ray images were carried out. Charpy impact strength tests were performed to determine the toughness of the welds.
One of the challenges of the high-power hybrid laser welding of thick steels is the sensitivity of the process of the process to manufacturing tolerances. This usually leads to a time-consuming preparation of the welding edges, such as milling. The study deals with the influence of the edge quality of milled and plasma-cut steel made of S355J2 with a wall thickness of 20 mm on the laser hybrid welded seam quality. Furthermore, the gap bridgeability and the tolerances towards edge misalignment was investigated. An AC magnet was used as backing support to prevent sagging and positioned under the workpiece, to generate an upwards directed electromagnetic pressure. The profiles of the edges and the gap on the top and root side were measured using a digital camera. Single-pass laser hybrid welds of plasma-cut edges could be welded using a laser beam power of just 13.7 kW. A gap bridgeability up to 2 mm and misalignment of edges up to 2 mm could be achieved successful. Additionally, the independence of the cutting side and the welding side was shown, so that samples were welded to the opposite side to their cutting. For evaluation of internal defects or irregularities, X-ray images were carried out. Charpy impact strength tests were performed to determine the toughness of the welds.
In this study, steel-glass experiments were conducted to observe the melt pool geometry using a high-speed camera. The high-speed recordings and optical flow analysis show that two main flows take place in form of vortices. The lower vortex drives the melt backwards from the front keyhole wall and thus causes an extension of the melt pool, which is called bulging. This bulging promotes solidification cracking by forming a closed area filled with melt and the accumulation of impurities in the final solidification phase, resulting in low-melting phases which are under tensile stress at the end of solidification.
This article is devoted to the study of the bulging effect in deep penetration laser beam welding. The numerical results of the investigations are based upon experimental results from previous studies to reveal the relationship between the bulging effect and the hot cracking formation, as well as the mixing of alloying elements in the weld pool. The widening of the molten pool in its center area can be observed in full penetration as well as in partial penetration welds on 8 mm and 12 mm thick structural steel plates, respectively. The weld pool shape is extracted from the simulations to evaluate the extent of the necking of the solidification line as well as the bulging phenomena and its influence on the hot cracking phenomena. Relying on an earlier numerical study utilizing a fixed keyhole, simulation models considering a dynamic keyhole are developed thereto. Additionally, the mixing behavior of alloying elements during partial penetration is investigated. The link between the bulge and the studied phenomena is found to be significant.
The combination of laser powder bed fusion (LPBF), known for its geometrical freedom and accuracy, and the nozzle-based laser metal deposition process (LMD), known for its high build-up rates, has great potential to reduce the additive manufacturing times for large metallic parts. For the industrial application of the LPBF-LMD hybrid process chain, it is necessary to investigate the infuence of the LMD process on the LPBF substrate. In addition, the build plate material also has a signifcant impact on the occurrence of distortion along the additive manufacturing process chain. In the literature, steel build plates are often used in laser-based additive manufacturing processes of Inconel 718, since a good metallurgical Bonding can be assured whilst reducing costs in the production and restoration of the build plates. This paper examines the distortion caused by LMD material deposition and the infuence of the build plate material along the hybrid additive manufacturing process chain. Twin cantilevers are manufactured by LPBF and an additional layer is subsequently deposited with LMD. The distortion is measured in the as-built condition as well as after heat treatment. The efect of diferent LMD hatch strategies on the distortion is determined. The experiments are conducted using the nickel-base alloy Inconel 718. The results show a signifcant infuence of LMD path strategies on distortion, with shorter tool paths leading to less distortion. The remaining distortion after heat treatment is considerably dependent on the material of the build plate.
To increase the competitiveness of jacket substructures compared to monopiles a changeover from an individual towards a serial jacket production based on automated manufactured tubular joints combined with standardized pipes has to be achieved. Therefore, this paper addresses fatigue tests of automatically welded tubular X-joints focusing on the location of the technical fatigue crack. The detected location of the technical crack is compared to numerical investigations predicting the most fatigue prone notch considering the structural stress approach as well as the notch stress approach. Besides, the welding process of the automated manufactured tubular X-joints is presented.
To increase the competitiveness of jacket substructures compared to monopiles a changeover from an individual towards a serial jacket production based on automated manufactured tubular joints combined with standardized pipes has to be achieved. Therefore, this paper ad-dresses the welding process of automated manufactured tubular X-joints. Additionally, fatigue tests of the automatically welded tubular joints are presented focusing on the location of the technical fatigue crack. The detected location of the technical crack is compared to numerical investigations predicting the most fatigue prone notch con-sidering the structural stress approach as well as the notch stress ap-proach.
Notch impact toughness of laser beam welded thick sheets of cryogenic nickel alloyed steel X8Ni9
(2020)
This research work deals with the investigations of the impact toughness of laser beam welded 14.5 mm thick sheets made of cryogenic steel X8Ni9 as a function of preheating. This 9% nickel alloyed steel is widely used in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry. An application of highly efficient welding processes such as high-power laser beam welding (LBW) in LNG sector requires an understanding of the interactions between the LBW process parameters and weld properties, in particular the impact toughness. The results show that the original fine-grained martensitic microstructure of the base metal (BM) is significantly changed by melting and crystallization during the LBW, what can lead to a decrease in the impact toughness of the weld metal (WM) below the required level. An optimal preheating temperature range leads to the favorable thermal welding cycle and is of remarkable importance for maintaining the notch impact toughness of laser beam welded joints of these thick steel sheets. A parameter window was identified in which V-notch impact toughness comparable to that of the BM at -196 °C was achieved.
The transport phenomena in the wire feed laser beam welding are investigated numerically. A three-dimensional transient heat transfer and fluid flow model coupled with free surface tracing and element transport is developed. A ray-tracing method with local grid refinement algorithm is used to calculate the multiple reflections and Fresnel absorption on the keyhole wall. The filler material flows backward along the lateral side of the weld pool, and subsequently flows forward along the longitudinal plane. The occurrence of the bulging phenomenon may further prevent the downward transfer of the additional elements to the root of the weld pool.
The study deals with the application of the high-power hybrid-laser arc welding process on up to 15 mm thick pipe segments with the intention to avoid end crater imperfections during closing of the circumferential welds, where the pipes were turned during welding in 1G- and 2Gpositions.
Different techniques such as laser power ramp-down, abrupt switch-off of the laser power and change of the magnification of the laser spot diameter and defocusing of the laser beam relative to the workpiece were tested to remove the laser energy from the process. It could be shown that a high defocusing of the optic system above 40 mm with a resulting beam diameter > 2.9 mm in a short overlap length of approx.
