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Eingeladener Vortrag
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The shape of the weld pool in laser beam welding plays a major role to understand the dynamics of the melt and its solidification behavior. The aim of the present work was its experimental and numerical investigation. To visualize the geometry of the melt pool in the longitudinal section a butt joint configuration of 15 mm thick structural steel and transparent quartz glass was used. The weld pool shape was recorded by means of a high-speed video camera and two thermal imaging MWIR and VIS cameras. The observations show that the dimensions of the weld pool vary depending on the depth. The regions close to the surface form a teardrop shaped weld pool. A bulge-region and its temporal evolution were observed approximately in the middle of the depth of the weld pool. Additionally, a transient numerical simulation was performed until reaching a steady state to obtain the weld pool shape and to understand the formation mechanism of the observed bulging phenomena. A fixed keyhole with an experimentally obtained shape was used to represent the full-penetration laser beam welding process. The model considers the local temperature field, the effects of phase transition, thermo-capillary convection, natural convection and temperature-dependent material properties up to evaporation temperature. It was found that the Marangoni convection and the movement of the laser heat source are the dominant factors for the formation of the bulging-region. Good correlation between the numerically calculated and the experimentally observed weld bead shapes and the time-temperature curves on the upper and bottom surface were found.
The shape of the weld pool in laser beam welding plays a major role to understand the dynamics of the melt and its solidification behavior. The aim of the present work was its experimental and numerical investigation. To visualize the geometry of the melt pool in the longitudinal section a butt joint configuration of 15 mm thick structural steel and transparent quartz glass was used. The weld pool shape was recorded by means of a high-speed video camera and two thermal imaging MWIR and VIS cameras. The observations show that the dimensions of the weld pool vary depending on the depth. The regions close to the surface form a teardrop shaped weld pool. A bulge-region and its temporal evolution were observed approximately in the middle of the depth of the weld pool. Additionally, a transient numerical simulation was performed until reaching a steady state to obtain the weld pool shape and to understand the formation mechanism of the observed bulging phenomena. A fixed keyhole with an experimentally obtained shape was used to represent the full-penetration laser beam welding process. The model considers the local temperature field, the effects of phase transition, thermo-capillary convection, natural convection and temperature-dependent material properties up to evaporation temperature. It was found that the Marangoni convection and the movement of the laser heat source are the dominant factors for the formation of the bulging-region. Good correlation between the numerically calculated and the experimentally observed weld bead shapes and the time-temperature curves on the upper and bottom surface were found.
Recent studies have confirmed the widening of the weld pool interface, known as a bulge effect, during deep penetration high power laser beam welding. The link between such geometric particularities of the weld pool shape and the hot cracking phenomena is significant. The present work seeks to extend the level of understanding by investigating their relationship. A coupled multiphysics, multiscale numerical framework is developed, comprising a series of subsequent analyses. The study examines the influences of the bulge on the three most dominant effects causing hot cracking, namely the thermal cycles, the mechanical loading, and the local microstructure. The bulge in the weld pool shape forms approximately in the middle of the plate, thus correlating with the location of hot cracking. It increases the hot cracking susceptibility by enhancing the three dominant effects. The numerical results are backed up by experimental data.
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.
Die numerische Simulation hilft, Probleme bei additiven Bauprozessen früh zu erkennen und Optimierungspotentiale auszuschöpfen. Ziel ist, im additiven Auftragschweißen (DED) die Zahl der nötigen Versuche durch Vorhersagen zu verringern und Prozessgrößen zu visualisieren. Eine besondere Anwendung der Simulation ist die Generierung verzugskompensierter Geometrien: Durch die Berechnung des Bauteilverzugs kann die Geometrie vor dem Bauen so verändert werden, dass sie mit Verzug die gewünschte Toleranz erreicht. So kann Zerspanvolumen und Aufmaß reduziert werden.
Das DED Auftragschweißen ist ein additives Fertigungsverfahren für Metalle, bei dem das Material schichtweise auf ein Substrat aufgetragen wird. Die schnellen Temperaturzyklen rufen Spannungsgradienten im Bauteil hervor. Der schichtweise Aufbau der Bauteile verursacht eine anisotrope Mikrostruktur. Mittels nachgelagerter Wärmebehandlung können diese Effekte verringert werden. Im anschließenden Schritt der Prozesskette wird das additiv hergestellte Bauteil mittels Drahterodieren von dem Substrat abgetrennt.
In diesem Beitrag wird eine thermo-mechanische Simulation der gesamten Prozesskette vorgestellt, welche den additiven Aufbau, Wärmebehandlung und das Abtrennen vom Substrat beinhaltet. Anstelle der in der Literatur üblichen schichtweisen Modellierungsstrategie für die DED Simulation wird das gesamte Bauteil in einem Stück vernetzt und der vollständig transiente, schichtweise Materialauftrag über Elementgruppen realisiert. Im Gegensatz zu früheren Simulationen muss der nichtlineare Kontakt zwischen den Schichten nicht berücksichtigt werden, was die Rechenzeiten deutlich verkürzt.
Das Modell wurde validiert mittels Abgleiches des Verzugs aus Simulation und Experiment.
Die Proben, bestehend aus DIN 1.4404 (AISI 316L), wurden nach jedem Prozessschritt 3D gescannt um den Verzug zu quantifizieren. Zusätzlich wurden Querschnitte und Härtetests nach Vickers von unterschiedlich behandelten Proben durchgeführt, um den Effekt der Wärmebehandlung auf die Mikrostruktur und die Härte des Bauteils zu untersuchen.
Numerical study on the formation of a bulging region in partial penetration laser beam welding
(2023)
A transient three-dimensional thermo-fluid dynamics numerical model was developed to study the formation of a bulging region in partial penetration laser beam welding. The model accounts for the coupling between the fluid flow, the heat transfer, and the keyhole dynamics by considering the effects of multiple reflections and Fresnel absorption of the laser beam in the keyhole, the phase transitions during melting and evaporating, the thermo-capillary convection, the natural convection, and the phase-specific and temperature-dependent material properties up to the evaporation temperature. The validity of the model was backed up by experimentally obtained data, including the drilling time, the weld pool length, the local temperature history outside the weld pool, the process efficiency, and a range of metallographic crosssections.
The model was applied for the cases of partial penetration laser beam welding of 8 mm and 12 mm thick unalloyed steel sheets. The obtained experimental and numerical results reveal that the bulging region forms transiently depending on the penetration depth of the weld, showing a tendency to transition from a slight bulging to a fully developed bulging region between penetration depths of 6 mm and 9 mm, respectively.
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 transport phenomena in the wire feed laser beam welding are investigated numerically. A three-dimensional transient heat transfer and fluid flow model coupled with free surface tracing and element transport is developed. A ray-tracing method with local grid refinement algorithm is used to calculate the multiple reflections and Fresnel absorption on the keyhole wall. The filler material flows backward along the lateral side of the weld pool, and subsequently flows forward along the longitudinal plane. The occurrence of the bulging phenomenon may further prevent the downward transfer of the additional elements to the root of the weld pool.
One of the main factors affecting the use of lasers in the industry for welding thick structures is the process accompanying solidification cracks. These cracks mostly occurring along the welding direction in the welding center, and strongly affect the safety of the welded components. In the present study, to obtain a better understanding of the relation between the weld pool geometry, the stress distribution and the solidification cracking, a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model was combined with a thermo-mechanical model. The CFD model was employed to analyze the flow of the molten metal in the weld pool during the laser beam welding process. The weld pool geometry estimated from the CFD model was used as a heat source in the thermal model to calculate the temperature field and the stress development and distributions. The CFD results showed a bulging region in the middle depth of the weld and two narrowing areas separating the bulging region from the top and bottom surface. The thermo-mechanical simulations showed a concentration of tension stresses, transversally and vertically, directly after the solidification during cooling in the region of the solidification cracking.
The paper deals with a numerical finite element simulation of the residual stress evolution in friction stir welding of 6 mm thick aluminum alloy AA2024-T3. The transient thermal field during the welding process was calculated with the commercial code COMSOL Multiphysics 5.0. Therefore, a thermal-pseudo-mechanical (TPM) heat source was implemented. A subsequent mechanical simulation was performed with varying hardening models for different welding speeds of 60 and 300 mm/min. The influence of softening of the material, which was due to hardening precipitation dissolution associated to the heating, was also investigated. Experiments in terms of thermocouple measurements as well as Vickers hardness and X-ray measurements of the residual stresses were conducted and compared to numerically obtained results. A qualitatively as well as quantitatively good agreement was found for different applied welding speeds.
A transient simulation including the impact of the laser energy, the melting of the metal and the development of the weld pool was conducted to observe the evolution of the vapor capillary and the solidification of the melt in pulsed laser beam welding of AISI 304 steel. The phase field method was implemented to investigate the evolution and behavior of the liquid-gas interface during welding and to describe the condensed and vapor phases. The effects of phase transition, recoil pressure, thermo-capillary and natural convection, vaporization and temperature dependent material properties were taken into account. A Gaussian-like heat source under consideration of the Fresnel absorption model was used to model the energy input of the laser beam. The heat source model was extended by a newly developed empirical approach of describing multiple beam reflections in the keyhole. To validate this new model, the numerical results were compared to experimental data and good agreement regarding the size and shape of the weld pool was observed.
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.
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.
Numerical sensitivity analysis of TRIP-parameter K on weld residual stresses for steel S355J2+ N
(2016)
A combined experimental numerical approach is applied for sensitivity analysis of the transformation induced plasticity (TRIP)-parameter K on weld residual stresses for welding of structural steel of grade S355J2+N. K was determined experimentally using the Gleeble 3500 facility. A thermomechanical FE model of the real welding process was experimentally validated against temperature field and X-ray stress measurements. Within sensitivity analyses K was varied by several orders of magnitude and the influence on the calculated residual stresses is evaluated by performing corresponding FEA. The correct order of magnitude is sufficient to reproduce the residual stresses qualitatively and quantitatively.
Numerical Sensitivity Analysis of TRIP-Parameter K on Weld Residual Stresses and Weld Distortion
(2016)
A combined experimental numerical approach is applied for a sensitivity analysis of the transformation induced plasticity (TRIP)-parameter K on welding residual stresses and welding distortion for the welding of the low-alloyed high-strength S960QOL with the high-alloyed hig-strength filler material CN13-4-IG. A thermo-mechanical FE model of a real GMA welding process was experimentally validated against termperature field, X-Ray stress measurments and optical distortion measurement. Within the sensititvity analysis K was varied and the influence on the calculated welding residual stresses and welding distortion is evaluated by performing corresponding FEA. The correct order of K magnitude is necessary in order to reproduce the residual stresses qualitatively and quantitatively. For the sufficient reproducing of the welding distortion the transformation induced plasticity can be neglected.
