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Eingeladener Vortrag
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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.
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.
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.
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.
Study on the transition behavior of the bulging effect during deep penetration laser beam welding
(2022)
The present work is devoted to the study of the transition behavior of the recently confirmed widening of the weld pool, known as the bulging effect, during high-power deep penetration laser beam welding of thick unalloyed steel sheets. A three-dimensional transient multi-physics numerical model is developed, allowing for the prediction of the bulge formation and the study of its temporal behavior. The model is generalized to account automatically for the transition from partial to complete penetration. Several experimental measurements and observations, such as drilling period, weld pool length, temperature, efficiency, and metallographic cross-sections are used to verify the model and assure the plausibility of the numerical results. The analysis of the calculated temperature and velocity distributions, as well as the evolution of the keyhole geometry, shows that the formation of a bulging region strongly depends on the penetration depth of the weld. Based on the numerical results, the bulge is found to occur transiently, having its transition from a slight bulge to a fully developed bulging between penetration depths of 6 mm and 9 mm, respectively.
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.
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. Herein, different powder combinations consisting of duplex and nickel for coating layers by laser metal deposition (LMD) are investigated. Afterward, laser tracks are welded, and the temperature cycles are measured. The ferrite content of the tracks is 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 first the edges of the weld partners are coated with the powder mixture by LMD and second 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.
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.
size limitations and high production costs of L-PBF make it competitive for smaller, highly complex components, while the less complex elements of an assembly are manufactured conventionally. This leads to scenarios that use L-PBF only where it’s beneficial, and it require an integration and joining to form the final product. For example, L-PBF combustion swirlers are welded onto cast parts to produce combustion systems for stationary gas turbines. Today, the welding process requires complex welding fixtures and tack welds to ensure the correct alignment and positioning of the parts for repeatable weld results. In this paper, L-PBF and milled weld preparations are presented as a way to simplify the Tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding of rotationally symmetrical geometries using integrated features for alignment and fixation. Pipe specimens with the proposed designs are manufactured in Inconel 625 using L-PBF and milling. The pipe assembly is tested and TIG welding is performed for validation. 3D scans of the pipes before and after welding are evaluated, and the weld quality is examined via metallography and computed tomography (CT) scans. All welds produced in this study passed the highest evaluation group B according to DIN 5817. Thanks to good component alignment, safe handling, and a stable welding process, the developed designs eliminate the need for part-specific fixtures, simplify the process chain, and increase the process reliability. The results are applicable to a wide range of components with similar requirements.
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.
Resistance spot welding is an established joining process for the production of safetyrelevant components in the automotive industry. Therefore, consecutive process monitoring is essential to meet the high quality requirements. Artificial neural networks can be used to evaluate the process parameters and signals, to ensure individual spot weld quality. The predictive accuracy of such algorithms depends on the provided training data set, and the prediction of untrained data is challenging. The aim of this paper was to investigate the extrapolation capability of a multi-layer perceptron model. That means, the predictive performance of the model was tested with data that clearly differed from the training data in terms of material and coating composition. Therefore, three multi-layer perceptron regression models were implemented to predict the nugget diameter from process data. The three models were able to predict the training datasets very well. The models, which were provided with features from the dynamic resistance curve predicted the new dataset better than the model with only process parameters. This study shows the beneficial influence of process signals on the predictive accuracy and robustness of artificial neural network algorithms.
Especially, when predicting a data set from outside of the training space.
Herein, an improved ray-tracing routine using a virtual mesh refinement approach is adopted in a 3D transientmultiphysics computational fluid Dynamics model for deep penetration wire feed laser beam welding. In a previous study, it was shown that the improved localization of the reflection points of the subrays within the keyhole leads to a more realistic development of the keyhole Depth being validated with experimental results. Another effect investigated in Detail herein is a drastic change in the flow behavior in the weld pool, which promotes the occurrence of a necking area in the solidification line and subsequent bulging under specific circumstances. This has a detrimental effect on the filler material element transport in the weld pool, leading to an inhomogeneous dilution of the added material. The numerical observations are backed up by experimentally obtained data, allowing to provide a clear physics-based explanation of the reduced mixing behavior of the filler wire in the melt pool.
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
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 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.
In recent years, it was shown that the introduction of additional oscillating and permanent magnetic fields to laser beam and laser-arc hybrid welding can bring several beneficial effects.
Examples are a contactless weld pool support for metals of high thickness suffering from severe drop-out when being welded conventionally or an enhanced stirring to improve the mixing of added filler material in the depth of the weld pool to guarantee homogeneous resulting mechanical properties of the weld. The latest research results show the applicability to various metal types over a wide range of thicknesses and welding conditions. The observations made were demonstrated in numerous experimental studies and a deep understanding of the interaction of the underlying physical mechanisms was extracted from numerical calculations.
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.
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.
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 an infrared camera 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 more frequently during partial penetration above 6 mm and complete penetration above 8 mm penetration depth, respectively. 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.
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.
The study deals with the determination of the influence of an externally applied oscillating magnetic field on the melt pool dynamics in high power laser beam and hybrid laser arc welding processes. An AC magnet was positioned under the workpiece which is generating an upward directed electromagnetic force to counteract the formation of the droplets. To visualise the melt flow characteristics, several experiments were carried out using a special technique with mild steel from S355J2 with a plate thickness of up to 20 mm and a quartz glass in butt configuration. The profile of the keyhole and the melt flow were recorded with a highspeed camera from the glass side. Additionally, the influence of the magnetic field orientation to the welding direction on the filler material dilution on laser hybrid welding was studied with variating oscillation frequency. The element distribution over the whole seam thickness was measured with X-ray fluorescence (XRF). The oscillation frequency demonstrated a great influence on the melt pool dynamics and the mixing of the elements of the filler wire. The highspeed recordings showed, under the influence of the magnetic field, that the melt is affected under strong vortex at the weld root, which also avoids the formation of droplets.
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.