20 mm leads to the formation of a cup-shaped weld seam, which is preferred for avoidance of cracks and pores in the end crater. A laser optics with motor-driven lens system was used for the welding experiments to defocuse the laser beam without changing the position of the arc.
Notch impact toughness of laser beam welded thick sheets of cryogenic nickel alloyed steel X8Ni9
(2020)
The paper deals with the investigations of the impact toughness of laser beam welded 14.5 mm thick sheets made of cryogenic steel X8Ni9 as a function of preheating. This 9% nickel alloyed steel is widely used in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry. An application of highly efficient welding processes such as high-power laser beam welding (LBW) in LNG sector requires an understanding of the interactions between the LBW process parameters and weld properties, in particular the impact toughness. The results show that the original fine-grained martensitic microstructure of the base metal (BM) is significantly changed by melting and crystallization during the LBW, what can lead to a decrease in the impact toughness of the weld metal (WM) below the required level. An optimal preheating temperature range leads to the favorable thermal welding cycle and is of remarkable importance for maintaining the notch impact toughness of laser beam welded joints of these thick steel sheets. A parameter window was identified in which V-notch impact toughness comparable to that of the BM at -196 °C was achieved.
To increase the competitiveness of jacket substructures compared to monopiles a changeover from an individual towards a serial jacket production based on automated manufactured tubular joints combined with standardized pipes has to be achieved. Therefore, this paper addresses fatigue tests of automatically welded tubular X-joints focusing on the location of the technical fatigue crack. The detected location of the technical crack is compared to numerical investigations predicting the most fatigue prone notch considering the structural stress approach as well as the notch stress approach. Besides, the welding process of the automated manufactured tubular X-joints is presented.
Directed energy deposition is a metal additive manufacturing process that builds parts by joining material in a layer-by-layer fashion on a substrate. Those parts are exposed to rapid thermo-cycles which cause steep stress gradients and the layer-upon-layer manufacturing fosters an anisotropic microstructure, therefore stress relief heat treatment is necessary. The numerical simulation can be used to find suitable parameters for the heat treatment and to reduce the necessary efforts to perform an effective stress relieving. Suitable validation Experiments are necessary to verify the results of the numerical simulation.
In this paper, a 3D coupled thermo-mechanical model is used to simulate the heat treatment of an additive manufactured component to investigate the application of a C-ring geometry for the distortion-based validation of the numerical simulation.
Therefore, the C-ring samples were 3D scanned using a structured light 3D scanner to quantify the distortion after each process step.
The determination of mechanical properties of welded Steel structures such as strength or ductility is a subject of high interest for the majority of Companies in the area of metal Processing. The material Parameters can be obtained by performing the tensile test on the samples made from a part of a component. In some cases, it is highly expensive to produce the tensile specimens especially from the weld metal, which contains different type of microstructure such as weld seam or heat affected zone in an extremely small area. Therefore, a method is described in this paper to determine the material Parameters of high strength Steel structures and welded joints locally and without any additional effort to perform the tensile test. In this method, instrumented indentation technique (IIT), an indenter is pushed on the flat surface of a specimen in a certain period of time and simultaneously the applied force and the corresponding indentation path are measured. The data related to the force-indentation diagram is given as input to an artificial neural network (ANN) to obtain the material Parameters. The ANN can be trained by generating the large qualitative data sets with numerical Simulation of the IIT procedure. The Simulation must be run several times with the different material model parameter sets to generate the numerous
force-indentation diagrams as the inputs of ANN. Then, the trained ANN is validated by performing the IIT on the welded joints and comparing the obtained material Parameters from ANN with the tensile test.
Consequently, the mechanical properties of welded joints can be determined by performing the IIT and evaluating the resulting data by the ANN.
Directed energy deposition additive manufactured parts have steep stress gradients and an anisotropic microstructure caused by the rapid thermo-cycles and the layer-upon-layer manufacturing, hence heat treatment can be used to reduce the residual stresses and to restore the microstructure. The numerical simulation is a suitable tool to determine the parameters of the heat treatment process and to reduce the necessary application efforts. The heat treatment simulation calculates the distortion and residual stresses during the process. Validation experiments are necessary to verify the simulation results. This paper presents a 3D coupled thermo-mechanical model of the heat treatment of additive components. A distortion-based validation is conducted to verify the simulation results, using a C-ring shaped specimen geometry. Therefore, the C-ring samples were 3D scanned using a structured light 3D scanner to compare the distortion of the samples with different post-processing histories.
A self-restraint hot cracking test (free edge test) was used in combination with a novel optical measurement technique to determine the critical straining conditions for solidification cracking for the stainless steel grade 1.4828 (AISI 309). The Lucas-Kanade algorithm for the optical flow (OF) calculation was implemented to obtain the full-field displacement and then the full-field strain.
The use of external laser illumination with appropriate filters allows to obtain good image quality with good contrast. The critical straining conditions required for solidification cracking can be obtained by means the proposed technique in the immediate vicinity of the solidification front. A very good repeatability was demonstrated for the used measurement technique. The critical straining conditions for solidification cracking for the tested steel und under this welding conditions has been detected
The development of high energy laser sources enables single-pass welds of thick plates up to 30 mm, but often additional materials are needed to influence the properties of the weld seams. However, the homogenous distribution of filler materials in form of e.g. electrodes is only possible up to 7 mm while the elements are only traceable up to a depth of 14 mm. To overcome this problem a two-step process is used where first the edges of the weld partners are coated with the filler material by laser metal deposition (LMD) and afterwards are welded by laser beam. Single-pass welds with electromagnetic weld pool support of 30 mm thick S355 J2+N-plates with austenitic AISI 316L-coatings were investigated as well as the influence of the coatings to the penetration depth of the laser beam without electromagnetic weld pool support in double-sided joints. The weld seams were tested by X-ray inspection and cross sections.
Recent studies have confirmed the widening of the weld pool interface, known as a bulge effect, during deep penetration high power laser beam welding. The link between such geometric particularities of the weld pool shape and the hot cracking phenomena is significant. The present work seeks to extend the level of understanding by investigating their relationship. A coupled multiphysics, multiscale numerical framework is developed, comprising a series of subsequent analyses. The study examines the influences of the bulge on the three most dominant effects causing hot cracking, namely the thermal cycles, the mechanical loading, and the local microstructure. The bulge in the weld pool shape forms approximately in the middle of the plate, thus correlating with the location of hot cracking. It increases the hot cracking susceptibility by enhancing the three dominant effects. The numerical results are backed up by experimental data.
