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- Hybrid welding (3)
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- Laser (2)
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- 4043 Filler Dilution (1)
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Laser Plasma Hybrid Welding of Austenitic Stainless Steels - Phenomena of Process Instability
(2007)
Laser plasma hybrid welding has been proved to be a very stable hybrid welding process and
welds of high quality can be produced, especially if high surface quality and low spattering is
demanded such as in welding fabrication of high alloyed austenitic stainless steels.
In particular cases, even though welds display high outer quality, X-ray examinations
revealed weld defects which may range from low porosity to blowhole-like cavities. The
phenomena and the main influencing parameters such as arc current, welding speed and
focal point position are discussed. Parameter fields will be suggested for welding plates of
different austenitic stainless steel grades with thicknesses ranging from 3 to 8 mm. The
results are based on welding experiments carried out using a 4.4 kW diode pumped Nd:YAGlaser.
Thus, also the influence of the feeding fibre diameter has been investigated and it was found
that the resulting beam shape has a major effect on the welding performance.
The ever larger requirements of the material selection in the range of maritime industry necessitate the application of high-tech materials. Titanium because of its excellent mechanical properties at low weight is an attractive alternative for the construction of ships. The goal of this investigation was to design a welding method for joining samples of 16 mm thick Ti3Al2.5 V. The welding experiments with a 20 kW Yb-fiber laser source and varying combinations of parameters were intended to qualify the laser beam welding process. The welding results were analyzed by non-destructive and destructive testing. In addition, the welding tests were recorded with two high-speed cameras to observe the weld pool and the vapor plume. The evaluation of the high-speed images in correlation with the results of non-destructive testing shows, that a significant improvement of process stability and weld quality can be achieved by the suppression of the vapor plume.
New brilliant high-power lasers such as disc laser and fibre laser open up new fields of applications for laser-hybrid welding, e.g. power generation, shipbuilding and pipeline construction. For the use of laser-hybrid welding in pipe laying, insensibility towards tolerances and the possibility of orbital welding are very important factors in addition to the weld seam quality.
Within the scope of a basic research project, first promising results for laser-hybrid welding of thick materials could be demonstrated. As base material, the typical pipeline steel API 5L X65 was selected. With the help of a 20 kW fibre laser in combination with an arc-welding process it was possible to produce high-quality welds in plates of up to 20 mm thickness in a single pass and of up to 32 mm in three to five passes, both welded in position PA. Various joint preparations were examined to weld 20 mm thick plates in one pass. Besides different welding positions, gap bridgeability and misalignment were studied. Results for microhardness and Charpy toughness are presented to proof the applicability of laser-hybrid welding for joining in pipe laying.
With an availability of the modern high power fibre lasers the application range of laser and laser hybrid welding can be significantly increased. For the implementation of this new technology in the economically extremely interesting application of pipeline construction it is necessary to fulfil a series of systematic research studies. As it has been shown in the past the fibre laser hybrid wielding of pipeline Steel X65 up to 32 mm thickness is possible with appropriate quality. For the use of laser-hybrid welding in pipe laying insensibility towards tolerances and the possibility of girth welding are very important factors in addition to the weld seam quality. The aim of a Research project carried out in the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) was the development of a welding procedure using high power fibre laser in combination with GMAWProcess which could be applied for welding of pipelines. For tests segments of linepipes with an outer diameter of 914 mm and a wall thickness of 16 mm have been welded using specially designed equipment for girth welding of pipes. First promising results for the use of laser-hybrid welding of thick materials could be demonstrated. The gap-bridgeability and misalignement was studied.