Wire arc additive manufacturing enables the production of near-net shape large-volume metallic components leveraging an established industrial base of welding and cladding technology and adapting it for layer-wise material deposition. However, the complex relationship between the process parameters and resulting mechanical properties of the components still remains challenging. In case of high-strength Al-Mg-Si aluminum alloys, no commercial filler wires are yet available due the high susceptibility of solidification cracking as well as the necessary efforts to obtain acceptable mechanical properties. To address this need, we evaluated a novel filler wire based on AlMg0.7Si doped with a Ti5B1 master alloy to foster fine equiaxed grains within the deposited metal. The correlation between the process parameters and component quality was examined by analyzing the size and distribution of pores as well as the grain morphology. Furthermore, we evaluated the influence of different post-weld heat treatment strategies to achieve mechanical properties corresponding to the reference wrought material. We demonstrated that fine equiaxed grains in the weld metal reduced the susceptibility of solidification cracking significantly. The novel AlMg0.7Si-TiB (S Al 6063-TiB) filler wire facilitated wire arc additive manufacturing of high-strength aluminum components with mechanical properties that were almost as superior as the corresponding wrought base material.
The application of magnesium (Mg) inevitably involves dissimilar welding with steel. A novel solid state spot welding method, refill friction stir spot welding (refill FSSW), was utilized to weld AZ31 Mg alloy to galvanized DP600 steel. Although Mg/Fe is an immiscible alloy system, defect-free welds with high strength were successfully obtained in a wide parameter window. The results of microstructure, interfacial reactions, and mechanical properties are reported to reveal the underlying joining mechanism. Due to the melting of Zn coating and subsequent Mg-Zn reactions, Mg-Zn eutectic and intermetallic compounds were detected within welds. Heterogeneous interfacial reactions occur along Mg/steel interface, and the relationship between interfacial structure and fracture behavior was investigated. The joining mechanism is associated with Zn coating and Fe-Al layer: 1) the presence of Zn coating is beneficial for achieving high-quality welding between Mg and steel, it protects the interface from oxidation and contributes to brazing of the weld; 2) the Al present in Mg alloy reacts with Fe, resulting in the growth of Fe-Al layer, which contributes to the diffusion bonding in the interface. The overall results clearly show that Refill FSSW is a competitive welding method for joining Mg and galvanized steel.
Cast magnesium alloys welds produced by refill friction stir spot welding (refill FSSW) show low lap shear strength (LSS) and constantly fail in stirred zone (SZ) shear mode. The cause is most probably related to the heavily textured microstructure. Here, to re-engineer the resulting microstructure, we pro- pose a novel process variant, the differential rotation refill FSSW (DR-refill FSSW). DR-refill FSSW stim- ulates discontinuous dynamic recrystallization and produces a bimodal microstructure with weakened texture. Therefore, the deformation incompatibility between SZ and thermal-mechanically affected zone is avoided. The welds have 50% higher LSS than that of standard refill FSSW welds, and fail in a different failure mode, i.e., SZ pull-out mode. DR-refill FSSW provides a new and effective strategy for improving the performance of spot welds based on microstructural engineering.
Effects on crack formation of additive manufactured Inconel 939 sheets during electron beam welding
(2021)
The potential of additive manufacturing for processing precipitation hardened nickel-base superalloys, such as Inconel 939 is considerable, but in order to fully exploit this potential, fusion welding capabilities for additive parts need to be explored. Currently, it is uncertain how the different properties from the additive manufacturing process will affect the weldability of materials susceptible to hot cracking. Therefore, this work investigates the possibility of joining additively manufactured nickel-based superalloys using electron beam welding. In particular,
the influence of process parameters on crack formation is investigated. In addition, hardness measurements are performed on cross-sections of the welds. It is shown that cracks at the seam head are enhanced by Welding speed and energy per unit length and correlate with the hardness of the weld metal. Cracking parallel to the weld area shows no clear dependence on the process variables that have been investigated, but is related to the hardness of the heat-affected zone.
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 joints throughout the structure. The flat units are constituted by butt welded flat plates, on which longitudinal T-welded reinforcements are placed to rigidize the structure. Among the different welding technologies, Hybrid Laser Arc Welding (HLAW) is becoming a mature process, profitable and highly productive. In addition, more innovative welding equipment are being developed nowadays, offering greater work flexibility, and raising expectations of achieving better quality, and economic viability. Another key point of HLAW to keep in mind is that structural distortions are reduced, resulting in decreasing the cost and time of straightening work.
In the present contribution, the influence of HLAW parameters on the quality of fillet joints of naval steel has been analysed. Experimental HLAW tests were performed with a high power disk laser to join EH36 naval steel plates, with a T configuration. The influence of different processing parameters has been analysed, as the laser power, welding speed, wire feed rate and the configuration of the HLAW processes (including head angle and laser/arc leading process). In addition, FEM simulations were carried out in order to estimate residual stresses and distortion of welded part. The distortion values provided by FEM presented excellent agreement with the measured experimental results. To evaluate the welds, non destructive tests including X-ray tests, metallographic analysis of cross sections, and microhardness mapping tests were performed.
Full penetration 8 mm T welds were obtained for the first time at an industrially applicable 2F position with a reasonable HLAW head angle, in one single step without sealing root, and using zero gap square groove Edge preparation. The present contribution presents welding rates up to 2.2 m/min for 2F T-joints of this steel thickness, a much higher processing velocity than previously reported for industrial applications.
Additive manufacturing, and therefore directed energy deposition, is
gaining more and more interest from industrial users. However, quality assurance for the components produced is still a challenge. Machine learning, especially using artificial neuronal networks, is a potential method for ensuring a high-quality standard. Based on process Parameters and monitoring data, part quality can be predicted. A further advantage is the ability to constantly learn and adopt to slight process changes.