Due to rapid, localized heating and cooling, distortions accumulate in additive manufactured laser metal deposition (LMD) components, leading to a loss of dimensional accuracy or even cracking. Numerical welding simulations allow the prediction of these deviations and their optimization before conducting experiments. To assess the viability of the simulation tool for the use in a predictive manner, comprehensive systems as well as to choose the optimal product matches, product analysis methods are needed. Indeed, most of the known methods aim to analyze a product or one product family on the physical level. Different product families, however, may differ largely in terms of the number and nature of components. This fact impedes an efficient comparison and choice of appropriate product family combinations for the production system. A new methodology is proposed to analyze existing products in view of their functional and physical architecture. The aim is to Cluster these products in new assembly oriented product families for the optimization.
In additive manufacturing (AM) Laser Metal Deposition (LMD), parts are built by welding layers of powder feedstock onto a substrate. Applications for steel powders include forging tools and structural components for various industries. For large parts, the choice of tool-paths influences the build-rate, the part performance and the distortions in a highly geometry-dependent manner. With weld-path lengths in the range of hundreds of meters, a reliable, automated tool path generation is essential for the usability of LMD processes.
In this contribution, automated tool-path generation approaches are shown and their results are discussed for arbitrary geometries. The investigated path strategies are the classical approaches: “Zig-zag-” and “contour-parallel-strategies”. After generation, the tool-paths are automatically formatted into g-code for experimental build-up and ASCII for a numerical simulation model. Finally, the tool paths are discussed in regards to volume-fill, microstructure and porosity for the experimental samples.
This work presents a part of the IGF project 18737N “Welding distortion simulation” (FOSTA P1140)
Because of its excellent corrosion resistance, high tensile strength and high ductility, duplex stainless steel 2205 offers many areas of application. Though laser beam welding accompanied by high cooling rates, duplex steels tend to perform higher ferrite contents in weld metal as the base metal, which leads to a reduction of ductility and corrosion resistance of the weld joint. To overcome this problem, a solution, based on buttering the plate edges by laser metal deposition (LMD) with material containing higher Ni concentrations prior to laser welding was suggested.
In this context different process parameters for LMD process were investigated. In a second step the possibility of welding those edges defect free while achieving balanced austenite-ferrite ratio was verified with metallographic analysis, Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) and impact testing according to Charpy.
The paper describes a systematic investigation of the EM influenced laser beam welding of the aluminum die casting alloy AlSi12(Fe) in comparison to a reference material, a wrought aluminum alloy AlMg3. By using of a face centred CCD test plan, the influencing variables laser power, welding velocity and magnetic flux density are varied with regard to their influence on the remaining porosity. The global pore fraction of the weld seams was analyzed by X-ray images with ImageJ. This enabled a qualitatively very good regression model to be derived for the respective material, which identifies the dominant influencing variables. The results prove, statistically verified, for the investigated parameter range, that
- the magnetic flux density is the main cause for the porosity reduction,
- the porosity rises with increasing laser power the porosity in the weld seams rises,
- the influence of the welding velocity is negligible,
- the pore quantity in wrought alloy is more strongly minimized by the magnetic flux density than in die casting,
- the porosity decreases due to the EM influence by approx. 70 % compared to the unaffected welds. This effect is emphasized by the contour line charts, which illustrate the relationship between laser power and magnetic flux density.
With the exception of the quadratic influence of B at the wrought alloy, the statistical correlation shows a linear development of the respective influence variables for both aluminum alloys. In order to investigate these deviations, further simulations with a focus on weld pool geometry and weld pool flow are to be performed. In addition, the welding results can be classified in accordance with DIN EN ISO 13919-2 in the highest evaluation group B for AlMg3 and in evaluation group C for AlSi12(Fe) by applying a magnetic flux density of 350 mT. The analysis of the CT images at constant laser power and welding velocity allows a direct comparison both between the two alloys and also as a function of the magnetic flux density with regard to the number and size of pores. An increase in the magnetic flux density leads to a significant decrease in the number and volume of pores, which can be seen more clearly in wrought alloy than in die casting. Very acceptable results can be achieved for both materials and different welding parameters. This successfully demonstrates the desired process robustness and functionality of the EM system for practical applications. For subsequent investigations of overlap joints, the lowest possible laser power and a high magnetic flux density are recommended.
The laser-based direct energy deposition (DED) as a technology for additive manufacturing allows the production of near net shape components. Industrial applications require a stable process to ensure reproducible quality. Instabilities in the manufacturing process can lead to faulty components which do not meet the required properties.
The DED process is adjusted by various parameters such as laser power, velocity, powder mass flow and spot diameter, which interact with each other. A frequently used comparative parameter in welding is the energy per unit length and is calculated from the laser power and the velocity in laser welding. The powder per unit length comparative parameter in the DED process has also be taken into account, because this filler material absorbs energy in addition to the base material.
This paper deals with the influence of mass energy as a comparative parameter for determining the properties of additively manufactured parts. The same energy per unit length of 60 J/mm as well as the same powder per unit length of 7.2 mg/mm can be adjusted with different parameter sets. The energy per unit length and the powder per unit length determine the mass energy. The laser power is varied within the experiments between 400 W and 900 W. Energy per unit length and powder per unit length are kept constant by adjusting velocity and powder mass flow. Using the example of Inconel 718, experiments are carried out with the determined parameter sets. In a first step, individual tracks are produced and analyzed by means of micro section. The geometry of the tracks shows differences in height and width. In addition, the increasing laser power leads to a higher dilution of the base material. To determine the suitability of the parameters for additive manufacturing use, the individual tracks are used to build up parts with a square base area of 20x20 mm². An investigation by Archimedean principle shows a higher porosity with lower laser power. By further analysis of the micro sections, it can be seen that at low laser power, connection errors occur between the tracks.
The results show that laser power, velocity and powder mass flow have to be considered in particular, because a constant mass energy can lead to different geometric as well as microscopic properties.
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.
A novel approach for the reconstruction of an equivalent volumetric heat source from a known weld pool shape is proposed. It is based on previously obtained weld pool geometries from a steady-state thermo-fluid dynamics simulation. Hereby the weld pool dimensions are obtained under consideration of the most crucial physical phenomena, such as phase transformations, thermo-capillary convection, natural convection and temperature-dependent material properties. The algorithm provides a time and calibration efficient way for the reproduction of the weld pool shape by local Lamé curves. By adjusting their parameters, the identification of the finite elements located within the weld pool is enabled. The heat input due to the equivalent heat source is assured by replacing the detected nodes’ temperature by the melting temperature.