Controlling the dynamics in the weld pool is a highly demanding challenge in deep-penetration laser beam welding with modern high power laser systems in the multi kilowatt range. An approach to insert braking forces in the melt which is successfully used in large-scaled industrial applications like casting is the so-called Hartmann effect due to externally applied magnetic fields. Therefore, this study deals with its adaptation to a laser beam welding process of much smaller geometric and time scale. In this paper, the contactless mitigation of fluid dynamic processes in the melt by steady magnetic fields was investigated by numerical simulation for partial penetration welding of aluminium. Three-dimensional heat transfer, fluid dynamics including phase transition and electromagnetic field partial differential equations were solved based on temperature-dependent material properties up to evaporation temperature for two different penetration depths of the laser beam. The Marangoni convection in the surface region of the weld pool and the natural convection due to the gravitational forces were identified as main driving forces in the weld pool. Furthermore, the latent heat of solide-liquid phase transition was taken into account and the solidification was modelled by the Carman-Kozeny equation for porous medium morphology. The results show that a characteristic change of the flow pattern in the melt can be achieved by the applied steady magnetic fields depending on the ratio of magnetic induced and viscous drag. Consequently, the weld bead geometry was significantly influenced by the developing Lorentz forces. Welding experiments with a 16 kW disc laser with an applied magnetic flux density of around 500 mT support the numerical results by showing a dissipating effect on the weld pool dynamics.
The introduction of electromagnetic stirring to laser beam welding can bring several beneficial effects e.g. element homogenization and grain refinement. However, the underlying physics has not been fully explored due to the absence of quantitative data of heat and mass transfer in the molten pool. In this paper, the influence of electromagnetic stirring on the thermo-fluid flow and element transport in the wire feed laser beam welding is studied numerically and experimentally. A three-dimensional transient heat transfer and fluid flow model coupled with dynamic keyhole, magnetic induction and element Transport is developed for the first time. The results suggest that the Lorentz force produced by an oscillating magnetic field and its induced eddy current shows an important influence on the thermo-fluid flow and the keyhole stability. The melt flow velocity is increased by the electromagnetic stirring at the rear and lower regions of molten pool. The keyhole collapses more frequently at the upper part. The additional Elements from the filler wire are significantly homogenized because of the enhanced forward and downward flow. The model is well verified by fusion line shape, high-speed images of molten pool and measured element distribution. This work provides a deeper understanding of the transport phenomena in the laser beam welding with magnetic field.
Numerical and experimental assessment of liquid metal embrittlement in externally loaded spot welds
(2024)
Zinc-based surface coatings are widely applied with high-strength steels in automotive industry. Some of these base materials show an increased brittle cracking risk during loading. It is necessary to examine electrogalvanized and uncoated samples of a high strength steel susceptible to liquid metal embrittlement during spot welding with applied external load. Therefore, a newly developed tensile test method with a simultaneously applied spot weld is conducted. A fully coupled 3D electrical, thermal, metallurgical and mechanical finite element model depicting the resistant spot welding process combined with the tensile test conducted is mandatory to correct geometric influences of the sample geometry and provides insights into the sample’s time dependent local loading. With increasing external loads, the morphology of the brittle cracks formed is affected more than the crack depth. The validated finite element model applies newly developed damage indicators to predict and explain the liquid metal embrittlement cracking onset and development as well as even ductile failure.
Numerical analysis of ultrasonic vibration enhanced friction stir welding of dissimilar Al/Mg alloys
(2023)
The ultrasonic vibration enhanced friction stir welding (UVeFSW) process has unique advantages in joining dissimilar Al/Mg alloys. While there are complex coupling mechanisms of multi-fields in the process, it is of great significance to model this process, to reveal the influence mechanism of ultrasonic vibration on the formation of Al/Mg joints.
In this study, the acoustic-plastic constitutive equation was established by considering the influence of both ultrasonic softening and residual hardening on the flow stress at different temperatures and strain rates. And the ultrasonic induced friction reduction (UiFR) effect on friction coefficient in different relative directions at the FSW tool-workpiece interface was quantitatively calculated and analyzed.
The Al/Mg UVeFSW process model was developed through introducing the above acoustic effects into the model of Al/Mg friction stir welding (FSW). The ultrasonic energy is stronger on the aluminum alloy side. In the stirred zone, there is the pattern distribution of ultrasonic sound pressure and energy. The heat generation at the tool-workpiece contact interface and viscous dissipation were reduced after applying ultrasonic vibra-tion. Due to the UiFR effect, the projection of friction coefficient and heat flux distributions at the tool-workpiece interface present a "deformed" butterfly shape. The calculated results show that ultrasonic vibra-tion enhanced the material flow and promoted the mixing of dissimilar materials.
The 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.
The contactless magnetohydrodynamic technology has been considered as a potential and promising method to improve the weld qualities of deep penetration laser beam welding. In this paper, numerical investigations are conducted to study the influence of the auxiliary oscillating magnetic field on the porosity suppression in laser beam welding of 5754 aluminum alloy. To obtain a deeper insight into the suppression mechanism, a three-dimensional transient multi-physical model is developed to calculate the heat transfer, fluid flow, keyhole dynamic, and magnetohydrodynamics. A ray tracing algorithm is employed to calculate the laser energy distribution on the keyhole wall. A time-averaged downward Lorentz force is produced by an oscillating magnetic field. This force acts in the molten pool, leading to a dominant downward flow motion in the longitudinal section, which blocks the bubble migration from the keyhole tip to the rear part of the molten pool. Therefore, the possibility for the bubbles to be captured by the solidification front is reduced. The electromagnetic expulsive force provides an additional upward escaping speed for the bubbles of 1 m/s ~ 5 m/s in the lower and middle region of the molten pool. The simulation results are in a good agreement with experimental measurements. Based on the results obtained in this study, a better understanding of the underlying physics in laser beam welding enhanced by an auxiliary oscillating magnetic field can be provided and thus the welding process can be further optimized reducing the porosity formation.
The effect of the oscillating metal vapor plume on the keyhole and molten pool behavior during the laser beam welding of AlMg3 aluminum alloys is investigated by the experimental and numerical method. The real-time height of the metal vapor plume is measured by high-speed camera observation. The obtained experimental results are used to evaluate the additional heating source and laser beam attenuation caused by the scattering and absorption based on the Beer-Lambert theory. Furthermore, the dynamic behavior of the metal vapor plume is incorporated into a 3D transient heat transfer and fluid flow model, coupled with the ray tracing method, for the laser beam welding of the AlMg3 alloy. It is found that the additional heating resulting from the scattered and absorbed laser beam energy by the metal vapor plume significantly expands the shape of the molten pool on the top region. Moreover, the oscillating metal vapor plume caused the fluctuation of the molten pool shape. The probability of keyhole collapse at the bottom increases significantly to 72% due to the oscillating laser power induced by the laser beam attenuation. The internal interplay between the metal vapor plume, molten pool shape, and the keyhole collapse are obtained. The developed model has been validated by the experiments, which shows a good agreement.
The effect of the oscillating metal vapor plume on the keyhole and molten pool behavior during the laser beam welding of AlMg3 aluminum alloys is investigated by experimental and numerical methods. The real-time height of the metal vapor plume is measured by high-speed camera observation. The obtained experimental results are used to evaluate the additional heating source and laser beam attenuation caused by the scattering and absorption based on the Beer–Lambert theory. Furthermore, the dynamic behavior of the metal vapor plume is incorporated into a 3D transient heat transfer and fluid flow model, coupled with the ray tracing method, for the laser beam welding of the AlMg3 alloy. It is found that additional heating resulting from the scattered and absorbed laser beam energy by the metal vapor plume significantly expands the shape of the molten pool on the top region. Moreover, the oscillating metal vapor plume caused the fluctuation of the high-temperature region in the molten pool. The probability of keyhole collapse at the bottom increases 17% due to the oscillating laser power induced by the laser beam attenuation. The internal interplay between the metal vapor plume, molten pool shape, and keyhole collapse is obtained. The developed model has been validated by experiments, which shows a good agreement.
A three-dimensional numerical model was developed to accurately predict the steady-state weld pool shape in full penetration laser beam welding. The model accounts for the coupling between the heat transfer and the fluid dynamics by considering the effects of solid/liquid phase transition, thermo-capillary convection, natural convection, and phase-specific and temperature-dependent material properties up to the evaporation temperature. A fixed right circular cone was utilized as a keyhole geometry to consider the heat absorbed from the laser beam. The model was used to analyze the influence of the thermodynamic activity of solutes and turbulence on the weld pool shape. A mesh sensitivity analysis was performed on a hybrid mesh combining hexahedral and tetrahedral elements. For the case of full penetration laser beam welding of 8 mm thick unalloyed steel sheets, the dependence of the weld pool shape on the surface-active element sulfur was found to be negligible. The analysis of the results showed that a laminar formulation is sufficient for accurately predicting the weld pool shape since the turbulence has a minor impact on the flow dynamics in the weld pool. The validity of the numerical results was backed up by experimental measurements and observations, including weld pool length, local temperature history, and a range of metallographic crosssections.
In welding experiments conducted on heavy wall pipes, the penetration mode (full or partial penetration) occurred to be a significant factor influencing appearance of solidification cracks. To explain the observed phenomena and support further optimization of manufacturing processes, a computational model was developed, which used a sophisticated strategy to model the material. High stresses emerged in the models in regions which showed cracking during experiments. In partial penetration welding, they were caused by the prevention of weld shrinkage due to the cold and strong material below the joint. Another identified factor having an influence on high stress localization is bulging of the weld.
This paper represents the results for proposed optical flow method based on the Lucas-Kanade (LK) algorithm applied to two different problems. The following observations can be made:
- The estimated strain and displacement for conducted tensile test are generally very close to those measured with conventional DIC-technique.
- The LK technique allows measurement of strain or displacement without special selection of a region of interest.
Using a novel optical measurement technique together with the optical flow algorithm, a twodimensional deformation analysis during welding was conducted. This technique is the first to provide a measurement of the full strain field locally in the immediate vicinity of the solidification front. Additionally, the described procedure of the optical measurement allows the real material-dependent values of critical strain characterizing the transition to hot cracking during laser welding processes to be determined.
Notch impact toughness of laser beam welded thick sheets of cryogenic nickel alloyed steel X8Ni9
(2020)
The paper deals with the investigations of the impact toughness of laser beam welded 14.5 mm thick sheets made of cryogenic steel X8Ni9 as a function of preheating. This 9% nickel alloyed steel is widely used in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry. An application of highly efficient welding processes such as high-power laser beam welding (LBW) in LNG sector requires an understanding of the interactions between the LBW process parameters and weld properties, in particular the impact toughness. The results show that the original fine-grained martensitic microstructure of the base metal (BM) is significantly changed by melting and crystallization during the LBW, what can lead to a decrease in the impact toughness of the weld metal (WM) below the required level. An optimal preheating temperature range leads to the favorable thermal welding cycle and is of remarkable importance for maintaining the notch impact toughness of laser beam welded joints of these thick steel sheets. A parameter window was identified in which V-notch impact toughness comparable to that of the BM at -196 °C was achieved.