First tests using artificial neural networks focus on the prediction of track geometry. The results show that even a small data set is enough to provide high accuracy in the predictions. In this work, an artificial neural network for the predictive analysis of relative density in laser powder cladding has been developed. A central composite experimental design is used to generate 19 data sets. Input variables are laser power, feed rate and powder mass flow. Cubes are built up where density is considered as a target value. Several neural networks are trained and evaluated with these data sets. Different topologies and initial weights are considered. The best network reaches a confidence level of around 90 % for the prediction of relative density based on the process parameters. Finally, the optimization of the generalization performance is investigated. To this purpose, methods of variation in error limit as well as cross-validation are applied. In this way, density is predictable by an artificial neural network with an accuracy of about 95 %.
The present work is devoted to the numerical analysis of the high-power laser beam welding of thick sheets at different welding speeds. A three-dimensional transient multi-physics numerical model is developed, allowing for the prediction of the keyhole geometry and the final penetration depth. Two ray tracing algorithms are implemented and compared, namely a standard ray tracing approach and an approach using a virtual mesh refinement for a more accurate calculation of the reflection points. Both algorithms are found to provide sufficient accuracy for the prediction of the keyhole depth during laser beam welding with process speeds of up to 1.5 m/min. However, with the standard algorithm, the penetration depth is underestimated by the model for a process speed of 2.5 m/min due to a trapping effect of the laser energy in the top region. In contrast, the virtually refined ray tracing approach results in high accuracy results for process speeds of both 1.5 m/min and 2.5 m/min. A detailed study on the trapping effect is provided, accompanied by a benchmark including a predefined keyhole geometry with typical characteristics for the high-power laser beam welding of thick plates at high process speed, such as deep keyhole, inclined front keyhole wall, and a hump.
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.
This article presents a cost-effective and reliable method for welding 30 mm thick sheets of shipbuilding steel EH36. The method proposes to perform butt welding in a two-run technique using hybrid laser arc welding (HLAW) and submerged arc welding (SAW). The HLAW is performed as a partial penetration weld with a penetration depth of approximately 25 mm. The SAWis carried out as a second run on the opposite side. With a SAWpenetration depth of 8 mm, the weld cross-section is closed with the reliable intersection of both passes. The advantages of the proposed welding method are: no need for forming of the HLAW root; the SAW pass can effectively eliminate pores in the HLAWroot; the high stability of the welding process regarding the preparation quality of the weld edges. Plasma cut edges can be welded without lack of fusion defects. The weld quality achieved is confirmed by destructive tests.
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.
The application of hybrid laser-arc welding (HLAW) for joining closed circumferential welds is a challenge due to the high risk of forming a defective overlap area with a shrinkage void or solidification cracks in the material thickness. A series of HLAW experiments were performed to understand the development of a faulty overlap area when closing the circumferential weld. Welding trials on flat specimens and pipe segments were supported by numerical analyses in which the thermomechanical behavior of the welds in the overlap area was investigated. Different process control strategies were tested, including variations in defocusing levels and the overlap length. The newly developed HLAW head, including laser optics with a motor-driven collimation system, made it possible to defocus the laser beam during welding without disturbing the stability of the welding process. High-level defocusing of the laser beam of more than 40 mm relative to the specimen surface with a resulting beam diameter of > 2.9 mm, and in combination with a short overlap length of 15 mm, was promising with respect to the formation of a desired cup-shaped weld profile that is resistant to solidification cracks.
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.
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.
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. First, 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. Second, 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 that were supported by selected experimental validation results.
The high amount of resource consumption of fusion welding processes offers the potential to reduce their environmental impact. While the driving forces are known froma qualitative perspective, the quantitative assessment of the crucial parameters is not a trivial task. Therefore, herein, a welding-specific methodology to utilize life cycle assessment as a tool for evaluating the environmental impact of fusion welding processes is presented. In this context, two welding processes, resistance spot welding and laser beam welding, are analyzed for two different use cases.
These comprise the welding of shear test specimens and a cap profile made of electrogalvanized sheets of DC 05þ ZE (1.0312) as representative of an automotive application. For both welding processes, the main influences on the resulting environmental impact categories are evaluated and compared. The requirements for ecological efficient welding processes are discussed and implemented.
Solidification cracking phenomena taking place under Controlled Tensile Weldability (CTW) test conditions have already been investigated both experimentally and numerically via FEA in order to get a better understanding of the mechanisms of hot crack formation during laser beam welding of austenitic steel grades. This paper develops a three dimensional finite element model employing the contact elements technique to simulate the formation and propagation of solidification cracks during laser full penetration welding of fully austenitic stainless steel 1.4376. During the experimental procedure the resulting strain and displacement directed to the laser beam in the Close vicinity of the weld pool was measured at the surface of the workpiece using a Digital Image Correlation (DIC) technique with an external diode laser as an illuminating source. Local strain fields, global loads and crack lengths predicted by the model are in good Agreement with those observed in experiments.
Laser welding is a widely established manufacturing process in many industry sectors. Solidification cracking represents one of the most inadequately solved problems in welding and has major economic implications. The avoidance of hot crack forms for most fusion welding processes poses a key challenge for an important range of metallic construction materials and affects not only the manufacturers of welding equipment and material manufacturers, but also a large number of customers using welding technologies, as well as welding technical standardization and research. Solidification cracking susceptibility was examined with the help of the Controlled Tensile Weldability Test (CTW) developed by Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Berlin. The test is based on the fact that hot crack formation depends on a critical strain that emerges within a critical temperature range, the so called brittle temperature range (BTR). Using this test and defined investigation programme a centreline solidification crack was generated. By controlling the applied strain during the laser beam welding process, it was possible to determine the critical strain and strain rate that led to solidification cracking formation. The hot cracking susceptibility of the tested stainless steels was qualified and quantified. The results demonstrate that the crack length increases with increasing applied strain. Furthermore, the strain rate has a significant influence on the formation of the solidification crack.