The model offers variable parameters making it flexible and adaptable for a wide range of workpiece thicknesses and materials and allows for the investigation of transient thermal effects, e.g. the cooling stage of the workpiece. The calculation times remain acceptably short especially when compared to a fully coupled process simulation. The computational results are in good agreement with performed complete-penetration laser beam welding experiments.
The geometrical characteristics of the weld end crater are commonly used for the validation of numerical results in welding simulation. A semi-analytical model calculating the cooling stage of the welding process after the moving energy source is turned off has been developed. A solution for various combinations of heat sources and workpieces has been found. The theoretical limits for the heat transfer of the absorbed energy during cooling in a thin plate and a semi-infinite body were studied. It is shown that after turning off the energy source, an additional melting of the base material in longitudinal direction may occur. The developed technique is applied to complete-penetration keyhole laser beam welding of a 2 mm thick austenitic chromium-nickel 316L steel plate at a welding speed of 20 mm/s and a laser power of 2.3 kW. The results show a theoretical increase of the weld end crater length in comparison to the length of the steady-state weld pool of up to 19 %. A shift of the centre of the end crater, in which the solidification of the liquid metal ends, towards the tail of the end crater relative to the axis of the heat source at the time of its termination, was computed. The speed and the direction of crystallization of the molten material in the weld pool and the end crater were found to be different. A good agreement between the computational results and the welding experiments was achieved.
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.
Rapid localized heating and cooling during additive manufacturing using laser deposition method (LMD) lead to loss of dimensional accuracy as well as cracking of built parts. Finite-Element welding simulations allow prediction of geometrical deviations and accumulated residual stresses as well as their optimization before conducting experiments. Due to the great length of stacked welds, calculation times for fully transient thermomechanical simulations are currently long, the calculation stability suffers from the high number of contact bodies in the model and the modelling effort is high, as the geometries need to be sliced and positioned layer-wise.
In this contribution, an integrated modelling approach is demonstrated for a thin-walled LMD component made from 30 layers of 1.4404 (316L) stainless steel: Instead of the layer-by-layer modelling strategy commonly found in the literature, the whole component mesh is kept in one piece and the fully transient, layer-by-layer material deposition is implemented via element sets. In contrast to prior simulations, nonlinear contact between the layers does not have to be considered, significantly decreasing calculation times. The calculated distortions are compared to recently published, in-situ digital image correlation (DIC) measurements as well as numerical simulations conducted with the established layer-wise modelling strategy to judge result quality. Finally, the improvement in calculation time and ease-of-use is compared between both modelling approaches and conclusions regarding future usage for industrial-scale components are drawn.
With global increases in clean energy demand, the natural gas is gaining in importance. Pipelines are the safest and most cost-effective way of transporting natural gas. Due to high transport volume and resulting high operation pressure, the demand for ultra-high strength steel grades such as X120 is very strong. As a result of the fact that these steels are produced by thermo-mechanical controlled processing, the welding process must be selected accordingly. Based on investigations, a high heat input such as by submerged arc welding process leads to softening in the weld metal and loss of strength whereas pure laser beam welding results in high cooling rates and deteriorate toughness of the weld metal. The objective of this research is to investigate the influence of heat input to mechanical properties of hybrid laser-arc welded pipeline steels of grade X120. Test specimens with a thickness of 20 mm could be welded without preheating in a single-pass with different welding velocities to observe the largest possible parameter window of the heat input. The achieved V-notch impact energy for hybrid laser-arc welded samples was 144±37 J at a testing temperature of -40 °C. With a tensile strength of 930±4 MPa the requirements of API 5L was achieved. To prevent gravity drop-outs at the slow welding speeds, an electromagnetic weld pool support system was used, which works contactless and is based on generating Lorentz forces. It was therefore possible to control the cooling rate in order to meet the requirements of the mechanical properties. By adapting the electromagnetic weld pool support to the laser and laser hybrid welding process, the application potential of these technologies for industrial implementation can be drastically increased.
Some zinc coated advanced high strength steels (AHSS), under certain manufacturing conditions, are known to be prone to liquid metal embrittlement (LME) during resistance spot welding. LME is an undesired phenomenon, which can cause both surface and internal cracks in a spot weld, potentially influencing its strength. An effort is made to understand influencing factors of LME better, and evaluate geometry-material combinations regarding their LME susceptibility. Manufacturers benefit from such knowledge because it improves the processing security of the materials. The experimental procedure of welding under external load is performed with samples of multiple AHSS classes with strengths up to 1200 MPa, including dual phase, complex phase and TRIP steels. This way, externally applied tensile load values are determined, which cause liquid metal embrittlement in the samples to occur. In the future, finite element simulation of this procedure gives access to in-situ stress and strain values present during LME formation. The visualization improves the process understanding, while a quantification of local stresses and strains allows an assessment of specific welded geometries.
The presented study deals with the performing and mechanical testing of single pass hybrid laser-arc welds (HLAW) on 25 mm thick plates made of steel grade S355J2. One of the challenges have to be solved at full penetration HLAW of thick plates is the drop formation occurring due to the disbalances of the forces acting in the keyhole and on the melt pool surface. Such irregularities mostly limit the use of high-power laser beam welding or HLAW of thick-walled constructions. To overcome this problem, an innovative concept of melt pool support based on generating Lorentz forces in the weld pool is used in this work. This method allows to perform high quality welds without sagging even for welding of 25 mm thick plates in flat position at a welding speed of 0.9 m min-1. For the obtain of full penetrated welds a laser beam power of 19 kW was needed. A high V-impact energy of up to 160 J could be achieved at the test temperature of 0 °C. Even at the most critical part in the weld root an impact energy of 60 J in average could be reached. The tensile strength of the weld reaches that of the base material. An introduce of the HLAW process with electromagnetic support of the melt pool in the industrial practice is an efficient alternative to the time- and cost-intensive arc-based multi-layer welding techniques which are established nowadays for joining of thick-walled constructions.
The present work deals with the development of a strategy for the prevention of end crater defects in high-power laser welding of thick-walled circumferential welds. A series of experiments were performed to understand the influence of the welding parameters on the formation of end crater defects such as pores, cracks, excessive root-side drop-through and shrinkage cavities in the overlap area. An abrupt switch-off of the laser power while closing the circumferential weld leads to a formation of a hole which passes through the whole welded material thickness. A laser power ramp causes solidification cracks which are initiated on the transition from full-penetration mode to partial penetration. Strategies with a reduction of the welding speed shows a creation of inadmissible root sagging. Defocusing the laser beam led to promising results in terms of avoiding end crater defects. Cracks and pores in the overlap area could be effectively avoided by using defocusing techniques. A strategy for avoiding of end crater imperfections was tested on flat specimens of steel grade S355J2 with a wall thickness of 10 mm and then transferred on the 9.5 mm thick pipe sections made of high-strength steel X100Q.