Notch impact toughness of laser beam welded thick sheets of cryogenic nickel alloyed steel X8Ni9
(2020)
This research work deals with the investigations of the impact toughness of laser beam welded 14.5 mm thick sheets made of cryogenic steel X8Ni9 as a function of preheating. This 9% nickel alloyed steel is widely used in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry. An application of highly efficient welding processes such as high-power laser beam welding (LBW) in LNG sector requires an understanding of the interactions between the LBW process parameters and weld properties, in particular the impact toughness. The results show that the original fine-grained martensitic microstructure of the base metal (BM) is significantly changed by melting and crystallization during the LBW, what can lead to a decrease in the impact toughness of the weld metal (WM) below the required level. An optimal preheating temperature range leads to the favorable thermal welding cycle and is of remarkable importance for maintaining the notch impact toughness of laser beam welded joints of these thick steel sheets. A parameter window was identified in which V-notch impact toughness comparable to that of the BM at -196 °C was achieved.
Bislang kommt das Laserstrahlschweißen bzw. Laserhybridschweißen hauptsächlich bei Dickblechen mit einer Wandstärke von bis zu 15 mm zum Einsatz. Für Anwendungen über 20 mm war dieses Verfahren aufgrund einiger Herausforderungen bisher nur bedingt realisierbar. Eine von der Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) entwickelte elektromagnetische Schmelzbadunterstützung ermöglicht nun ein einlagiges Schweißen von bis zu 30 mm Wandstärke.
Duplexstähle finden aufgrund ihrer Eigenschaften, wie der guten Korrosionsbeständigkeit, einer hohen Festigkeit bei gleichzeitig guter Duktilität häufig industrielle Anwendung. Durch die hohen Abkühlraten beim Laserstrahlschweißen weisen Schweißnähte jedoch anstelle eines ausgeglichenen Duplexgefüges einen deutlich erhöhten Ferritanteil, im Vergleich zum Basiswerkstoff, auf. Dies führt zu einer verringerten Duktilität sowie Korrosionsbeständigkeit. Um dieses Problem zu lösen, wurde ein Prozess entwickelt, der auf einer Kantenbeschichtung mit nickelhaltigem Zusatzmaterial der zu fügenden Bleche mittels Laser-Pulver-Auftragschweißen (LPA) basiert.
Die resultierenden Schweißnähte wurden zerstörend anhand von Schliffbildern, EDX-Aufnahmen, Härtemessungen und Kerbschlagbiegeversuchen geprüft.
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.
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.
Laser welding is an appropriate technique for joining Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) parts together and to conventional wrought ones. The potential consists of profiting from synergies between additive and conventional manufacturing methods and overcoming the existing limitations of both. On the one hand, L-PBF is a widely spread metal-based additive manufacturing technique suitable for generating complex parts which can present intrinsic designed cavities, conformal cooling channels, and filigree structures contributing to sustainable manufacturing and efficiency-oriented designs. On the other hand, chamber sizes for producing L-PBF parts are limited, and the process is time-consuming. Thus, its employment is not for every geometry justified. Additionally, they are in most cases individual elements of a larger assembly and need to be joined together to conventionally fabricated parts.
The present research suggests laser welding parameters to adequately bond pairs of wrought and L-PBF processed plates and two L-PBF plates of Inconel 718 in butt position. L-PBF samples are printed in three different build-up orientations. Additionally, the influence of as-built L-PBF roughness qualities and usual pre-weld preparations such as edge milling are examined. The effect of normed pre-weld heat treatments is also contemplated. Identified cracks are analyzed by means of EDS in order to confirm the present phases on the areas of interest. EBSD is also employed to obtain a clear depiction of the crystallographic texture and distribution of the hot cracks.
The quality of the weldment was examined according to existing standards. Substantial differences in seam geometry and microstructure across different edge’s surface qualities and build directions of stress relieved L-PBF parts have not been detected. Nevertheless, even if no other irregularities are present in the seam, variability in liquation cracking susceptibility has been confirmed. This defect is prone to happen when parts made of this nickel-based superalloy are welded together when not enough precautions are taken. It has been determined that grain size and ductility of the material before welding play a crucial role and mitigating or intensifying these imperfections. Moreover, recommendations are presented to avoid this potential welding defect.
The laser-based direct energy deposition (DED) as a technology for additive manufacturing allows the production of near net shape components. Industrial applications require a stable process to ensure reproducible quality. Instabilities in the manufacturing process can lead to faulty components which do not meet the required properties.
The DED process is adjusted by various parameters such as laser power, velocity, powder mass flow and spot diameter, which interact with each other. A frequently used comparative parameter in welding is the energy per unit length and is calculated from the laser power and the velocity in laser welding. The powder per unit length comparative parameter in the DED process has also be taken into account, because this filler material absorbs energy in addition to the base material.
This paper deals with the influence of mass energy as a comparative parameter for determining the properties of additively manufactured parts. The same energy per unit length of 60 J/mm as well as the same powder per unit length of 7.2 mg/mm can be adjusted with different parameter sets. The energy per unit length and the powder per unit length determine the mass energy. The laser power is varied within the experiments between 400 W and 900 W. Energy per unit length and powder per unit length are kept constant by adjusting velocity and powder mass flow. Using the example of Inconel 718, experiments are carried out with the determined parameter sets. In a first step, individual tracks are produced and analyzed by means of micro section. The geometry of the tracks shows differences in height and width. In addition, the increasing laser power leads to a higher dilution of the base material. To determine the suitability of the parameters for additive manufacturing use, the individual tracks are used to build up parts with a square base area of 20x20 mm². An investigation by Archimedean principle shows a higher porosity with lower laser power. By further analysis of the micro sections, it can be seen that at low laser power, connection errors occur between the tracks.
The results show that laser power, velocity and powder mass flow have to be considered in particular, because a constant mass energy can lead to different geometric as well as microscopic properties.
Magnesium (Mg) alloys have attracted much attention due to their merits of meeting requirements of lightweight, energy-efficient and environmental friendly engineering. In this study, a modified refill friction stir spot welding (refill-FSSW) method is proposed to weid AMSO Mg alloy, in which pin and sleeve rotate at different states. Effects of process parameters on the microstructure, material flow, and mechanical properties of welds were studied. Results showed that, the modified refill-FSSW technology could enhance the intennixing of material by changing the flow state. Lap shear strength of welds could be significantly improved with changed failure modes. The modified refill FSSW technology is a competitive welding method for Mg alloy.
This paper presents investigation results of a process for defect-free hybrid laser arc welding (HLAW) of closed circumferential welds. The process aims to avoid weld imperfections in the overlap area of a HLAW circumferential weld. A process control strategy for closing the circumferential weld was developed to achieve a defect-free overlap region by controlling the solidification conditions at the end of the weld. The controlled heat flow is achieved by adjusting the parameters of both welding processes involved, the laser beam as well as gas metal arc welding (GMAW) process. Experimental investigations were carried out on 12 mm to 15 mm thick tube sections. The influence of process parameters such as the laser ramp time, the change in magnification scale and the defocusing of the laser beam on the solidifi-cation conditions at the end of the circumferential weld was investigated to find an optimum strategy for ramping out the process energy. Within the framework of the experimental studies, it was demonstrated that defocusing the laser beam in the range between 60 mm and 100 mm over a short run-out area of the weld of approximately 15 mm led to a significantly better weld formation in the overlap area. A favourable cup-shaped weld shape could be achieved without a tendency to crack. The laser optics with a motor-driven lens system made it possible to increase the laser beam diameter without changing the position of the GMAW arc relative to the component surface.
The presented study deals with the performing and mechanical testing of single pass hybrid laser-arc welds (HLAW) on 25 mm thick plates made of steel grade S355J2. One of the challenges have to be solved at full penetration HLAW of thick plates is the drop formation occurring due to the disbalances of the forces acting in the keyhole and on the melt pool surface. Such irregularities mostly limit the use of high-power laser beam welding or HLAW of thick-walled constructions. To overcome this problem, an innovative concept of melt pool support based on generating Lorentz forces in the weld pool is used in this work. This method allows to perform high quality welds without sagging even for welding of 25 mm thick plates in flat position at a welding speed of 0.9 m min-1. For the obtain of full penetrated welds a laser beam power of 19 kW was needed. A high V-impact energy of up to 160 J could be achieved at the test temperature of 0 °C. Even at the most critical part in the weld root an impact energy of 60 J in average could be reached. The tensile strength of the weld reaches that of the base material. An introduce of the HLAW process with electromagnetic support of the melt pool in the industrial practice is an efficient alternative to the time- and cost-intensive arc-based multi-layer welding techniques which are established nowadays for joining of thick-walled constructions.
The presented study deals with the performing and mechanical testing of single pass hybrid laser-arc welds (HLAW) on 25 mm thick plates made of steel grade S355J2. One of the challenges have to be solved at full penetration HLAW of thick plates is the drop formation occurring due to the disbalances of the forces acting in the keyhole and on the melt pool surface. Such irregularities mostly limit the use of high-power laser beam welding or HLAW of thick-walled constructions. To overcome this problem, an innovative concept of melt pool support based on generating Lorentz forces in the weld pool is used in this work. This method allows to perform high quality welds without sagging even for welding of 25 mm thick plates in flat position at a welding speed of 0.9 m min-1. For the obtain of full penetrated welds a laser beam power of 19 kW was needed. A high V-impact energy of up to 160 J could be achieved at the test temperature of 0 °C. Even at the most critical part in the weld root an impact energy of 60 J in average could be reached. The tensile strength of the weld reaches that of the base material. An introduce of the HLAW process with electromagnetic support of the melt pool in the industrial practice is an efficient alternative to the time- and cost-intensive arc-based multi-layer welding techniques which are established nowadays for joining of thick-walled constructions.
Laser-based Powder Bed Fusion of Metal (PBF-LB/M) is a broadly used metal additive manufacturing (AM) method for fabricating complex metallic parts, whose sizes are however limited by the build envelope of PBF-LB/M machines. Laser welding arises as a valid joining method for effectively integrating these AM parts into larger assemblies.
PBF-LB/M components must usually be stress-relieved before they can be separated from the build plate. An additional heat treatment can be beneficial for obtaining homogeneous mechanical properties across the seam or for the formation of desired precipitations in nickel-based-alloys.
Therefore, the tensile performance of laser welded hybrid (AM/wrought) and AM-AM tensile samples of Inconel 718 is examined after undergoing three different heat treatments and considering three relevant build directions. It can be shown that the build orientation is an influencing factor on weld properties even after two applied heat treatments.