Laser welding is a widely established manufacturing process in many industry sectors. Solidification cracking represents one of the most inadequately solved problems in welding and has major economic implications. The avoidance of hot crack is for most fusion welding processes a key challenge for an important range of metallic construction materials and affects not only the manufacturers of welding equipment and material manufacturers, but also a large number of customers using welding technologies, as well as welding standardization and research. In this study a new investigation programme has been developed to qualify the hot cracking susceptibility of a variety of austenitic stainless steels. The results show the possibility of using this technique to determinate the critical values that occur with initiation of solidification cracking during laser beam welding
Heat treated 9%Ni steel is considered the most suitable and economic material for construction of large-size liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage tanks which operate at cryogenic temperatures (-196°C). Strength above 700 MPa as well as a minimum impact value of 60 J are required to ensure reliable operation of the LNG tanks at operating temperature. Conventional arc welding processes, including shielded metal arc welding, gas metal arc welding, gas tungsten arc welding and submerged arc welding, are currently used in construction of LNG tanks. Ni based filler wire is the preferred filler metal of choice in LNG tank construction. The main problem with this choice is the lower mechanical properties, particularly tensile strength of the weld metal. To compensate, the wall thickness needs to be excessively thick to ensure the strength of the welded structures. Ni based filler material is expensive and a large quantity is needed to fill the multi-pass weld grooves. These factors significantly add to the cost in the fabrication of LNG storage tanks. For these reasons, exploration of new welding technologies is a priority. A big potential can be seen in laser based welding techniques. Laser beam welding results in much smaller fusion zone with chemical composition and mechanical properties similar to that of the base material. Laser welding is a much faster process and allows for a joint geometry which requires less filler material and fewer welding passes. The advantages of laser welding can help to overcome the problems pointed out above. Trials of autogenous laser welding, laser cold-wire welding and hybrid laser-arc welding conducted on the 9%Ni steel are presented in this paper. Chemical composition of the weld metal as well as effects of welding parameters on the weld formation, microstructure and tensile strength is discussed. Filler wire penetration depth as well as character of its distribution in the narrow laser welds was examined using EPMA - electron probe microanalysis.
The numerical simulations of high power laser keyhole welding at different welding positions are performed by using Volume-Of-Fluid (VOF) method. The main material is SS400. The multi-physics phenomenon is considered using several models, such as the heat flux of Gaussian heat source, the recoil pressure with Clausisus-Clapeyron equation, the Marangoni flow considering temperature gradient, the buoyancy force with Boussinesq approximation, the additional shear stress and heat source due to metallic vapor ejected through keyhole entrance, the bubble formation assumed as adiabatic bubble, and the multiple-reflection by solving proper discriminant, are used. To analyze the fluid flow pattern, the concept of streamline formed by reconstructing the value of the velocity vector is applied.
Partial and full penetration cases at different welding positions are considered. The welding position seems to have only a minor influence on bead formation characteristics in both cases. This is probably due to the fact that the recoil pressure has a major influence when compared to other driving forces. The flow characteristics and fluid velocity in weld pool are analyzed to compare the gravity direction effect at different welding positions. It is observed that the clockwise flow pattern is mainly formed by the recoil pressure on the keyhole surface in the case of partial penetration. The laser energy can't maintain the whole weld pool when the weld pool size becomes too large. And then the solidification starts from the middle part of weld pool and a necked weld pool shape is formed. In the full penetration welding, the weld pool flow patterns are affected by the leakage of laser power through the full penetration keyhole and also by surface tension. Furthermore, the numerical simulation of full penetration welding with AISI316L is also performed to analyze the effect of material properties. The weld bead shapes obtained by simulations were compared with the corresponding experimental results to confirm the validity of the process models adopted and the CFD simulation tool.
A combined experimental numerical approach is applied to determine the transformation induced plasticity (TRIP)-parameter K for different strength low-alloy steels of grade S355J2+N and S960QL as well as the super martensitic filler CN13-4-IG containing 13 wt% chromium and 4 wt% nickel. The thermo-physical analyses were conducted using a Gleeble® 3500 facility. The thermal histories of the specimens to be tested were extracted from corresponding simulations of a real gas metal arc weldment. In contrast to common TRIP-experiments which are based on complex specimens a simple flat specimen was utilized together with an engineering evaluation method. The evaluation method was validated with literature values for the TRIP-parameter. It could be shown that the proposed approach enables a correct description of the TRIP behavior.
A combined experimental and numerical approach is applied for a numerical analysis of the non-uniform martensitic transformation kinetic on welding residual stresses and distortion of a single pass weld. The (γ → α)-transformation kinetic within the weld pool region is governed by a non-uniform distribution of the elements chromium and nickel. The single-pass weld was performed by use of the low-alloyed high-strength steel S960QL with the high-alloyed high-strength filler wire CN 13/4-IG®. A thermo-mechanical FE model of the welding process was experimentally validated against temperature field, solid phase distribution, transformation behaviour, X-Ray stress measurements and transient optical distortion measurements.
The experimentally determined and calculated weld residual stresses and transient distortion are in good agreement. It can be shown that the change on the (γ → α)-transformation kinetic driven by the inhomogeneous distribution of the chemical contents causes a strong influence on the weld residual stresses within the volume of the weld pool, which could promote crack propagation within the solidified weld pool by use of high-alloyed filler materials. Furthermore, a significant influence on the development of the transient welding distortion is visible. This influence should be respected during numerically calculation of welding distortion in case of multi-pass welding using interpass temperatures and high-alloyed filler materials.
Solidification cracking phenomena taking place under controlled tensile weldability (CTW) test conditions have already been investigated both experimentally and numerically via FEA in order to get a better understanding of the mechanisms of hot crack formation during laser beam welding of austenitic steel grades. This paper develops a threedimensional finite element model employing the contact element technique to simulate the formation and propagation of solidification cracks during laser full penetration welding of fully austenitic stainless steel 1.4376. During the experimental procedure, the resulting strain and displacement directed to the laser beam in the close vicinity of the weld pool was measured at the surface of the workpiece using a digital image correlation (DIC) technique with an external diode laser as an illuminating source. Local strain fields, global loads and crack lengths predicted by the model are in good agreement with those observed in experiments.