Results of experimental investigations of the relationship between laser-hybrid welding process parameters, type of the filler metal and the mechanical properties of the welds made from 9% nickel cryogenic steel X8Ni9 are discussed. The results contribute to the development and conversion in the industrial practice a new laser beam-based welding technology for the automated manufacturing of LNG tanks. The remarkable heterogeneity in the chemical composition of the weld metal as well as an insufficient impact toughness could be indicated by using austenitic filler wire. The most promising results were achieved by applying 11%Ni filler wire, which is similar to the base material. A correlation between impact toughness and wire feeding speed could be shown. The highest impact toughness was 134 J at -196°C. The laser-hybrid welds passed the tensile test. The failure stress of 720 MPa with a fracture location in the base metal was achieved for all samples tested.
Single-pass Hybrid Laser Arc Welding of Thick Materials Using Electromagnetic Weld Pool Support
(2019)
Hybrid laser-arc welding process allows single-pass welding of thick materials, provides good quality formation of joints with minimal thermal deformations and a high productivity in comparison with arc-based welding processes. Nevertheless, thick-walled steels with a thickness of 20 mm or more are still multi-pass welded using arc welding processes, due to increased process instability by increasing laser power. One limitation factor is the inadmissible formation of gravity drop-outs at the root. To prevent this, an innovative concept of electromagnetic weld pool support is used in this study. With help of such system a stable welding process can be established for 25 mm thick steel plates and beyond. Sound welds could be obtained which are tolerant to gaps and misalignment of the welded parts. The adaptation of this system to laser and hybrid laser-arc welding process can dramatically increase the potential field of application of these technologies for real industrial implementation.
Single-pass Hybrid Laser Arc Welding of Thick Materials Using Electromagnetic Weld Pool Support
(2019)
Hybrid laser-arc welding process allows single-pass welding of thick materials, provides good quality formation of joints with minimal thermal deformations and a high productivity in comparison with arc-based welding processes. Nevertheless, thick-walled steels with a thickness of 20 mm or more are still multi-pass welded using arc welding processes, due to increased process instability by increasing laser power. One limitation factor is the inadmissible formation of gravity drop-outs at the root. To prevent this, an innovative concept of electromagnetic weld pool support is used in this study. With help of such system a stable welding process can be established for 25 mm thick steel plates and beyond. Sound welds could be obtained which are tolerant to gaps and misalignment of the welded parts. The adaptation of this system to laser and hybrid laser-arc welding process can dramatically increase the potential field of application of these technologies for real industrial implementation.
The presented study deals with the performing and mechanical testing of single pass hybrid laser-arc welds (HLAW) on 25 mm thick plates made of steel grade S355J2. One of the challenges have to be solved at full penetration HLAW of thick plates is the drop formation occurring due to the disbalances of the forces acting in the keyhole and on the melt pool surface. Such irregularities mostly limit the use of high-power laser beam welding or HLAW of thick-walled constructions. To overcome this problem, an innovative concept of melt pool support based on generating Lorentz forces in the weld pool is used in this work. This method allows to perform high quality welds without sagging even for welding of 25 mm thick plates in flat position at a welding speed of 0.9 m min-1. For the obtain of full penetrated welds a laser beam power of 19 kW was needed. A high V-impact energy of up to 160 J could be achieved at the test temperature of 0 °C. Even at the most critical part in the weld root an impact energy of 60 J in average could be reached. The tensile strength of the weld reaches that of the base material. An introduce of the HLAW process with electromagnetic support of the melt pool in the industrial practice is an efficient alternative to the time- and cost-intensive arc-based multi-layer welding techniques which are established nowadays for joining of thick-walled constructions.
This work aims to find the thermal cycles during and after fusion welding through simulation by first calculating the resulting local temperature field in the quasi-stationary part of the process. Here complete-penetration keyhole laser beam welding with a laser power of 18 kW on a 15 mm thick slab of a low-alloyed steel at a welding speed of 2 m/min is considered. In order to physically depict the laser material interaction a multi-physics numerical model including the effects of phase transformation, thermo-capillary convection, natural convection and temperature-dependent material properties up to evaporation temperature is developed. It uses a fixed keyhole geometry with a right truncated circular cone shape to introduce the laser beam energy to the workpiece. In a subsequent study, the resulting local temperature field is then used as an equivalent heat source in order to predict the unsteady thermal cycle during and after fusion welding. The translational movement of the laser beam through the workpiece is represented by a moving mesh approach. For the simulation, stationary heat transfer and fluid dynamics are described by a system of strongly coupled partial differential equations. These are solved with the commercial finite element software COMSOL Multiphysics 5.0. The results of the numerical simulation are validated by experiments, where the weld bead shapes and the thermal cycles show good correlation.
In this study, the influence of the welding speed and the arc power on the solidification crack formation for partial penetration laser hybrid welded Thick-Walled plates were investigated. Experimentally, a linear correlation between the welding velocity and the crack number was observed. That is by reducing the welding velocity the crack number was reduced.
The reduced welding velocity showed a strong impact on stress, as the model demonstrated a very lower stress amount in comparison to the reference case. The reduction of the welding speed could be a helpful technique to reduce the hot cracking. The wire feed speed showed a very slight influence on the crack formation. That can be returned to the large distance between the critical region for cracking and the arc region.
Plasma-Transferred-Arc (PTA) welding is a process that enables high deposition rates, but also causes increased thermal load on the component. Laser based Direct Energy Deposition (DED) welding, on the other hand, achieves a high level of precision and thus comparatively low deposition rates, which can lead to high processing costs. Combining laser and arc energy aims to exploit the respective advantages of both technologies.
In this study, different possibilities of this process combination are presented using a PTA system and a 2 kW disk laser. This includes the combination in a common process zone as a highspeed plasma laser cladding technology (HPLC), which achieves process speeds of 10 m/min. Besides that it is being examined whether a pre-running plasma arc can be used to coat difficult-to-weld rail steel with a carbon content of 0.8 % due to a preheating effect. Furthermore, a smoothing of the coating by a plasma arc following the laser is investigated.