Ultrasonic vibration enhanced friction stir welding (UVeFSW) is a recent modification of conventional friction stir welding (FSW), which transmits ultrasonic vibration directly into the localized area of the workpiece near and ahead of the rotating tool. In this study, a high strength aluminium alloy (2024-T4) was welded by this process and conventional FSW, respectively. Then tensile tests, microhardness tests and fracture surface analysis were performed successively on the welding samples. The tests results reveal that ultrasonic vibration can improve the tensile strength and the elongation of welded joints. The microhardness of the stir zone also increases.
Among the various welding technologies, resistance spot welding (RSW) and laser beam welding (LBW) play a significant role as joining methods for the automobile industry. The application of RSW and LBW for the automotive body alters the microstructure in the welded areas. It is necessary to identify the mechanical properties of the welded material to be able to make a reliable statement about the material behavior and the strength of welded components. This study develops a method by which to determine the mechanical properties for the weldment of RSW and LBW for two dual phase (DP) steels, DP600 and DP1000, which are commonly used for the automotive bodies. The mechanical properties of the resistance spot weldment were obtained by performing tensile tests on the notched tensile specimen to cause an elongation of the notched and welded area in order to investigate its properties. In order to determine the mechanical properties of the laser beam weldment, indentation tests were performed on the welded material to calculate its force-penetration depth-curve. Inverse numerical simulation was used to simulate the indentation tests to determine and verify the parameters of a nonlinear isotropic material model for the weldment of LBW. Furthermore, using this method, the parameters for the material model of RSW were verified. The material parameters and microstructure of the weldment of RSW and LBW are compared and discussed. The results show that the novel method introduced in this work is a valid approach to determine the mechanical properties of welded high-strength steel structures. In addition, it can be seen that LBW and RSW lead to a reduction in ductility and an increase in the amount of yield and tensile strength of both DP600 and DP1000.
Resistance spot welding (RSW) is widely used in the automotive industry
as the main joining method. Generally, an automotive body contains
around 2000 to 5000 spot welds. Therefore, it is of decisive importance to characterize the mechanical properties of these areas for the further optimization and improvement of an automotive body structure. The present paper aims to introduce a novel method to investigate the mechanical properties and microstructure of the resistance spot weldment of DP1000 sheet steel. In this method, the microstructure of RSW of two sheets was reproduced on one sheet and on a bigger area by changing of the welding parameters, e. g. welding current, welding time, electrode force and type. Then, tensile tests in combination with digital Image correlation (DIC) measurement were performed on the notched tensile specimens to determine the mechanical properties of the weld metal.
The notch must be made on the welded tensile specimen to force the fracture and elongation on the weld metal, enabling the characterization of its properties. Additionally, the parameters of a nonlinear isotropic material model can be obtained and verified by the simulation of the tensile specimens. The parameters obtained show that the strength of DP1000 steel and the velocity of dislocations for reaching the Maximum value of strain hardening, are significantly increased after RSW. The effect of sample geometry and microstructural inhomogeneity of the welded joint on the constitutive property of the weld metal are presented and discussed.
The shape of the parts, created by the technology of direct laser metal deposition (DLMD), is influenced by various parameters, for example, the power and diameter of the laser source spot. The contribution of energy from the laser affects the temperature distribution in the formed layers. The changing temperature in the working area entails a Change in the geometry of the layers and affects the stability of the process. In this paper, experiments on the measurement of temperature cycles in the DLMD process with different directions of the filling track are carried out. An infrared camera was used to measure thermal cycles. The calibration of the acquired data (i.e. correspondence table between the intensity of thermal radiation of the material and the absolute temperature) was done with help of two-color pyrometer ex situ and in situ measurements. The experiments are carried out on two materials 316L and Inconel 718. The effect of the maximum temperature on the layer height is shown, and thermal cycles in the formation of layers for different filling strategies are presented.
The geometrical characteristics of the weld end crater are commonly used for the validation of numerical results in welding simulation. A semi-analytical model calculating the cooling stage of the welding process after the moving energy source is turned off has been developed. A solution for various combinations of heat sources and workpieces has been found. The theoretical limits for the heat transfer of the absorbed energy during cooling in a thin plate and a semi-infinite body were studied. It is shown that after turning off the energy source, an additional melting of the base material in longitudinal direction may occur. The developed technique is applied to complete-penetration keyhole laser beam welding of a 2 mm thick austenitic chromium-nickel 316L steel plate at a welding speed of 20 mm/s and a laser power of 2.3 kW. The results show a theoretical increase of the weld end crater length in comparison to the length of the steady-state weld pool of up to 19 %. A shift of the centre of the end crater, in which the solidification of the liquid metal ends, towards the tail of the end crater relative to the axis of the heat source at the time of its termination, was computed. The speed and the direction of crystallization of the molten material in the weld pool and the end crater were found to be different. A good agreement between the computational results and the welding experiments was achieved.
The geometrical characteristics of the weld end crater are commonly used as a means of validating numerical results in welding simulations.
In this paper, an analytical model is developed for calculating the cooling stage of the welding process after the moving energy source is turned off. Solutions for various combinations of heat sources and heated bodies are found. It is shown that after turning off the Energy source, additional melting of the base material in the longitudinal direction may occur due to the overheated liquid metal. The developed technique is applied to complete-penetration keyhole laser beam welding of 2 mm thick austenitic stainless-steel plate 316L at a Welding speed of 20 mm/s and a laser power of 2.3 kW. The results show a theoretical increase in the weld end crater length of up to 19% compared to the length of the steady-state weld pool. It is found that at the moment of switch off, the weld end crater center, where solidification of the liquid metal ends, is shifted from the heat source axis toward the weld pool tail. The solidification rate and the direction of crystallization of the molten material during the welding process and those in the weld end crater differ significantly. A good agreement between the computational results and the welding experiments is achieved.
Dissimilar metal weld overlays of nickel-base alloys on low-alloy steel components are commonly used in the oil and gas, petrochemical, and power generation industries to provide corrosion and oxidation resistance in a wide range of service Environments and temperatures. Traditionally, dissimilar weld overlays are produced using cold or hot wire gas tungsten arc welding.
This study aims to identify and evaluate potential advantages of low heat input gas metal arc welding processes over the conventional gas tungsten arc welding in the production of such overlays. Parts I and II of this publication series described characteristics of the heat-affected zone and the transition zone region of alloy 625 on grade 22 steel overlays. These results indicate a good resistance against hydrogen-assisted cracking, which is being verified within this third part of the publication series. To determine the hydrogen-assisted cracking susceptibility, welded samples are tested using the delayed hydrogen-assisted cracking test. Fractography is performed using scanning electron microscopy along with energy dispersive spectroscopy. The results confirm the suitability and efficiency of low heat input gas metal arc welding for dissimilar weld overlays. Variation of the postweld heat treatment procedure bears potential for improvement in this respect.
Low heat input gas metal arc welding for dissimilar metal weld overlays part II: the transition zone
(2018)
Dissimilar metal weld overlays (DMWOL) of nickel base alloys on low alloy steel components are commonly used in the oil and gas, petrochemical, and power generation industries to provide corrosion and oxidation resistance in a wide range of service environments and temperatures. Traditionally, dissimilar weld overlays are produced using cold or hot wire gas tungsten arc welding. This study aims to identify and evaluate potential advantages of low heat input gas metal arc welding processes over the conventional gas tungsten arc welding in the production of dissimilar weld overlays. In order to evaluate the quality of these overlays regarding resistance against hydrogen-assisted cracking, their transition zone region is investigated in this part of the publication series. Metallurgical characterization, including energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, is performed on Alloy 625/grade 22 steel overlays. The transition zone is characterized by a narrow planar growth zone and steep compositional gradients from the fusion boundary towards the weld metal. Evidence of low carbon contents in the planar growth zone, as well as for carbide precipitation in the cellular growth zone was found. The microstructure in the transition zone region of the fusion zone shows characteristics known to be suitable for good resistance against hydrogen embrittlement.
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 development of high energy laser sources enables single-pass welds of thick plates up to 30 mm, but often additional materials are needed to influence the properties of the weld seams. However, the homogenous distribution of filler materials in form of e.g. electrodes is only possible up to 7 mm while the elements are only traceable up to a depth of 14 mm. To overcome this problem a two-step process is used where first the edges of the weld partners are coated with the filler material by laser metal deposition (LMD) and afterwards are welded by laser beam. Single-pass welds with electromagnetic weld pool support of 30 mm thick S355 J2+N-plates with austenitic AISI 316L-coatings were investigated as well as the influence of the coatings to the penetration depth of the laser beam without electromagnetic weld pool support in double-sided joints. The weld seams were tested by X-ray inspection and cross sections.
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.
Die lichtbogenbasierte, additive Fertigung ist dank hoher erreichbarer Aufbauraten und nahezu uneingeschränktem Bauraum zur Fertigung großvolumiger Bauteile prädestiniert. Die Kombination etablierter Maschinenkomponenten aus Robotertechnik, Schweißtechnik und Sensorik ermöglicht den präzisen schichtweisen Materialauftrag. Die Wirkmechanismen zwischen Prozessparametern und den daraus resultierenden mechanisch-technologischen Eigenschaften der additiv gefertigten Bauteile stellen eine Herausforderung dar. Dies gilt insbesondere auch für dickwandige Bauteile. Bei der Fertigung von Bauteilen aus höherfesten Al-Mg-Si-Aluminiumlegierungen ist aufgrund der hohen Anfälligkeit für Erstarrungsrisse und der Neigung zu wasserstoffinduzierter Porosität im besonderen Maße auf das Temperaturregime und die gewählte Aufbaustrategie zu achten.
Der Einfluss der Prozessparameter auf die Bauteilqualität wurde durch die Analyse der Größe und Verteilung von Poren sowie der resultierenden Festigkeit untersucht. Darüber hinaus wurde der Einfluss einer Wärmenachbehandlungsstrategien auf das Festigkeitsverhalten analysiert. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass dickwandige Strukturen aus höherfesten Al-Mg-Si-Aluminiumlegierungen mit mechanischen Kennwerten im Bereich des Referenzmaterials mittels MSGLichtbogenverfahren additiv gefertigt werden können.
Licht ist grüner als Strom
(2017)
Das bislang zur Vermeidung unzulässiger Wurzelüberhöhungen beim Laserstrahlschweißen von Aluminiumlegierungen bzw. austenitischem Stahl eingesetzte Verfahren der elektromagnetischen Schmelzbadstütze konnte innerhalb der vorliegenden Untersuchung erfolgreich zur Kompensation des hydrostatischen Druckes von ferromagnetischen Stählen übertragen werden. Es wurden dabei Laserstrahlschweißversuche in PA-Position an bis zu 20 mm dickem Duplexstahl 1.4462 sowie Baustahl S235JR durchgeführt. Unter konstanten Schweißparametern wurden Durchschweißungen generiert. Dem hydrostatischen Druck wurde unter Verwendung der Technologie zur elektromagnetischen Schmelzbadunterstützung durch Variation der Oszillationsfrequenz und der AC-Leistung des Magnetsystems entgegengewirkt.