Dissimilar metal weld overlays of nickel base alloys on low alloy steel components are commonly used in the oil and gas, petro-chemical, and power generation industries to provide corrosion and oxidation resistance in a wide range of service environments and temperatures. Traditionally, weld overlays are produced using cold or hot wire gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW). Potential advantages of cold metal Transfer (CMT) welding, a low heat input gas metal arc welding process, over the conventional GTAW in production of weld overlays were evaluated. Metallurgical characterization was performed on CMT overlays of Alloy 625 filler metal on Grade 11 and Grade 22 steels. Significant grain refinement was found in the high temperature HAZ compared to the traditional coarse-grained HAZ in arc welding. Evidences of incomplete carbide dissolution, limited carbon diffusion, and incomplete transformation to austenite were also found. These phenomena were related to high heating and cooling rates and short dwell times of the high-temperature HAZ in austenitic state. Tempering effects in the steel HAZ were identified, showing a potential for development of CMT temperbead procedures. Based on the results of this study, the steel HAZ regions in CMT overlays were classified as high-temperature HAZ and intercritical HAZ.
The microstructure of a fusion weld has great influences on the susceptibility of the base material to hot cracking and on the mechanical properties of the weld. Small, globulitic grains are necessary for increased strength, ductility and toughness and for a low inclination to hot cracking instead of large, oblong grains. This study reports on the factors which exert the main influences on such grain refinement in the weld. Thus, the influences of the thermal conditions, the chemical composition of the weld metal and the number and type of solidification nuclei on the microstructure were classified for the TIG welding of three different aluminium alloys.
To satisfy the applied compressive stresses of friction welded drive pinion fabricated by using the joint-site structure (JSS) method, three different variants were followed: (A) the initial design with two joints was carried out. Two different burn-off lengths were examined for this variant. (B) The optimum burn-off length was considered for only one weld zone. (C) The weld zone was moved radially from the initial location and two different gap sizes were compared. The smallest gap size for the third variant led to the largest weld length. The lack of structural welding defects for this variant was assessed by ultrasonic testing. Hardness of the material after friction welding (FW) was correlated to the Continuous Cooling Transformation (CCT) diagram of the used materials and revealed the phase/microstructure transformation of the material. The simulated applied stresses on the optimized friction welded design of the drive pinion showed suitable results. The new drive pinion friction welded by the JSS method reduced the weight of the component by approx. 14%.
Full penetration laser welding was carried out on a 10 mm steel plate using a 16 kW maximum power continuous wave thin disk laser. Upper surface and lower surface of molten pool were observed synchronously with two high speed CCD cameras during the welding process. The lower surface was much longer and more unstable than the upper one. A three dimensional laser deep penetration welding model in which volume of fluid (VOF) method was combined with a ray-tracing algorithm was used to simulate the dynamic coupling between keyhole and molten pool in laser full penetration welding. The calculated weld cross-section morphology and molten pool length on both upper side and lower side agree well with experimental results. Evolution of molten pool in lower side during full penetration laser welding was analyzed, periodical features of energy coupling, molten pool behavior and keyhole dynamics in laser full penetration welding were identified and discussed.
In todays automotive frame-and-body construction, laser welds are typically carried out as square butt welds in lap joints. These welds are increasingly produced by remote laser welding optics with working distances of 500 mm and more. This enables simple path programming because clamping devices are traversed over and therefore low cycle times with improved productivity is achieved. However, workpiece tolerances lead to part displacements and varying joint positions over time. These displacements have to be acted against by appropriate flange length that contain for positioning deviations. Using this concept, aspired light-weight optimisations, e.g. reducing flange length, are difficult to achieve. By using seam tracking sensors, part tolerances are automatically detected and counteracted for. In addition, joint edge detection allows constructive changes on the type of weld. Fillet welds reduce flange lengths', improve force flow and open up possibilities for visual quality monitoring. Apart from that, vertical displacements in the form of height tolerances still occur. This needs consideration by adapting the set of welding parameter to the current welding situation. In this respect, one main welding parameter is the lateral beam offset to the upper sheet. Since body-in-white welding applications mainly comprise of zinc-coated steel sheets, special requirements for the welding process are given. Especially zero-gap-welding and welding of joints with gaps larger than 0.2 mm are critical. Using a laser beam oscillation process can stabilise these situations. Approaches to finding parameter sets are presented in this paper.
The accurate prediction of the thermal energy generation and distribution in friction stir welding process is of great significance for the optimization of the process parameters and the understanding of the underlying mechanisms. In this study, a new method of integrative calculation and measurement is proposed to obtain the more reasonable values of the frictional coefficient and the slip rate, which are both used to characterize the heat generation rate at the tool-workpiece contact interfaces. A three-dimensional model is established to fully couple the energy generation, heat transfer and material flow in friction stir welding of aluminum alloys. The energy produced by both interfacial friction and plastic deformation are taken into consideration. The analysis accuracy of the thermal energy generation and distribution is improved, and the distribution features of thermal energy density in the vicinity of the tool are elucidated. The predicted peak temperature values at some locations are in agreement with the experimentally measured ones.
Welding is one of the most critical operations for the construction of reliable metal structures in everything from ships to reactor vessels. When welds fail, often the entire structure fails, and expectations on weld quality have never been higher. Any process that uses a localized heat source, such as welding, is likely to result in some distortion. The welding process of very thick metal components is not inherently stable and is barely controllable without external forces.