The shape of the parts, created by the technology of direct laser metal deposition (DLMD), is influenced by various parameters, for example, the power and diameter of the laser source spot. The contribution of energy from the laser affects the temperature distribution in the formed layers. The changing temperature in the working area entails a Change in the geometry of the layers and affects the stability of the process. In this paper, experiments on the measurement of temperature cycles in the DLMD process with different directions of the filling track are carried out. An infrared camera was used to measure thermal cycles. The calibration of the acquired data (i.e. correspondence table between the intensity of thermal radiation of the material and the absolute temperature) was done with help of two-color pyrometer ex situ and in situ measurements. The experiments are carried out on two materials 316L and Inconel 718. The effect of the maximum temperature on the layer height is shown, and thermal cycles in the formation of layers for different filling strategies are presented.
Additive manufacturing is no longer just used for the production of prototypes but already found its way into the industrial production. However, the fabrication of massive metallic parts with high geometrical complexity is still too time-consuming to be economically viable. The combination of the powder bed-based selective laser melting process (SLM), known for its geometrical freedom and accuracy, and the nozzle-based laser metal deposition process (LMD), known for its high build-up rates, has great potential to reduce the process duration. For the industrial application of the SLM-LMD hybrid process chain it is necessary to investigate the interaction of the processes and its effect on the material properties to guarantee part quality and prevent component failure. Therefore, hybrid components are manufactured and examined before and after the heat treatment regarding the microstructure and the hardness in the SLM-LMD transition zone. The experiments are conducted using the nickel-based alloy Inconel 718.
In the last decade, high-strength fine grained steels and welding consumables have gained a strong raise of application ranging from mobile cranes to bridge constructions. However, the cracking susceptibility of these steels increases significantly in correspondence with the achieved improvements in yield strength and the loss in plastic deformation reserves.
In order to determine this behavior a series of different standardized cold cracking tests has been developed. One remaining major problem of these tests is the uncertainty about the quantitative intensity of the restraint conditions as well as the corresponding welding residual stresses.
Consequently, the comparison of different tests and welding conditions as well as the transferability of the results onto real parts is difficult at best. The main topic of this paper is the analysis of the restraint conditions and their link with the welding induced residual stresses. The importance of the given standardized selfrestrained tests and first results about the transferability of
results onto real parts are discussed. The influence of the test specimen geometry on the restraint conditions of the test is investigated for a selected test with numerical Simulation using commercial FEA software. Additionally, the residual stresses caused by the welding process are measured and linked with the restraint conditions which are defined mainly by the geometry parameters.
Finally the transferability of the selected cold cracking test results is validated experimentally. The test results of a multilayer weld on high-strength fine grained steel of real size weldments are investigated. For these experiments a 16 MN large scale testing facility is used which is capable of applying the high reaction forces and clamping conditions found at large scale demonstrator parts.
The results show the importance of the quantitative knowledge of the restraint conditions and the welding residual stresses on the cold cracking resistance.
The paper deals with the integration of a light emitting diode (LED) into an additive manufactured metal component. Selective laser melting (SLM) and laser metal deposition (LMD) are used. The material used is the chrome-nickel steel 316L. The basic component is manufactured by means of SLM and consists of a solid body and an area with grid structure. The solid body includes a duct in the shape of a groove with a recess for the positioning of the power cable. The LED is embedded in the grid structure via an inlet from the solid body. In further processing, the groove is filled with LMD. Two strategies with different parameter combinations were investigated. It shows that a high energy input near the power cable leads to its destruction. By using multiple parameter combinations during the manufacturing process, this destruction can be prevented. There was a comparison of both strategies with regard to the necessary number of tracks and duration of welding time.
The shape of the weld pool in laser beam welding plays a major role to understand the dynamics of the melt and its solidification behavior. The aim of the present work was its experimental and numerical investigation. To visualize the geometry of the melt pool in the longitudinal section a butt joint configuration of 15 mm thick structural steel and transparent quartz glass was used. The weld pool shape was recorded by means of a high-speed video camera and two thermal imaging MWIR and VIS cameras. The observations show that the dimensions of the weld pool vary depending on the depth. The regions close to the surface form a teardrop shaped weld pool. A bulge-region and its temporal evolution were observed approximately in the middle of the depth of the weld pool. Additionally, a transient numerical simulation was performed until reaching a steady state to obtain the weld pool shape and to understand the formation mechanism of the observed bulging phenomena. A fixed keyhole with an experimentally obtained shape was used to represent the full-penetration laser beam welding process. The model considers the local temperature field, the effects of phase transition, thermo-capillary convection, natural convection and temperature-dependent material properties up to evaporation temperature. It was found that the Marangoni convection and the movement of the laser heat source are the dominant factors for the formation of the bulging-region. Good correlation between the numerically calculated and the experimentally observed weld bead shapes and the time-temperature curves on the upper and bottom surface were found.
Laser-Metal-Deposition (LMD) and Plasma-Transferred-Arc (PTA) are well known Technologies which can be used for cladding purposes. The prime objective in combining LMD and PTA as a Hybrid Metal Deposition-Technology (HMD) is to achieve high Deposition rates at low thermal Impact. Possible applications are coatings for wear protection or repair welding for components made of steel. The two energy sources (laser and Plasma arc) build a Joint process Zone and are configurated to constitute a stable process at laser powers between 0.4-1 kW (defocused) and Plasma currents between 75-200 A. Stainless steel 316L serves as filler material. For this HMD process, a Plasma Cu-nozzle is designed and produced by powder bed based Selective Laser Melting. The potential of the HMD Technology is investigated and discussed considering existing process. This paper demonstrates how the interaction of the two energy sources effects the following application-relevant properties: Deposition rate, powder Efficiency and energy Input.
The laser hybrid welding process offers many advantages regarding deep penetration, increased welding velocity and with the help of the supplied filler wire an improved bridgeability to gap and misalignment tolerances. High power laser systems with a power of approx. 30 kW are already available on the market. Nevertheless, multi-layer technology with an arc process is still used for welding of plates from a thickness from 20 mm. A potential cause is the process instability with increasing laser power. It is inevitable that gravity drop-out due to the high hydrostatic pressure at increasing wall thickness especially at welding in flat position and with a low welding speed. The surface tension decreases with increasing root width resulting from low welding velocities. To prevent such inadmissible defects of the seam a use of weld pool support is required. Usual weld pool support systems such as ceramic or powder supports require a mechanical detachment which is time-consuming. The electromagnetic weld pool support system described in this work shows an alternative weld pool support which works contactless. It is based on generating Lorentz forces in the weld pool due to oscillating magnetic field and induced eddy currents. This innovative technology offers single pass welds up to 28 mm in flat position and reduced welding velocity with a laser power of just 19 kW. It also leads to improved mechanical-technological properties of the seams because of the slow cooling rate. With usage of an electromagnetic weld pool support the limitation of the hybrid laser arc welding process in the thick sheet metal will be extend.