Zunächst konzentrierten sich die Versuche auf den Duplexstahl 1.4462, welcher jeweils aus 50 % Ferrit und Austenit besteht. Hierbei konnte festgestellt werden, dass zur idealen Kompensation von 15 mm bei einer Frequenz von 1,7 kHz eine AC-Leistung von 1,6 kW erforderlich ist, die Schweißnähte aber bereits bei einer AC-Leistung von ca. 0,8 kW in die Bewertungsgruppe B der DIN EN ISO 13919-1:1996-09 eingeordent werden können. Zur idealen Kompensation des hydrostatischen Druckes bei 20 mm dickem Duplexstahl war eine um 20 % höhere AC-Leistung notwendig. Im Anschluss an die Versuche mit dem Duplexstahl wurden die Untersuchungen auf bis zu 20 mm dicke Proben aus Baustahl S235JR erweitert. Für 15 mm konnten die Schweißnähte bei einer Frequenz von 1,7 kHz ab einer AC-Leistung von 1,3 kW in die Bewertungsgruppe B eingeordnet werden. Zur idealen Kompensation von 20 mm dickem Baustahl war eine AC-Leistung von 1,6 kW bei einer Frequenz von 636 Hz nötig. Mit steigender AC-Leistung konnte in allen Versuchsreihen eine sukzessive Verringerung
der Wurzelüberhöhung demonstriert werden.
Laserstrahlschweißen additiv gefertigter Bauteile: Einsetzbarkeit bestehender Bewertungsvorschriften
(2021)
Bei der additiven Fertigung im Pulverbett ist die Bauteilgröße durch den Bauraum begrenzt. Das Verbindungsschweißen additiv gefertigter Teile bietet eine Möglichkeit diese Größenbegrenzung aufzuheben. Aufgrund des spezifischen Spannungs- und Gefügezustands im additiv aufgebauten Teil ist jedoch unklar, inwiefern bestehende Bewertungsvorschriften des Verbindungsschweißens auch für Schweißnähte an additiv gefertigten Bauteilen geeignet sind. Dies wird anhand des Laserstrahlschweißens additiv gefertigter Rohrverbindungen untersucht. Die Schweißnähte werden mittels visueller Prüfung, metallografischer Untersuchungen sowie Computertomografie ausgewertet. Die festgestellten Fehlerarten sind vergleichbar zu konventionellen Bauteilen. Dies ist ein Indikator dafür, dass bestehende Bewertungsvorschriften die möglichen auftretenden Defekte auch für Schweißnähte an additiven Bauteilen abbilden.
Laserstrahlhybridschweissen von Türmen für Windkraftanlagen Ökonomische und ökologische Vorteile
(2022)
Das Laserstrahlhybridschweißen ist beim Schweißen von Türmen für Windkraftanlagen eine Alternative zum Unterpulverschweißen von Dickblechen in Mehrlagentechnik und bietet hier ökonomische und ökologische Vorteile. Der industrielle Einsatz des Verfahrens ist jedoch durch prozessspezifische Herausforderungen eingeschränkt. Die im Beitrag beschriebene kontaktlose elektromagnetische Badstütze dient zur Erweiterung des Verfahrenspotenzials im Dickblechbereich >15 mm.
Im Additive Manufacturing Verfahren Directed Energy Deposition (DED) wird bei der Verarbeitung von Werkzeugstahl in der Regel reines Argon als Schutzgas verwendet. Dabei kann die Verwendung von speziellen Schutzgasgemischen, auch bei geringen Anteilen zugemischter Gase, durchaus die Bauteilqualität positiv beeinflussen.
In Vorarbeiten der Messer SE & Co. KGaA zeigte ein gewisser Sauerstoffanteil im Schutzgas die Tendenz, den Flankenwinkel von Schweißspuren beim DED zu verbessern. In der vorliegenden Studie wurde daher detailliert untersucht in wie weit unterschiedliche Schutzgasgemische einen Einfluss auf die Qualität sowie die geometrischen Eigenschaften der additiv gefertigten Strukturen des Werkzeugstahls 1.2709 beim Laser-DED ausüben. Es erfolgten zunächst Testschweißungen in Form von Einzelspuren mit unterschiedlichen Gemischen aus dem Basisschutzgas Argon mit geringen Anteilen verschiedener Gase. Dabei wurde der Einfluss der Zusätze auf die Spurgeometrie und Aufbauqualität untersucht. Auf Basis dieser Vorversuche wurde eine Auswahl vielversprechender Gasgemische getroffen und Detailuntersuchungen in Form von Spuren, Flächen und Quadern unter Zugabe verschiedener Mengen an Zusätzen durchgeführt. Zur Bewertung des Einflusses der Schutzgasbeimengungen wurden der Flankenwinkel, die Porosität und das Gefüge der Proben anhand metallografischer Schliffe untersucht. Es zeigte sich, dass eine Zugabe von geringen Anteilen an Zusätzen zunächst zu einer Vergrößerung des Flankenwinkels im Vergleich zu reinem Argon führt. Mit steigendem Anteil der Gase nimmt dieser Winkel jedoch ab. So kann je nach Menge des zugesetzten Gases eine individuelle Benetzung des aufgetragenen Materials an der Oberfläche erreicht werden. Auch die Porosität ließ sich durch Schutzgasgemische beeinflussen und zeigt ein abweichendes Verhalten im Vergleich zu reinem Argon.
Das Laser-MSG-Hybridschweißverfahren führt bei untersuchten hochfesten Pipelinestählen API X80 und X120 reproduzierbar zu Schweißverbindungen mit anforderungsgerechten Zähigkeitseigenschaften.
Eine metallurgische Beeinflussung der Schweißnahtzähigkeit ist durch eine gezielte Auswahl des Zusatzwerkstoffes möglich, wobei die maximale Eindringtiefe des Zusatzwerkstoffes in die Tiefe der Laserhybridnaht zu beachten ist.
Die maximal erzielbare Eindringtiefe des Zusatzwerkstoffes ist auf ca. 14 mm begrenzt. Die eingesetzte Art des MSG-Lichtbogens hatte keinen erkennbaren Einfluss auf die Aufmischung im Laseranteil der Laserhybridnaht.
Die besseren Ergebnisse der Kerbschlagzähigkeit konnten mit Metallpulverdrähten erreicht werden.
Mit den erzielten gemittelten Werten der Schlagarbeit: ca. 200 J bei -60°C für X80 und ca. 53 J bei -40°C für X120 werden Anforderungen der Norm API 5L und DIN EN 10208-2 für die beiden untersuchten Grundwerkstoffe erfüllt.
Mechanische Eigenschaften der laserhybridgeschweißten Schweißverbindungen von hochfesten niedriglegierten Stählen erfüllen die Anforderungen der geltenden Normen
Eindringtiefe des Zusatzwerkstoff bis ca. 12 mm
Halborbitales Schweißen an 36” Rohren mit einer Wandstärke von 16 mm bei einer Schweißgeschwindigkeit von bis zu 2,2 m/min und Laserleistung von 19 kW technisch möglich
Rissfreie Schweißverbindungen an Präzisionsrohren können durch eine geeignete Schweißparameterauswahl mittels Laser-Hybridverfahren hergestellt werden
Die Laserimplantation erlaubt die Herstellung verschleißbeständiger, erhabener Mikrostrukturen (Implants) auf Stahloberflächen durch ein diskontinuierliches Dispergieren von keramischen Partikeln mittels gepulster Laserstrahlung. Durch die flexible Anordnung separierter Implants zu komplexen Mustern erlaubt das Verfahren eine gezielte Oberflächenstrukturierung zur Beeinflussung des Reibungs- und Verschleißverhaltens. Insbesondere erwies sich Titandiborid (TiB2) als Implantationsmaterial für geeig-net, da eine Manipulation der Implantgeometrie in einem breiten Bereich vorgenommen werden konnte, ohne dass Materialdefekte wie Risse oder Poren auftraten.
Ziel der Untersuchungen war es, den Einfluss implantierter TiB2-Partikel auf die Materialeigenschaften von X153CrMoV12 zu ermitteln. Hierfür wurden im Rahmen der Arbeit die Laserparameter (Pulsleistung und -dauer) in einem breiten Parameterfeld variiert und vergleichende Untersuchungen an TiB2 implan-tierten Zonen sowie an punktuell umschmelzstrukturierten Zonen durchgeführt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass eine reine Umschmelzstrukturierung zu einer deutlichen Reduktion der Oberflächenhärte aufgrund erhöhter Restaustenitgehalte (γR) führt. Im Gegensatz dazu führt das Laserimplantieren von TiB2-Partikeln zu einer deutlichen Härtesteigerung in den kuppel- oder ringförmigen Implants. Härtewerte von bis zu 1800 HV1 resultieren aus dispergierten TiB2-Primärpartikeln sowie in-situ ausgeschiedenen Se-kundärphasen, durch die der Restaustenitanteil zudem deutlich reduziert wird.
Laserhybridschweißen von dickwandigen Stählen mit elektromagnetischer Schmelzbadunterstützung
(2019)
Die steigenden Anforderungen in Hinsicht auf Sicherheitsfaktoren von gefügten Bauteilen führen zu einer Zunahme der zu schweißenden Bauteildicken. Das Laserstrahl-Lichtbogen-Hybridschweißverfahren – verbreitet im industriellen Einsatz vor allem im Schiffs- und Windkraftanlagenbau – ermöglicht das einlagige Fügen von dickwandigen Strukturen. Eine Herausforderung stellt das Schweißen von dickwandigen Bauteilen mit reduzierter Geschwindigkeit in Wannenlage (PA-Position) da. Sie ist aufgrund des erhöhten hydrostatischen Druckes und die daraus resultierenden Tropfenbildung an der Wurzelseite bedingt realisierbar. Die im Rahmen dieser Studie eingesetzte elektromagnetische Schmelzbadunterstützung wirkt dem gravitationsbedingten Austropfen der Schmelze entgegen und kompensiert den hydrostatischen Druck. Dabei werden unterhalb der Schweißzone mit Hilfe eines extern angelegten oszillierenden Magnetfeldes Wirbelströme im Werkstück induziert, die eine nach oben gerichtete Lorentzkraft erzeugt. Die Lorentzkraft wirkt dem hydrostatischen Druck entgegen und stellt einen sicheren Schweißprozess ohne Tropfenbildung dar. Mit dem Hybridschweißverfahren mithilfe der elektromagnetischen Schmelzbadunterstützung gelingt es mit einem 20-kW Faserlaser bis zu 30 mm dicke Bleche in einer Lage zu schweißen. Bei 25 mm dicken einlagig geschweißten Platten aus S355 konnte ein Spalt bis 1 mm und ein Kantenversatz bis zu 2 mm sicher überbrückt werden. Die Reduzierung der Schweißgeschwindigkeit hat eine Verringerung der notwendigen Laserleistung zur Folge und begünstigt außerdem die mechanisch-technologischen Eigenschaften, infolge der reduzierten Abkühlgeschwindigkeit. Durch die geringe Martensitbildung führt dies zu einer Verbesserung der Kerbschlagzähigkeit.