This paper investigates the numerical simulations of multi-kilowatt disk laser and fiber laser welding, ranging from 6 to 18 kW to study the behavior of molten pool in 20-mm-thick steel plate by using Volume-Of-Fluid (VOF) method and several mathematical models like Gaussian heat source, recoil pressure, Marangoni flow, buoyancy force, and additional shear stress and heat source due to the metallic vapor. Vortex flow pattern is observed for higher laser power except for 6-kW case, and the higher the laser power, the bigger the vortex flow pattern. Welding speed has an influence on molten pool in terms of depth of penetration and size of molten pool, but overall shape of molten pool remains the same. The reasons for the vortex flow pattern in high-power laser welding are the absorption of more energy at the bottom of keyhole, which promotes more liquid metal at the bottom, while for lower power with lower speed, the melt formation is more uniform in the thickness direction and most of the molten metal in the lower part of keyhole reaches the top of molten pool, and consequently, no vortex flow pattern is observed in the keyhole bottom.
Laser beam oscillation opens up new possibilities of influencing the welding process in terms of compensation of tolerances and reduction of process emissions that occur in industrial applications, such as in body-in-white manufacturing. The approaches are to adapt the melt pool width in order to generate sufficient melt volume or to influence melt pool dynamics, e.g. for a better degassing. Welding results are highly dependent on the natural frequency of the melt pool, the used spot diameter and the oscillation speed of the laser beam. The conducted investigations with an oscillated 300 µm laser spot show that oscillation strategies, which are adjusted to the joining situation improve welding result for zero-gap welding as well as for bridging gaps to approximately 0.8 mm. However, a complex set of parameters has to be considered in order to generate proper welding results. This work puts emphasize on introducing them.
MAG welding is widely used for thin sheet metal applications such as car body structures due to its ability to tolerate a fair amount of deviation of the components from the ideal shape. In MAG welding, the process window is sufficiently large to accommodate the expected component tolerances. In practice, however, quality control is an issue since most welds are produced with parameters outside of the optimum range, especially in the case of automated MAG welding. To ensure best performance, a robust real-time control law is needed that adapts critical process parameters to the changing conditions, most notably the variation in gap height. Here, the gap-dependent adaptive control algorithm for the deposition of filler material and the related energy input comes into play. With an optical sensor that is mounted in front of the torch, the system measures the actual position of the two components in real-time during the entire welding process and the controller adapts the relevant parameters accordingly using a dynamic process model. This optimization ensures that only the required filler material is used and the associated energy input is tightly controlled to assure best quality even in a fully automated welding process.
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.
The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of externally applied magnetic fields on the weld quality in laser beam welding. The optimization of the process parameters was performed using the results of computer simulations. Welding tests were performed with up to 20 kW laser beam power. It was shown that the AC magnet with 3 kW power supply allows for a prevention of the gravity drop-out for full penetration welding of 20 mm thick stainless steel plates. For partial penetration welding it was shown that an0.5 T DC magnetic field is enough for a suppression of convective flows in the weld pool. Partial penetration welding tests with 4 kW beam power showed that the application of AC magnetic fields can reduce weld porosity by a factor of 10 compared to the reference joints. The weld surface roughness was improved by 50%.
Peculiarities of the process of orbital laser-arc welding of thick-walled large-diameter pipes
(2010)
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 results of a collaborative research project on laser beam weldability of carbon steels of
high sheet thickness are presented. That includes single and multiple pass welding of 16 mm
and 20 mm thick plates, as well as the investigation of acceptable tolerances i.e. gap
bridgeability and edge misalignment. For the welding experiments fibre lasers with 8 kW,
20 kW laser power and different MAG-techniques were used in various applications.
With the 20 kW fibre laser 16 mm plates could be welded with a single pass, 20 mm required
a seam preparation or alternatively preheating of the material. For multi pass welding with
8 kW laser power a joint preparation with a single V-butt joint with a broad root face (Ygroove)
was applied. The root pass was always welded with a hybrid process, the filler
passes with a hybrid process as well as a MAG process which produced the best results.
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.
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.
Continuous cooling transformation (CCT) behavior affects the transient state of
material properties employed in a numerical welding simulation, having a direct influence
on the developing stress state. Three different CCT diagrams for S355J2 steel
were employed to understand the influence of variations in CCT behavior on the numerical
calculation of welding-induced residual stresses. The CCT diagrams were
constructed from transformation data contained in the Sysweld software database,
measured dilatometric data from Gleeble experiments, and transformation data calculated
from the JMatPro software. The calculated transverse and longitudinal residual
stress distributions provided a qualitative correction only in comparison to experimental
measurements, with the largest deviation occurring near the weld
interface. Overall, the results indicate a weak dependency of the calculated residual
stresses due to anticipated CCT variations. The most significant effect on the calculated
residual stresses was shown to be related to the proportion of formed martensite.
It is suggested that CCT data of approximate accuracy is sufficient for reliable
calculation of welding-induced residual stresses.
Numerical simulation of component and assembly behaviour under different loading conditions is a main tool for safety design in automobile body shell mass production. Knowledge of local material behaviour is fundamental to such simulation tests. As a contribution to the verification of simulation results, the local deformation properties of spot-welded similar and dissimilar material joints in shear tension tests were investigated in this study for a TRIP steel (HCT690T) and a micro-alloyed steel (HX340LAD). For this reason, the local strain distribution was calculated by the digital image correlation technique (DIC). On the basis of the hardness values and microstructure of the spot welds, the differences in local strain between the selected material combinations are discussed. Additionally, the retained austenite content in the TRIP steel was analysed to explain the local strain values. Results obtained in this study regarding similar material welds suggest significant lower local strain values of the TRIP steel HCT690T compared to HX340LAD. One reason could be the decrease of retained austenite in the welded area. Furthermore, it has been ascertained that the local strain in dissimilar material welds decreases for each component compared with the corresponding similar material weld.