The hybrid laser arc welding (HLAW) process provides many advantages such as improved gap bridgeability, deep penetration and misalignment of edges, that is why the process is used increasingly in industrial applications e.g. shipbuilding, power plant industry and line-pipe manufacturing. The obvious encountered problem for single pass welding in flat position is the gravity drop-out at low welding velocities. With the usage of an electromagnetic weld pool support system, which is based on generating Lorentz forces within the weld pool, wide seams followed by reduced welding velocities could be achieved in this study leading to the realization of a gap bridgeability up to 1 mm, misalignment of edges up to 2 mm and a single pass weld up to 28 mm thickness with a 20-kW fibre laser. These developments expand the boundaries of the HLAW process for different industrial applications. As a result, less accurate preparation of the edges would be sufficient, which saves time for manufacturing.
The present research work encloses results of experimental investigations of the interaction between welding process parameters for laser-beam and hybrid-laser-arc as well as type of the filler metal and the achievable mechanical properties of the weld joints on steel grade X8Ni9+QT640 for cryogenic service containing 9% nickel. The results obtained contribute to the development and conversion in the industrial practice a new laser beam-based welding technology for the automated manufacturing of facilities for the liquefaction, storage and the transport of natural gases (LNG facilities). The results show, that the martensitic microstructure of the laser weld metal including low amount of retained austenite not exceeding 3.5% leads to the relatively low V-notch impact energy. The remarkable heterogeneity in the chemical composition of the weld metal through the weld thickness could be recognized in the case of hybrid-laser-arc welding with ERNiCrMo-3 austenitic filler metal, what also led to insufficient impact toughness of the weld metall. The most promising results could be achieved by using 11%Ni filler wire, which is similar to the base metal and provides a homogeneous microstructure with uniform distribution of Ni through the weld seam. It is remarkable, that a correlation between Charpy impact toughness and wire feeding speed and respectively process heat input exists. The highest toughness values were 134±58 J at -196C. The both laser as well as laser-hybrid welds passed the tensile test. The failure stress of 720±3 MPa with a fracture location in the base material was achieved for all samples tested.
The present research work aims at clarification of the effect of the welding electrode type on the mechanical properties of SMA welded joints of 9%Ni steel plates. Properties of produced SMA welded joints were evaluated using different non-destructive and destructive investigation methods. In comparison with the conventionally used Ni-based welding electrode ENiCrMo-3 (AWS A5.11), an experimentally produced non-conventional ferritic welding electrode with 11%Ni (ENi11-Company specification) has resulted in a better combination of the mechanical properties of SMA welded joints of this steel type for critical cryogenic applications. Besides, a positive economic impact for the experimentally produced non-conventional ferritic welding electrode, due to its lower cost, could be another attractive aspect.
In this study, a three-dimensional CFD-simulation model was developed to simulate the fluid flow in the weld pool. The CFD-model showed a bulging region in the middle of the depth, which is separated from the top surface and bottom surface by two narrowing regions. It can be concluded that the interaction of the movement of the laser source with the Marangoni vortex leads to a teardrop shape at the upper and bottom surface of the workpiece. Additionally, it shows that the bulging in the weld is a result of the backflows on the upper and lower sides due to the thermo-capillary-driven flows. The weld pool shape was used as a heat source in a two-dimensional thermomechanical model, which allows a highly accurate transformation of the weld pool dimensions obtained from the CFD model. This developed technique allows the consideration of physical aspects, which cannot be considered when using traditional heat sources. The mechanical model has shown that the chronological order of the solidification of the weld has a significant influence on the nature and distribution of the stresses in the weld. High tensile stress has been observed in the bulging region, i.e. in the susceptible region for solidification cracking, when compared to the other narrowing regions, which show compressive stress.
This paper represents the results for proposed optical flow method based on the Lucas-Kanade (LK) algorithm applied to two different problems. The following observations can be made:
- The estimated strain and displacement for conducted tensile test are generally very close to those measured with conventional DIC-technique.
- The LK technique allows measurement of strain or displacement without special selection of a region of interest.
Using a novel optical measurement technique together with the optical flow algorithm, a twodimensional deformation analysis during welding was conducted. This technique is the first to provide a measurement of the full strain field locally in the immediate vicinity of the solidification front. Additionally, the described procedure of the optical measurement allows the real material-dependent values of critical strain characterizing the transition to hot cracking during laser welding processes to be determined.
The geometry of the melt pool in laser beam welding plays a major role to understand the dynamics of the melt and its solidification behavior. In this study, a butt configuration of 15 mm thick structural steel and transparent quartz glass was used to observe the weld pool geometry by means of high-speed camera and an infrared camera recording. The observations show that the dimensions of the weld pool vary depending on the depth. The areas close to the weld pool surface take a teardrop-shape. A bulge-region and its temporal evolution were observed approximately in the middle of the depth of the weld pool. Additionally, a 3D transient thermal-fluid numerical simulation was performed to obtain the weld pool shape and to understand the formation mechanism of the observed bulging effect. The model takes into account the local temperature field, the effects of phase transition, thermo-capillary convection, natural convection and temperature-dependent material properties up to evaporation temperature. The numerical results showed good accordance and were furthermore used to improve the understanding of the experimentally observed bulging effect.
A transient simulation including the impact of the laser energy, the melting of the metal and the development of the weld pool was conducted to observe the evolution of the vapor capillary and the solidification of the melt in pulsed laser beam welding of AISI 304 steel. The phase field method was implemented to investigate the evolution and behavior of the liquid-gas interface during welding and to describe the condensed and vapor phases. The effects of phase transition, recoil pressure, thermo-capillary and natural convection, vaporization and temperature dependent material properties were taken into account. A Gaussian-like heat source under consideration of the Fresnel absorption model was used to model the energy input of the laser beam. The heat source model was extended by a newly developed empirical approach of describing multiple beam reflections in the keyhole. To validate this new model, the numerical results were compared to experimental data and good agreement regarding the size and shape of the weld pool was observed.
Electromagnetic weld pool support system is illustrated successfully for hybrid laser arc welding of 20 -30 mm ferromagnetic Steels Welding of thick-walled steels in flat position and reduced welding velocities is possible Gap and misalignment between welded plates can be tolerated by use of this Technology Opportunity to reduce the laser beam power because of reduced welding velocity respectively increase of weldable material thickness with a 20 kW- fibre laser Mechanical properties of welds are in correspondence with requirements of Standards.
