Im Rahmen eines AiF-Forschungsvorhabens wurde die Beeinflussung des Schweißprozesses mittels generierter Wechselstrom-Magnetfelder (ACMagnetfelder) beim Laserstrahlschweißen von Aluminiumlegierungen untersucht. Das vorrangige Augenmerk galt hierbei der Entfernung von Poren sowie der Stabilisierung der Schweißnahtoberfläche zur Vermeidung von rauen Schweißnähten. Das Schweißen mit Einsatz des AC-Magneten erzeugte im Vergleich zu den Referenznähten deutlich flachere Schweißnähte mit reduzierter Porenanzahl, die typische Schuppenstruktur wurde unterdrückt. Das Magnetfeld bewirkte bei entsprechenden Parametern der magnetischen Flussdichte und der Frequenz eine Halbierung der Rauigkeit der Schweißnahtoberfläche. Neben der Oberflächenberuhigung wurde auch die Verteilung von Poren in der Schmelze beeinflusst. Es konnte nachgewiesen werden, dass bei einer geeigneten Auswahl der Parameter von AC-Magnetfeldern die Porositätsanteile in der Schweißnaht auf ein Zehntel gegenüber den Referenzschweißnähten reduziert werden können.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Within the framework of an AiF research project, investigations were conducted into the influences exerted on the welding process using generated alternating current (AC) magnetic fields during the laser beam welding of aluminium alloys. In this respect, attention was principally paid to removing pores and to stabilising the weld surface in order to avoid rough welds. In comparison with the reference welds, welding utilising the AC magnet produced considerably flatter welds with a reduced number of pores and the typical ripple structure was suppressed. With corresponding parameters for the magnetic flux density and the frequency, the roughness of the weld surface was halved using the magnetic field. In addition to the surface stabilisation, influences were also exerted on the distribution of pores in the molten metal. It was possible to prove that, by selecting suitable parameters for AC magnetic fields, the porosity proportions in the weld can be reduced to one tenth of those in the reference welds.
Controlling the dynamics in the weld pool is a highly demanding challenge in deep-penetration laser beam welding with modern high power laser systems in the multi kilowatt range. An approach to insert braking forces in the melt which is successfully used in large-scaled industrial applications like casting is the so-called Hartmann effect due to externally applied magnetic fields. Therefore, this study deals with its adaptation to a laser beam welding process of much smaller geometric and time scale. In this paper, the contactless mitigation of fluid dynamic processes in the melt by steady magnetic fields was investigated by numerical simulation for partial penetration welding of aluminium. Three-dimensional heat transfer, fluid dynamics including phase transition and electromagnetic field partial differential equations were solved based on temperature-dependent material properties up to evaporation temperature for two different penetration depths of the laser beam. The Marangoni convection in the surface region of the weld pool and the natural convection due to the gravitational forces were identified as main driving forces in the weld pool. Furthermore, the latent heat of solide-liquid phase transition was taken into account and the solidification was modelled by the Carman-Kozeny equation for porous medium morphology. The results show that a characteristic change of the flow pattern in the melt can be achieved by the applied steady magnetic fields depending on the ratio of magnetic induced and viscous drag. Consequently, the weld bead geometry was significantly influenced by the developing Lorentz forces. Welding experiments with a 16 kW disc laser with an applied magnetic flux density of around 500 mT support the numerical results by showing a dissipating effect on the weld pool dynamics.