Joining of ultra high strength steels for lightweight body shell design in automobile manufacturing
(2010)
Laser beam weldability of austenitic and austenitic-ferritic high-manganese stainless steel sheets
(2010)
A method is reported with which heat affected zone (HAZ) cracks in a specific region of spot welded joints, made of advanced high strength steels, could be realised. The influence of HAZ cracks on the fatigue behaviour, which is the focus of the contribution, was studied by evaluating the stiffness characteristics as a function of the number of cycles N in comparison with crack-free specimens, i.e. by analysing HAZ and fatigue cracks on the specimen surface and the surface of fatigue fractures containing beach marks. It was found that the fatigue cracks are not initiated at the HAZ cracks. The number of cycles to failure Nf is not significantly reduced for specimens with HAZ cracks. Overall, the examinations did not reveal any influence of HAZ cracks on the fatigue strength of resistance spot welded joints.
Welding simulation is a powerful, cost-efficient tool to predict welding induced distortion. Nevertheless, effects on calculation result quality are often unknown, thus, sensitivity analyses should be performed to evaluate the influences of certain parameters on distortion development.
In the present paper, a single-layer gas metal arc (GMA) weld of 5 mm thick structural steel S355J2+N is experimentally and numerically investigated. Subsequent to welding, the numerical modeling begins with a mesh analysis based on modal analyses. Hereby, the influence of different coarsening methods and element edge length (EEL) in welding direction on the deformation behavior or the stiffness of the discrete geometry is the focus of the analysis. Secondly, phase transformations in structural steels such as S355J2+N are decisive for final product properties. The sensitivity of welding-induced distortion is examined regarding different continuous cooling transformation (CCT) diagrams for S355J2+N.
The present investigations deal with different relevant influences on numerical calculation of welding-induced distortion. The quality and quantity of these effects are clarified based on the experimental and numerical set-up employed. Consequently, prediction of welding-induced distortion is possible and potential for pre-production optimization is present.
Fusion welding is widely used in the automotive industry to join metal structures. It is well-known that distortions and residual stresses occur during and after the welding process. Many procedures exist to decrease these negative heat effects of welding, but are often coupled with highly cost intensive experiments. The implementation of a welding Simulation tool to reduce this very expensive experimental procedures is therefore of high interest. Despite the fact that the automotive industry is a key sector for Simulation procedures, welding Simulation Software is nevertheless not yet widely implemented. This is mainly due to the complexity of the Simulation tools requiring expert users and the resulting high time to Solution.
In this study, a new fast thermo-mechanical Simulation of a complex and large laser beam welded automotive sheet metal assembly with several non linear welds is simulated. Assumptions and simplifications of the complex physical welding phenomenon, which are made to keep the computational cost and the complexity of the Simulation in an industrial frame, are discussed. The calibration time of the phenomenological heat source model has been optimized with a very fast analytical thermal model and the resulting simulated temperature fields match perfectly with the measured ones. Additionally, the user experience and the time-to-solution are kept within a reasonable time frame for arr industrial environment. All Simulation results are validated with experimental results.
This article studies the three dimensional transient weld pool dynamics and the influence of joint preparation angle on welding of low carbon structural steel plates using the ForceArc® process. ForceArc is a new gas metal arc welding technology which allows adequate fusion and penetration with a smaller V groove angle. This enhances welding efficiency significantly because of reduction of layers and low material consumption.
The deformation of the weld bead is calculated with an accurate coupling of the heat transfer with fluid flow through continuity, momentum and the energy equations combined with the effect of droplet impingement, gravity, electromagnetic force, buoyancy, drag forces and surface tension force (Marangoni effect). Four different angles of V groove are employed with the same welding parameters and their influence on the weld pool behavior and weld bead geometry is calculated and analyzed, to allow subsequent calculations of residual stress and distortion of the workpiece.
Such a simulation is an effective way to study welding processes because the influence of all the welding parameters can be analyzed separately with respect to thermal cycle, weld bead formation, and the microstructure of the weld. Good agreement is shown between the predicted and experimentally determined weld bead dimensions. It was found that with a larger groove angle, the penetration depth increases. Furthermore, a higher wire feeding rate is needed to fill the larger groove. The model presented can be used for further analyses of GMAW processes as well as input data for the numerical calculation of welding induced residual stresses and distortions using Computational Weld Mechanics CWM.
The paper presents bounded volume heat sources and the corresponding functional-analytical expressions for the temperature field. The power density distributions considered here are normal, exponential and parabolic. The sources model real heat sources like the welding arc, laser beam, electron beam, etc., the convection in the weld pool as well as the latent heat due to fusion and solidification. The parameters of the heat source models are unknown a priori and have to be evaluated by solving an inverse heat conduction problem. The functional-analytical technique for calculating 3D temperature fields in butt welding is developed. The proposed technique makes it possible to reduce considerably the total time for data input and solution. It is demonstrated with an example of laser beam welding of steel plates.
This paper presents volume heat sources and the corresponding functional analytical Solutions for the transient temperature field. The considered energy distributions are normal, exponential and parabolic. The method follows the common approach in Computational Welding Mechanics (CWM) to account for the physics of the welding process and the resulting temperature field by phenomenological models for heat conduction. Therefore, the used heat source models are apparent heat sources that incorporate the real heat input as well as the fluid flow in the weld pool and the latent heat connected with phase transformations. The heat source models provide welding characteristics like thermal cycle and Fusion line in the cross section within short computational time. Consequently, inverse techniques on basis of optimisation algorithms enable the adaptation of the models to the experimental data efficiently. Furthermore, the direct evaluation of the energy distribution for the experimental fusion line in the cross section is demonstrated which enhances the numerical optimisation by reducing the number of unknown model Parameters and providing a reasonable initial guess within the model parameter space. The proposed temperature field models are validated with real laser beam welding experiments.
The development of high-strength structural steels with yield strengths up to 1000 MPa results in the requirement of suitable filler materials for welding. Recently designed low transformation temperature (LTT) alloys offer appropriate strength. The martensitic phase transformation during welding induces compressive residual stress in the weld zone. Therefore, the mechanical properties of welded joints can be improved. The present paper illustrates numerical simulation of the residual stresses in LTT-welds taking into account the effect of varying Ms/Mf-temperatures, and therefore different retained austenite contents, on the residual stresses. Residual stress distributions measured by synchrotron diffraction are taken as evaluation basis. A numerical model for the simulation of transformation affected welds is established and can be used for identification of appropriate Ms-temperatures considering the content of retained austenite.