Recently developed fibre lasers provide multi-kilowatt beam power with high quality at impressive energy efficiency. Combined with gas metal arc welding (GMAW) equipment these lasers can be used in a hybrid process to weld thick-walled constructions single-pass, that are currently welded using multi-pass techniques. The main benefits are a reduction of heat induced distortions, due to the low heat input, as well as savings in filler material and process time. Probable applications can be found in power generation, ship building and pipeline constructions. An orbital (girth) laser-hybrid process using a 20 kW fibre laser and a GMAW torch is currently examined at the BAM, Berlin. The aim of this research is to obtain a stable and crack free girth welding process and to demonstrate its application in pipeline construction. The experiments are carried out on 16 mm thick plates as well pipe rings with 36" (914 mm) pipe diameter of X65. Particular welding parameters, such as welding speed, GMAW power, arc length are varied and their influence on the appearance of the weld in the different welding positions is analyzed. Even though issues remain that demand further research it could already be shown that the rings can be welded using a girth hybrid process that is divided into two half girth processes in downward direction.
Laser Metal Deposition (LMD) as a technology for additive manufacturing allows the production of large components outside of closed working chambers. Industrial applications require a stable process as well as a constant deposition of the filler material in order to ensure uniform volume growth and reproducible mechanical properties. This paper deals with the influence of travel path strategies on temperature profile and material deposition. Meandering and spiral hatching strategies are used in the center as well as in the edge of a specimen. The temperature is measured with thermocouples attatched to the backside of the specimen. The tests are carried out on the materials S235JR and 316L. The results show a strong dependence of the maximum temperatures on the travel path strategy and the welding position on the component.
An approach to develop an arc sensor for gap-width estimation during automated NG-GMAW with a weaving electrode motion is introduced by combining arc sensor readings with optical measurement of the groove shape to allow precise analyses of the process. The two test specimen welded for this study were designed to feature a variable groove geometry in order to maximize efficiency of the conducted experimental efforts, resulting in 1696 individual weaving cycle records with associated arc sensor measurements, process parameters and groove shape information. Gap width was varied from 18 to 25 mm and wire feed rates in the range of 9 to 13 m/min were used in the course of this study. Artificial neural networks were used as a modelling tool to derive an arc sensor for estimation of gap width suitable for online process control that can adapt to changes in process parameters as well as changes in the weaving motion of the electrode. Wire feed rate, weaving current, sidewall dwell currents and angles were used as inputs to calculate the gap width. Evaluation the proposed arc sensor model show very good estimation capabilities for parameters sufficiently covered during experiments.
Laser metal deposition is described with its applications for additive manufacturing. The necessary process chain is discussed, with regard to weld bead dimensions and 3D build-up strategy. Metallurgical cross sections, x-ray and tensile tests are conducted. As demonstrative components, a gas turbine burner and a turbine blade are shown.
Magnesium (Mg) alloys have attracted much attention due to their merits of meeting requirements of lightweight, energy-efficient and environmental friendly engineering. In this study, a modified refill friction stir spot welding (refill-FSSW) method is proposed to weid AMSO Mg alloy, in which pin and sleeve rotate at different states. Effects of process parameters on the microstructure, material flow, and mechanical properties of welds were studied. Results showed that, the modified refill-FSSW technology could enhance the intennixing of material by changing the flow state. Lap shear strength of welds could be significantly improved with changed failure modes. The modified refill FSSW technology is a competitive welding method for Mg alloy.
The safe joining of new, freshly developed steel types keeps challenging the industry–and is assumed to go on in doing so. In the body-in-white production, these materials are mainly joined using resistance spot welding. During the past ten years, various investigations on resistance spot welding of advanced high strength steels have been carried out at Fraunhofer IPK and the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM). This paper aims to give an overview about both the top former and recent studies and results. The investigated topics are the influences of manufacturing conditions as initial gaps and restraints on spot welds, their impact on the fatigue strength of a joint and the cracking-wise safe weldability of AHSS.
Caused by non-ideal manufacturing conditions, cracks in spot welds (e.g. caused by liquid metal embrittlement) are still regarded as a potential risk in industrial practice. Therefore, a method to evaluate the safe weldability regarding the cracking susceptibility was developed for AHSS. The method is easy to perform, even without expensive laboratory equipment. It allows the end user to establish a material ranking regarding the cracking susceptibility of the handled steels. Recently, coupled thermo-mechanical finite element modelling has been used to describe critical stress-strain conditions responsible for the occurrence of liquid metal embrittlement, and to improve the understanding of the process.
Laser metal deposition (LMD) has been applied as coating technology for many years. Today, the technologies capacity to produce 3D depositions leads to a new field of application as additive manufacturing method. In this paper, 3D laser metal deposition of titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V is studied with special regard to the demands of additive manufacturing. Therefore, only the powder nozzle is used to create the shielding gas atmosphere, which ensures high geometric flexibility. Furthermore, specimen with high aspect ratio and hundreds of layers are manufactured, which represent typical features in additive manufacturing.
Using the novel optical measurement technique together with the optical flow algorithm, a twodimensional deformation analysis during welding has been conducted. This technique provides for the first time a measurement of the strain field locally in the immediate vicinity of the assumed solidification front. The described procedure of the opticalmeasurement allows to determine the real martial-dependent values of critical strain and strain rate characterising transition to the hot cracking during laser welding processes. The local critical strain that obtained in the assumed solidification showed that the local critical strain decreases as the strain rate increases. Moreover, this phenomenon has also been shown with results from the CTW-test, since the global strain decreases with an increase in the external strain rate.
The process of laser cladding has become more important during recent years because of its broad application for cladding, repair or additive manufacturing. In the field of mechanical engineering, one use is the repair of turbine blades. For high quality and reliability of the repaired components, it is necessary to adjust the weld bead geometry to the specific repair task. The bead geometry influences the metallurgical bonding and the degree of dilution as well as the formation of defects like pores or cracks. Therefore, it is important to know the effects of the different parameters on the welding bead. A valuable tool to meet this industrial challenge is the design of experiments (DoE). In this context, the user can choose between a huge number of test plans. Greater Profit of information is expected by a larger test range. In order to confirm the acceptance, a five-step full factorial test plan is compared to a central composite design in this paper. Moreover, the limits of the experimental range are indicated and restrictions can be derived. As the results show, the essential effects are detected with a full factorial test plan as well as with a central composite design. Merely the effect strength could not always be specified unambiguously. On this account and in consideration of cost efficiency, the use of central compound design is recommended in industrial applications.