Um Bauteile vor Verschleiß und Korrosion zu schützen werden Beschichtungen aus resistenteren Materialien aufgetragen. Hierzu zählen unter anderen die Legierungen auf Cobalt-Chrom Basis. Der diskrete Materialsprung ist jedoch unter thermischen und mechanischen Belastungen häufig Ursache für das Versagen der Beschichtung. In dieser Arbeit werden daher Materialgradierungen von verschiedenen Stahllegierungen zu einer Cobalt-Chrom Basislegierung untersucht. Die Ergebnissen werden dafür auch mit Resultaten zu vorangegangenen Untersuchungen verglichen. Kern der Arbeit bilden geätzte Schliffbilder der Materialpaarungen und Auswertungen mittels Farbeindringprüfung sowie die metallografische Bestimmung der Porosität. Ziel der Arbeit ist ein defektfreier Aufbau der funktional gradierten Materialpaarungen.
Plasma-Transferred-Arc (PTA) welding is a process that enables high deposition rates, but also causes increased thermal load on the component. Laser based Direct Energy Deposition (DED) welding, on the other hand, achieves a high level of precision and thus comparatively low deposition rates, which can lead to high processing costs. Combining laser and arc energy aims to exploit the respective advantages of both technologies.
In this study, different possibilities of this process combination are presented using a PTA system and a 2 kW disk laser. This includes the combination in a common process zone as a highspeed plasma laser cladding technology (HPLC), which achieves process speeds of 10 m/min. Besides that it is being examined whether a pre-running plasma arc can be used to coat difficult-to-weld rail steel with a carbon content of 0.8 % due to a preheating effect. Furthermore, a smoothing of the coating by a plasma arc following the laser is investigated.
Laser-Metal-Deposition (LMD) and Plasma-Transferred-Arc (PTA) are well known Technologies which can be used for cladding purposes. The prime objective in combining LMD and PTA as a Hybrid Metal Deposition-Technology (HMD) is to achieve high Deposition rates at low thermal Impact. Possible applications are coatings for wear protection or repair welding for components made of steel. The two energy sources (laser and Plasma arc) build a Joint process Zone and are configurated to constitute a stable process at laser powers between 0.4-1 kW (defocused) and Plasma currents between 75-200 A. Stainless steel 316L serves as filler material. For this HMD process, a Plasma Cu-nozzle is designed and produced by powder bed based Selective Laser Melting. The potential of the HMD Technology is investigated and discussed considering existing process. This paper demonstrates how the interaction of the two energy sources effects the following application-relevant properties: Deposition rate, powder Efficiency and energy Input.
Laser-GMA-hybrid welding of longitudinally welded large-diameter pipes of grades API- X80/ X120
(2015)
Potentials of the hybrid laser arc welding processes were investigated regarding reliable production of longitudinal welds of high strength pipe steels X80 and X120
Hybrid laser arc welding of the root pass:
Significant reduction in the weld cross section – savings of filler material
Lower heat input into the base material - improvement of mechanical properties of the weld joint
The arc type does not have any influence on the character of dilution in the laser part of the hybrid weld
14 mm deep root face was considered as optimum. No penetration of the filler material could be detected beyond this depth limit
Metal powder filler wires, micro alloyed with Ni and partly with Cr and Mo, guaranteed sufficient Charpy impact toughness at low temperature for the both investigated materials:
Hybrid laser arc welding is a very efficient process for the root pass in multi-pass welding and opens a large technical and economic potential for the manufacture of large pipes
The advantage of selective laser melting (SLM) is its high accuracy and geometrical flexibility.
Because the maximum size of the components is limited by the process chamber, possibilities must be found to combine several parts manufactured by SLM. An application where this is necessary, is, for example, the components of gas turbines, such as burners or oil return pipes, and inserts, which can be joined by circumferential welds. However, only a few investigations to date have been carried out for the welding of components produced by SLM. The object of this paper is, therefore, to investigate the feasibility of laser beam welding for joining SLM tube connections made of nickel-based alloys.
For this purpose, SLM-manufactured Inconel 625 and Inconel 718 tubes were welded with a Yb:YAG disk laser and subsequently examined for residual stresses and defects. The results showed that the welds had no significant influence on the residual stresses. A good weld quality could be achieved in the seam circumference. However, pores and pore nests were found in the final overlap area, which meant that no continuous good welding quality could be accomplished. Pore formation was presumably caused by capillary instabilities when the laser power was ramped out.
With regard to efficient production, it is desirable to combine the respective advantages of additively and conventionally manufactured components. Particularly in the case of large-volume components that also include filigree or complex structures, it makes sense to divide the overall part into individual elements, which afterwards have to be joined by welding.
The following research represents a first step in fundamentally investigating and characterizing the joint welding of Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) components made of Inconel 718. For this purpose, bead-on-plate welds were performed on plates manufactured using the L-PBF process and compared with the conventionally manufactured material. Conventional laser beam welding was used as welding process. The weld geometry was investigated as a function of the L-PBF build-up orientation. It was found that the welding depth and weld geometry differ depending on this orientation and in comparison to the conventional material.
New developments in nickel-based superalloys and production methods, such as the use of additive manufacturing (AM), can result in innovative designs for turbines. It is crucial to understand how the material behaves during the AM process to advance industrial use of these techniques. An analytical model based on reaction-diffusion formalism is developed to better explain the solidification behavior of the material during laser metal deposition (LMD). The well-known Scheil-Gulliver theory has some drawbacks, such as the assumption of equilibrium at the solid-liquid interface, which is addressed by this method. The solidified fractions under the Scheil model and the pure equilibrium model are calculated using CALPHAD simulations. Differential scanning calorimeter is used to measure the heat flow during the solid-liquid phase transformation, the result of which is further converted to solidified fractions. The analytical model is compared with all the other models for validation.
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.
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.
Laser beam oscillation, applied one- or two-dimensional to the actual welding process, influences the welding process in terms of compensation of tolerances and reduction of process emissions like spatter and melt ejections that occur in industrial applications, such as in body-in-white manufacturing. If the welding process could be adapted to these tolerances by the momentarily demanded melt pool width to generate sufficient melt volume or to influence melt pool dynamics, e.g. for a better degassing, laser welding would become more robust. However, beam oscillation 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 can bridge gaps to approximately 0.6 mm at metal sheet thickness of 0.8 mm. However, the complex behaviour of the melt pool has to be considered to generate proper welding results. This work puts emphasis on showing aspects of beam oscillation in fillet welding in lap joints.
Spot welding is one of the most important joining technologies, especially in the automotive industry. Hitherto,the quality of spot welded joints is tested mainly by random destructive tests. A nondestructive testing technique offers the benefit of cost reduction of the testing procedure and optimization of the fabrication process, because every joint could be examined. This would lead to a reduced number of spot welded joints, as redundancies could be avoided. In the procedure described here, the spot welded joint between two zinc-coated steel sheets (HX340LAD+Z100MB or HC340LA+ZE 50/50) is heated optically on one side. Laser radiation and flash light are used as heat sources. The melted zone, the so called “weld nugget” provides the mechanical stability of the connection, but also constitutes a thermal bridge between the sheets. Due to the better thermal contact, the spot welded joint reveals a thermal behavior different from the surrounding material, where the heat transfer between the two sheets is much lower. The difference in the transient thermal behavior is measured with time resolved thermography. Hence, the size of the thermal contact between the two sheets is determined, which is directly correlated to the size of the weld nugget, indicating the quality of the spot weld. The method performs well in transmission with laser radiation and flash light. With laser radiation, it works even in reflection geometry, thus offering the possibility of testing with just one-sided accessibility. By using heating with collimated laser radiation, not only contactfree, but also remote testing is feasible. A further convenience compared to similar thermographic approaches is the applicability on bare steel sheets without any optical coating for emissivity correction. For this purpose, a proper way of emissivity correction was established.
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.
A novel approach for the reconstruction of an equivalent volumetric heat source from a known weld pool shape is proposed. It is based on previously obtained weld pool geometries from a steady-state thermo-fluid dynamics simulation. Hereby the weld pool dimensions are obtained under consideration of the most crucial physical phenomena, such as phase transformations, thermo-capillary convection, natural convection and temperature-dependent material properties. The algorithm provides a time and calibration efficient way for the reproduction of the weld pool shape by local Lamé curves. By adjusting their parameters, the identification of the finite elements located within the weld pool is enabled. The heat input due to the equivalent heat source is assured by replacing the detected nodes’ temperature by the melting temperature.
The model offers variable parameters making it flexible and adaptable for a wide range of workpiece thicknesses and materials and allows for the investigation of transient thermal effects, e.g. the cooling stage of the workpiece. The calculation times remain acceptably short especially when compared to a fully coupled process simulation. The computational results are in good agreement with performed complete-penetration laser beam welding experiments.
A novel approach for the reconstruction of an equivalent volumetric heat source from a known weld pool shape is proposed. It is based on previously obtained weld pool geometries from a steady-state thermo-fluid dynamics simulation. Hereby, the weld pool dimensions are obtained under consideration of the most crucial physical phenomena, such as phase transformations, thermo-capillary convection, natural convection, and temperature-dependent material properties. The algorithm provides a time and calibration efficient way for the reproduction of the weld pool shape by local Lamé curves. By adjusting their parameters, the identification of the finite elements located within the weld pool is enabled. The heat input due to the equivalent heat source is assured by replacing the detected nodes’ temperature by the melting temperature. The model offers variable parameters making it flexible and adaptable for a wide range of workpiece thicknesses and materials and allows for the investigation of transient thermal effects, e.g., the cooling stage of the workpiece. The calculation times remain acceptably short especially when compared to a fully coupled process simulation. The computational results are in good agreement with performed complete-penetration laser beam welding experiments.
Durch pulverbasiertes Directed-Energy Deposition lassen sich Gradierungen fertigen, um diskrete Materialübergänge zu vermeiden und die Lebensdauer von Hartschichten zu erhöhen. Die Kombination aus Stahl als Basiswerkstoff und einer verschleiß- und korrosionsbeständigen Co-Cr Legierung verspricht durch Vermeiden von Spannungskonzentrationen das Verhindern von Abplatzungen und Rissen in der Schutzschicht. Um die Qualität des gefertigten Bauteils zu beurteilen, liegen für solche Funktional Gradierten Materialien (FGM) wenig Erkenntnisse vor. Daher wird im Rahmen dieser Studie eine Methodik erarbeitet, um die relative Dichte eines Funktional Gradierten Materials auf Stahl und Co-Cr Basis mittels Maschinendaten zu bestimmen. Anschließend wird unter Einsatz eines künstlichen neuronalen Netzes anhand von Sensordaten die relative Dichte vorhergesagt. Das trainierte Netz erreicht eine Vorhersagegenauigkeiten von 99,83%. Abschließend wird eine Anwendung anhand von einem Demonstrator gezeigt.