In contrast to other simulation fields like forming simulation, welding simulation is still not widely used in industrial environments. A high user expertise, a high time-to-solution and the result accuracy are the most important problems that hinder its extensively application. Different modeling approaches influence these aspects and an analysis of their implementation is of interest especially for the automotive industry as a key user for production Simulation.
Extended weldability lobes in resistance spot welding of advanced high strength steels (AHSS)
(2009)
Resistance spot welded joints made of two advanced high strength steels (AHSS) and one high strength steel (HSS) were examined. In the high cycle fatigue regime tests were realised for one loading condition, and the load and the displacement were measured. From the load and displacement range, the stiffness was calculated and in situ normalised to its value after 1000 cycles. It was thus possible to use the normalised stiffness evaluated during the experiment as failure criterion for the fatigue test of resistance spot welded joints. In order to evaluate this failure criterion, fatigue cracks were produced in the three different steel grades mentioned above according to user-specified levels of the normalised stiffness. It was found that the fatigue crack area increases linearly and the through-sheet-thickness crack length exponentially with decreasing stiffness. The comparison of the fatigue crack propagation during the fatigue test of the three different tested base metals showed very similar values. The comparability of fatigue tests performed on spot welded joints might thus be improved by the in situ evaluated stiffness as a failure criterion. This can be also used in further work to verify results of computer simulations of the stress intensity factor at spot welds with the help of experimental results.
Direct measurement and quantification of phase transformation in a low-alloyed transformation induced plasticity steels depending on the tensile load as well as determination of the real true stress and true strain values were carried out in-situ using high energy synchrotron radiation. Digital image correlation technique was used to quantify more precisely the true strain values. The aim of the work was to obtain a better understanding of the phase transformation of commercial low-alloyed transformation induced plasticity steel depending on the true strain and true stress values.
Residual stresses arising during welding, especially in high energy beam welding, can reach levels up to the material specific yield strength causing service life mitigating consequences through stress relaxation or stress corrosion cracking. A number of processes were developed like stress relief annealing or the low-stress-no-distortion-technique to reduce these stresses.
But such methods are only applicable for wider welds and simple component geometries or they are cost-intensive. The method presented in this paper uses the welding beam after welding in a defocused mode for heating the material regions in a certain distance from the weld on both sides. With this process it is possible to decrease the stresses in small welds with high stress gradients without any contact surfaces or additional equipment. Dependent on the component geometry and on the laser power it is possible to use different parameters for this process. The adjustable process parameters are the radius and the power of the defocused beam and the transversal and longitudinal distances between the welding and the defocused beam. In this work the mechanism and the influence of the process parameters are investigated by FEM-simulation and a number of experiments on the ferritic steel S355J2+N with 5 mm thickness. The best experimental result presented in this paper shows a stress reduction of about 73 %.
Build-up strategies for generating components of cylindrical shape with laser metal deposition
(2015)
Laser Metal Deposition LMD) as additive manufacturing process offers the potential to produce near net shape components. This reduces the amount of material and post-processing. The components are composed of individual layers. Already mall irregularities within a layer can add up over multiple layers and lead to error propagation. This paper deals with the issue of build-up strategies to minimize irregularities and prevent error propagation. Different travel paths and the influence of a changing starting point regarding to error propagation are discussed. Different deposition rates between core and peripheral area are detected and successfully compensated by adjusting the build-up sequence. Stainless steel and titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V are used in the experiments. The results are intended to illustrate the potential of an adjusted build-up strategy and provide basic information on the way to an automated deposition process. This paper is of interest for engineers in industry or science using LMD as additive manufacturing process.
Maintenance, repair and overhaul of components are of increasing interest for parts of high complexity and expensive manufacturing costs. In this paper a production process for laser metal deposition is presented, and used to repair a gas turbine burner of Inconel 718. Different parameters for defined track geometries were determined to attain a near net shape deposition with consistent build-up rate for changing wall thicknesses over the manufacturing process. Spot diameter, powder feed rate, welding velocity and laser power were changed as main parameters for a different track size. An optimal overlap rate for a constant layer height was used to calculate the best track size for a fitting layer width similar to the part dimension. Deviations in width and height over the whole build-up process were detected and customized build-up strategies for the 3D sequences were designed. The results show the possibility of a near net shape repair by using different track geometries with laser metal deposition.
High-power laser beam welding became new stimuli within the last 10 years due to the availability of a new generation of high brightness multi kilowatt solid state lasers. In the welding research new approaches have been developed to establish reliable and praxis oriented welding processes meeting the demands of modern industrial applications during this time. The paper focuses on some of the current scientific and technological aspects in this research field like hybrid laser arc welding, simulation techniques, utilization of electromagnetic fields or reduced pressure environment for laser beam welding processes, which contributed to the further development of this technology or will play a crucial role in its further industrial implementation.
The complex microstructure and the advanced mechanical properties of AHSS steel types lead to an increased susceptibility to weld cracking, especially during resistance spot welding under ‘rough’ manufacturing conditions.
Various activities have been conducted in recent years at the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) and the Fraunhofer IPK on this matter. Understandings about the safe spot weldability and the process of crack-forming itself were gained, and solutions for handling this issue given.
The performed work includes investigations on the influence of initial gaps as well as restraint intensity. An experimental method for the determination of the general cracking susceptibility, i.e. a material ranking of AHSS in respective to current restraints was developed. Coupled mechanical and thermal simulations of the welding process show the present internal stress-strain-conditions and values responsible for the formation of cracks, deepening the understanding of the process.
By using this easy to perform and material-independent method for the determination of the cracking susceptibility in resistance spot welded joints, small and medium sized companies can profit by rapidly evaluating the joinability of their handled material combinations as well as OEMs.