Beim Unterpulverschweißen sind die Prozessgeräusche ein Indikator für eine gute Fügequalität. Diese Beurteilung kann i.d.R. nur von einer erfahrenen Fachkraft durchgeführt werden. Eine kürzlich entwickelte künstliche Intelligenz kann automatisch das akustische Prozesssignal anhand vortrainierter Merkmale klassifizieren und die Fügequalität anhand des Geräuschs beurteilen. Der Algorithmus, einmal richtig trainiert, kann den Prüfaufwand beim Unterpulverschweißen deutlich reduzieren.
Duplexstähle finden in vielen industriellen Bereichen Anwendung, dies ist nicht zuletzt ihren hervorragenden Eigenschaften, wie einer guten Korrosionsbeständigkeit, einer guten Duktilität bei trotzdem hoher Festigkeit, zuzuschreiben. Diese Eigenschaften werden jedoch durch das Schweißen, vor allem das Laserstrahlschweißen, beeinträchtigt, da die hohen Abkühlraten zu erhöhten Ferritanteilen im Schweißgut führen. Mit Hilfe eines zweistufigen Prozesses, bei dem die Kanten der Fügepartner vor dem Schweißen mit nickelhaltigem Pulver beschichtet werden, soll dieses Problem für dickwandige Bleche gelöst werden.
In diesem Zusammenhang wurden verschiedene Prozessparameter für den Laser-Pulver-Auftragschweiß-Prozess untersucht sowie die defektfreie Schweißung dieser beschichteten Kanten mit unterschiedlichen Prozessgasen.
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 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.
With global increases in clean energy demand, the natural gas is gaining in importance. Pipelines are the safest and most cost-effective way of transporting natural gas. Due to high transport volume and resulting high operation pressure, the demand for ultra-high strength steel grades such as X120 is very strong. As a result of the fact that these steels are produced by thermo-mechanical controlled processing, the welding process must be selected accordingly. Based on investigations, a high heat input such as by submerged arc welding process leads to softening in the weld metal and loss of strength whereas pure laser beam welding results in high cooling rates and deteriorate toughness of the weld metal. The objective of this research is to investigate the influence of heat input to mechanical properties of hybrid laser-arc welded pipeline steels of grade X120. Test specimens with a thickness of 20 mm could be welded without preheating in a single-pass with different welding velocities to observe the largest possible parameter window of the heat input. The achieved V-notch impact energy for hybrid laser-arc welded samples was 144±37 J at a testing temperature of -40 °C. With a tensile strength of 930±4 MPa the requirements of API 5L was achieved. To prevent gravity drop-outs at the slow welding speeds, an electromagnetic weld pool support system was used, which works contactless and is based on generating Lorentz forces. It was therefore possible to control the cooling rate in order to meet the requirements of the mechanical properties. By adapting the electromagnetic weld pool support to the laser and laser hybrid welding process, the application potential of these technologies for industrial implementation can be drastically increased.
The application of anti-corrosion coated, high-strength steels in the automotive industry has increased in recent years. In combination with various zinc-based surface coatings, liquid metal embrittlement cracking can be observed in some of these materials. A high-quality, crack-free spot-welded joint is essential to realize the lightweight potential of the materials. In this work, the LME susceptibility of different coatings, which will be determined by the crack length and the occurrence rate, will be investigated using a welding under external load setup. The uncoated specimens did not show any LME. EG, GI and GA showed significantly less LME than ZM coatings. The latter coatings showed much larger crack lengths than the EG, GI and GA coatings. Furthermore, two mechanisms regarding the LME occurrence rate were observed: the occurrence of LME in zinc–magnesium coatings was theorized to be driven by the material properties of the coatings, whereas the occurrence of LME at EG, GI and GA samples was forced mainly by the application of the external tensile load.
In the experimental setup of this work, the materials were exposed to unusually high mechanical loads (up to 80% of their yield strength) to evoke LME cracks.
One of the challenges of the high-power hybrid laser welding of thick steels is the sensitivity of the process of the process to manufacturing tolerances. This usually leads to a time-consuming preparation of the welding edges, such as milling. The study deals with the influence of the edge quality of milled and plasma-cut steel made of S355J2 with a wall thickness of 20 mm on the laser hybrid welded seam quality. Furthermore, the gap bridgeability and the tolerances towards edge misalignment was investigated. An AC magnet was used as backing support to prevent sagging and positioned under the workpiece, to generate an upwards directed electromagnetic pressure. The profiles of the edges and the gap on the top and root side were measured using a digital camera. Single-pass laser hybrid welds of plasma-cut edges could be welded using a laser beam power of just 13.7 kW. A gap bridgeability up to 2 mm and misalignment of edges up to 2 mm could be achieved successful. Additionally, the independence of the cutting side and the welding side was shown, so that samples were welded to the opposite side to their cutting. For evaluation of internal defects or irregularities, X-ray images were carried out. Charpy impact strength tests were performed to determine the toughness of the welds.
One of the challenges of the high-power hybrid laser welding of thick steels is the sensitivity of the process of the process to manufacturing tolerances. This usually leads to a time-consuming preparation of the welding edges, such as milling. The study deals with the influence of the edge quality of milled and plasma-cut steel made of S355J2 with a wall thickness of 20 mm on the laser hybrid welded seam quality. Furthermore, the gap bridgeability and the tolerances towards edge misalignment was investigated. An AC magnet was used as backing support to prevent sagging and positioned under the workpiece, to generate an upwards directed electromagnetic pressure. The profiles of the edges and the gap on the top and root side were measured using a digital camera. Single-pass laser hybrid welds of plasma-cut edges could be welded using a laser beam power of just 13.7 kW. A gap bridgeability up to 2 mm and misalignment of edges up to 2 mm could be achieved successful. Additionally, the independence of the cutting side and the welding side was shown, so that samples were welded to the opposite side to their cutting. For evaluation of internal defects or irregularities, X-ray images were carried out. Charpy impact strength tests were performed to determine the toughness of the welds.
Directed energy deposition is a metal additive manufacturing process that builds parts by joining material in a layer-by-layer fashion on a substrate. Those parts are exposed to rapid thermo-cycles which cause steep stress gradients and the layer-upon-layer manufacturing fosters an anisotropic microstructure, therefore stress relief heat treatment is necessary. The numerical simulation can be used to find suitable parameters for the heat treatment and to reduce the necessary efforts to perform an effective stress relieving. Suitable validation Experiments are necessary to verify the results of the numerical simulation.
In this paper, a 3D coupled thermo-mechanical model is used to simulate the heat treatment of an additive manufactured component to investigate the application of a C-ring geometry for the distortion-based validation of the numerical simulation.
Therefore, the C-ring samples were 3D scanned using a structured light 3D scanner to quantify the distortion after each process step.
Laser welding is a widely established manufacturing process in many industry sectors. Solidification cracking as well as the weldability of materials is still since many years a highly contentious issue, particularly regarding the causes of the hot crack formation. Many of studies have been conducted to determine the critical conditions of occurrence of the solidification cracking. In this study a 2D in-situ observation technique in conjunction with laser diodes as the illuminating source has been employed to measure the arising strain field during the laser beam welding process. For the first time the employed technique enabled the in-situ measurement of the transient strain field at the surface of the workpiece directed to the laser beam in the critical range, where the solidification cracking normally occurs. Thus the critical threshold strain values at high temperatures characterizing transition from crack free to crack concomitant welding process could be deduced.
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.
In recent years, laser beam welding has found wide applications in many industrial fields. Solidification cracks are one of the most frequently encountered welding defects that hinder obtaining a safe weld joint. Decades of research have shown that one of the main causes of such cracks are the strain and the strain rate. Obtaining meaningful measurements of these strains has always been a major challenge for scientists, because of the specific environment of the measurement range and the many obstacles, as well as the high temperature and the plasma plume. In this study, a special experimental setup with a high-speed camera was employed to measure the strain during the welding process. The hot cracking susceptibility was investigated for 1.4301 stainless steel, and the critical strain required for solidification crack formation was locally and globally determined.
Using the novel optical measurement technique together with the optical flow algorithm, a twodimensional deformation analysis during welding has been conducted. This technique provides for the first time a measurement of the strain field locally in the immediate vicinity of the assumed solidification front. The described procedure of the opticalmeasurement allows to determine the real martial-dependent values of critical strain and strain rate characterising transition to the hot cracking during laser welding processes. The local critical strain that obtained in the assumed solidification showed that the local critical strain decreases as the strain rate increases. Moreover, this phenomenon has also been shown with results from the CTW-test, since the global strain decreases with an increase in the external strain rate.
A 3D electro-thermomechanical model is established in order to investigate liquid metal embrittlement.
After calibration to a dual phase steel of the 1000 MPa tensile strength class, it is used to analyse the thermo-mechanical system of an experimental procedure to enforce liquid metal embrittlement during resistance spot welding. In this procedure, a tensile stress level is applied to zinc coated advanced high strength steel samples during welding. Thereby, liquid metal embrittlement formation is enforced, depending on the applied stress level and the selected material.
The model is suitable to determine and visualise the corresponding underlying stresses and strains responsible for the occurrence of liquid metal embrittlement. Simulated local stresses and strains show good conformity with experimentally observed surface crack locations.
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
Laser beam welding is a widely used joining technique in many industrial applications. This is mainly due to its many unique advantages, especially compared to conventional arc welding processes. These advantages include, among others, highly concentrated energy deposition, low total heat input and a capacity to penetrate deep into the material while causing only small welding distortions.
However, at the same time, the small dimension of the laser spot, high solidification rates, and small dimensions of the weld pool itself can provoke issues regarding the assembly tolerances of the workpiece, the hot-cracking phenomena, as well as keyhole-induced bubbles escaping from the melt.
Weld pool shapes in laser beam welding are elongated at the external, free surfaces under the action of the main driving forces in the melt – such as recoil pressure and surface tension forces – while being shorter in the internal areas of the weld pool. This leads to a regular solidification sequence from the internal zones toward the free surfaces, e.g. from the bottom to the top in partial penetration welding. However, in recent studies reported in the literature and seen in the experimental and numerical investigations of BAM Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung in Berlin, it was found that an internal narrowing phenomenon can occur that is often accompanied by a distinct bulging of the weld bead in deeper zones.
As the internal behaviour of the melt during the process is hardly optically accessible, several numerical models and experimental techniques were established to visualise the mechanisms of the formation of the bulging and the narrowing phenomenon and to reveal the consequences on the solidification sequence, pore formation, and filler metal dilution.
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.
The determination of mechanical properties of welded Steel structures such as strength or ductility is a subject of high interest for the majority of Companies in the area of metal Processing. The material Parameters can be obtained by performing the tensile test on the samples made from a part of a component. In some cases, it is highly expensive to produce the tensile specimens especially from the weld metal, which contains different type of microstructure such as weld seam or heat affected zone in an extremely small area. Therefore, a method is described in this paper to determine the material Parameters of high strength Steel structures and welded joints locally and without any additional effort to perform the tensile test. In this method, instrumented indentation technique (IIT), an indenter is pushed on the flat surface of a specimen in a certain period of time and simultaneously the applied force and the corresponding indentation path are measured. The data related to the force-indentation diagram is given as input to an artificial neural network (ANN) to obtain the material Parameters. The ANN can be trained by generating the large qualitative data sets with numerical Simulation of the IIT procedure. The Simulation must be run several times with the different material model parameter sets to generate the numerous
force-indentation diagrams as the inputs of ANN. Then, the trained ANN is validated by performing the IIT on the welded joints and comparing the obtained material Parameters from ANN with the tensile test.
Consequently, the mechanical properties of welded joints can be determined by performing the IIT and evaluating the resulting data by the ANN.
Innovative Design- und Fertigungsstrategien zur Steigerung der Leichtbaupotenziale im Stahlbau
(2022)
Ziel des Verbundvorhabens „SmartWeld“ ist es, für die schweißtechnische Fertigung von Stahlbaustrukturen exemplarisch am Beispiel von Hohlprofilknoten, welche als designrelevante Elemente von Gründungsstrukturen für Offshore-Windenergieanlagen (OWEA) einsetzbar sind, die Möglichkeiten des Leichtbaus unter konsequenter Digitalisierung der Fertigungskette aufzuzeigen, um einerseits die Ressourceneffizienz zu forcieren und gleichzeitig wettbewerbsfähige Fertigungsstrategien aufzuzeigen.
Innerhalb von „SmartWeld“ werden daher die Möglichkeiten einer wirtschaftlichen Fertigung von Leichtbau-Gründungsstrukturen am Beispiel aufgelöster Tragstrukturen (Jackets) aufgezeigt. Eine lastgerechte Auslegung der Schweißverbindungen nach bionischen Prinzipien ermöglicht, weitere Einsparpotenziale an Ressourcen bei gleichzeitiger Erhöhung der Lebensdauer zu erschließen.
Die Ausnutzung konstruktiver Prinzipien des Leichtbaus zur Erzeugung innovativer und ressourcenschonender Produkte erfordert den Einsatz digitaler Werkzeuge in der Designphase, der virtuellen Absicherung, der Fertigung und Qualitätsüberwachung sowie nachgelagerten Bauteilprüfung zur Abbildung der Nutzungsphase. Im Rahmen der Arbeiten wird daher der gesamte Produktentstehungs- und Prüfprozess betrachtet. Dies beinhaltet das Design im Kontext des konstruktiven Leichtbaus, den schweißtechnischen Fertigungsprozess, die Bauteilprüfung sowie den Transfer der Ergebnisse in die Industrie durch serientaugliche Demonstratoren. Der Fokus der Arbeiten ist, die Fertigung auch im Umfeld eines für großskalige Stahlstrukturen üblichen hohen Individualisierungsgrades schweißtechnisch zu automatisieren und das Leichtbaupotenzial gezielt umzusetzen. Die Vorgaben aus der Designphase hinsichtlich einer lastgerechten Gestaltung bzw. Implementierung bionischer Ansätze können so gezielt durch einen adaptiven, automatisierten Schweißprozess eingestellt werden. Dies führt zu einer Erhöhung der Ermüdungs¬festigkeit und damit Produktlebensdauer, wodurch die Strukturen dünnwandiger ausgeführt und Ressourcen sowie CO2 eingespart werden können.
Innovative Design- und Fertigungsstrategien zur Steigerung der Leichtbaupotenziale im Stahlbau
(2022)
Offshore wind energy plays an important role for the desired transition towards a carbon dioxide free industry within the next decades. However, the grounding of the offshore wind plants governs the overall installation process besides bureaucratic bottlenecks.
The application of lightweight principles in steel construction, e.g. the usage dissolved load-bearing structures, so called Jackets foundations, offer great potential in reducing the resource consumption, especially with respect to the needed amount of steel.
In this context this presentation focuses on a fully digitalization of the welding manufacturing and as well as testing chain to enable a fully automated manufacturing as well as quality assessment of tubular nodes as key element of Jackets foundation structures. Furthermore, the relationship between the seam shape geometry and resulting fatigue strength is evaluated by numerical methods incorporating bionic principles. It is shown that tubular nodes can be welded fully automatically taking geometry tolerances into account. Moreover, the seam shape could be manufactured as requested by the numerical models which offers great potential for an extended lifetime. Subsequently, the improvements in resource efficiency and reduction of carbon dioxide emissions are evaluated by a life-cycle-assessment.
Innovative Design- und Fertigungsstrategien zur Steigerung der Leichtbaupotenziale im Stahlbau
(2022)
Ziel des Verbundvorhabens „SmartWeld“ ist es, für die schweißtechnische Fertigung von Stahlbaustrukturen exemplarisch am Beispiel von Hohlprofilknoten, welche als designrelevante Elemente von Gründungsstrukturen für Offshore-Windenergieanlagen (OWEA) einsetzbar sind, die Möglichkeiten des Leichtbaus unter konsequenter Digitalisierung der Fertigungskette aufzuzeigen, um einerseits die Ressourceneffizienz zu forcieren und gleichzeitig wettbewerbsfähige Fertigungsstrategien aufzuzeigen.
Innerhalb von „SmartWeld“ werden daher die Möglichkeiten einer wirtschaftlichen Fertigung von Leichtbau-Gründungsstrukturen am Beispiel aufgelöster Tragstrukturen (Jackets) aufgezeigt. Eine lastgerechte Auslegung der Schweißverbindungen nach bionischen Prinzipien ermöglicht, weitere Einsparpotenziale an Ressourcen bei gleichzeitiger Erhöhung der Lebensdauer zu erschließen.
Die Ausnutzung konstruktiver Prinzipien des Leichtbaus zur Erzeugung innovativer und ressourcenschonender Produkte erfordert den Einsatz digitaler Werkzeuge in der Designphase, der virtuellen Absicherung, der Fertigung und Qualitätsüberwachung sowie nachgelagerten Bauteilprüfung zur Abbildung der Nutzungsphase. Im Rahmen der Arbeiten wird daher der gesamte Produktentstehungs- und Prüfprozess betrachtet. Dies beinhaltet das Design im Kontext des konstruktiven Leichtbaus, den schweißtechnischen Fertigungsprozess, die Bauteilprüfung sowie den Transfer der Ergebnisse in die Industrie durch serientaugliche Demonstratoren. Der Fokus der Arbeiten ist, die Fertigung auch im Umfeld eines für großskalige Stahlstrukturen üblichen hohen Individualisierungsgrades schweißtechnisch zu automatisieren und das Leichtbaupotenzial gezielt umzusetzen. Die Vorgaben aus der Designphase hinsichtlich einer lastgerechten Gestaltung bzw. Implementierung bionischer Ansätze können so gezielt durch einen adaptiven, automatisierten Schweißprozess eingestellt werden. Dies führt zu einer Erhöhung der Ermüdungs¬festigkeit und damit Produktlebensdauer, wodurch die Strukturen dünnwandiger ausgeführt und Ressourcen sowie CO2 eingespart werden können.
The paper describes a systematic investigation of the EM influenced laser beam welding of the aluminum die casting alloy AlSi12(Fe) in comparison to a reference material, a wrought aluminum alloy AlMg3. By using of a face centred CCD test plan, the influencing variables laser power, welding velocity and magnetic flux density are varied with regard to their influence on the remaining porosity. The global pore fraction of the weld seams was analyzed by X-ray images with ImageJ. This enabled a qualitatively very good regression model to be derived for the respective material, which identifies the dominant influencing variables. The results prove, statistically verified, for the investigated parameter range, that
- the magnetic flux density is the main cause for the porosity reduction,
- the porosity rises with increasing laser power the porosity in the weld seams rises,
- the influence of the welding velocity is negligible,
- the pore quantity in wrought alloy is more strongly minimized by the magnetic flux density than in die casting,
- the porosity decreases due to the EM influence by approx. 70 % compared to the unaffected welds. This effect is emphasized by the contour line charts, which illustrate the relationship between laser power and magnetic flux density.
With the exception of the quadratic influence of B at the wrought alloy, the statistical correlation shows a linear development of the respective influence variables for both aluminum alloys. In order to investigate these deviations, further simulations with a focus on weld pool geometry and weld pool flow are to be performed. In addition, the welding results can be classified in accordance with DIN EN ISO 13919-2 in the highest evaluation group B for AlMg3 and in evaluation group C for AlSi12(Fe) by applying a magnetic flux density of 350 mT. The analysis of the CT images at constant laser power and welding velocity allows a direct comparison both between the two alloys and also as a function of the magnetic flux density with regard to the number and size of pores. An increase in the magnetic flux density leads to a significant decrease in the number and volume of pores, which can be seen more clearly in wrought alloy than in die casting. Very acceptable results can be achieved for both materials and different welding parameters. This successfully demonstrates the desired process robustness and functionality of the EM system for practical applications. For subsequent investigations of overlap joints, the lowest possible laser power and a high magnetic flux density are recommended.
Laser beam welding of aluminum die casting is challenging. A large quantity of gases (in particular, hydrogen) is absorbed by aluminum during the die-cast manufacturing process and is contained in the base material in solved or bound form. After remelting by the laser, the gases are released and are present in the melt as pores. Many of these metallurgic pores remain in the weld seam as a result of the high solidification velocities. The natural (Archimedean) buoyancy is not sufficient to remove the pores from the weld pool, leading to process instabilities
and poor mechanical properties of the weld. Therefore, an electromagnetic (EM) system is used to apply an additional buoyancy
component to the pores. The physical mechanism is based on the generation of Lorentz forces, whereby an electromagnetic pressure is introduced into the weld pool. The EM system exploits the difference in electrical conductivity between poorly conducting pores (inclusions) and the comparatively better conducting aluminum melt to increase the resulting buoyancy velocity of the pores. Within the present study, the electromagnetic supported degassing is investigated in dependence on the laser beam power, welding velocity, and electromagnetic flux density. By means of a design of experiments, a systematic variation of these parameters is carried out for partial penetration laser beam welding of 6mm thick sheets of wrought aluminum alloy AlMg3 and die-cast aluminum alloy AlSi12(Fe), where the wrought alloy serves as a reference. The proportion of pores in the weld seams is determined using x-ray images, computed tomography images, and cross-sectional images. The results prove a significant reduction of the porosity up to 70% for both materials as a function of the magnetic flux density.