Laser Welding Technical Study Paper Presentation

2001:21
LULEAI
UNIVERSITY , J k ^ .
OF T E C H N O L O G Y
DOCTORAL THE SI
Technical Development of
the Laser Welding Process
KLAS NILSSON
Department of Material and Manufacturing Engineering

Division of Manufacturing System Engineering
2000:21 • ISSN: 1402 - 1544 • ISRN: L T U - D T - - 00/21 - - SE

LULEÅ I
TEKNISKA . J k - i
UNIVERSITET
Technical Development of the Laser Welding Process
Klas Nilsson
Department of Materials and Manufacturing Engineering

Division of Manufacturing Systems Engineering
SE-971 87 Luleå, Sweden
Doctoral thesis 2001:21
Akademisk avhandling
för avläggande av teknologie doktorsexamen, som med vederbörligt tillstånd av tekniska fäkuketsnämnden vid
Luleä tekniska universitet kommer att offentligen försvaras i sal E 246, torsdagen den 14 juni klockan 09.00.
Fakultetsopponent: Adj Professor Jens Klæstrup Kristensen, FORCE Institute, Danmark
Chairman: A d j . Professor Claes Magnusson, Luleä University of Technology
Academic Thesis
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, which with the due permission of the Board of Faculty of
Engineering at Luleä University o f Technology will be publicly defended in room E 246, Luleä University of
Technology, on Thursday June 14 at 09.00 a.m.
External examiner: Adj Professor Jens Klæstrup Kristensen, FORCE Institute, Danmark
Chairman: Adj. Professor Claes Magnusson, Luleä University of Technology
Technical Development of the
Laser Welding Process
KLAS NILSSON
Department o f Materials and Manufacturing Engineering

Division o f Manufacturing Systems Engineering
D o not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where
there is no path and leave a trail.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
K . Nilsson: Technical Development o f the Laser Welding Process
Preface
This work was carried out at the Division o f Manufacturing Systems Engineering at the
department o f Materials and Manufacturing Engineering at Luleå University o f Technology. The
experimental work was mainly performed at the Luleå University laser laboratory, but some
w o r k has been done i n Germany, Denmark and Norway.
I w o u l d like to thank my supervisor Professor Claes Magnusson for his great support and
encouragement during the work, D r . John Powell from w h o m I have received invaluable
guidance and inspiring discussions. I also want to thank all my colleagues at the division and the
department for fruitful discussions and for providing a creative working atmosphere.
I w o u l d finally thank my family, Maria, M a r t i n and Robert, for their encouraging support and
patience during the work.
Abstract
Over the past twenty years the laser welding technique has became a widely accepted industrial
tool. It is nowadays a process that has a wide range o f applications i n a number o f industries. In
some cases i t offers component fabrication opportunities previously unavailable. This thesis
describes the technical development o f the laser welding process and presents the results f r o m a
number o f experimental investigations. The seven papers that make up the thesis investigate
various aspects o f the technical development o f the laser welding process mechanism as well as
industrial applications.
Paper I: A Review of C O , Laser Welding: Mechanism and Techniques.
The paper provides an introduction to the subject o f C 0 2 laser welding. The mechanism and
techniques o f the process are analysed and the future commercial growth o f the subject is
discussed.
Paper II: High Power Laser Welding of Construction Steels.
A n investigation o f laser welding o f construction steels used i n the heavy mechanical industries is
presented here. The results include welding parameters for high power lasers up to 17 k W , weld
metallurgy and static and dynamic weld strength o f test specimens. Also components designed
for laser welding were tested.
Paper III: Laser Welding of Zinc Coated Steel.
A n investigation o f the effect o f plasma control on porosity levels when welding zinc-coated
steel is presented i n this paper including the reduction o f plasma production by using a pulsed
laser beam.
Paper IV: Laser Welding with Metal powder as Filler Material.
Laser welding o f deep drawing sheet steel has been performed w i t h simultaneous feeding o f iron
powder into a butt j o i n t . A new method using a magnetic field to feed the powder into the joint
gap has been developed.
Paper V: Investigation into the Welding of Super Alloys with a CW Nd:YAG Laser and Dual- Focusing
Optics.
A continuous wave Nd:YAG-laser was used to weld sheet metal parts w i t h very high demands
on the weld geometry and quality. Examples include applications f r o m the aircraft and aerospace
industry. T o achieve improved weld geometry and to reduce the probability o f porosity
formation, a dual-focusing optic was designed and successfully tested.
Paper VI: Fatigue Strength of Nd:YAG-laser Welded Stainless Steel Lap Joints
Fatigue tests were carried out on thin section stainless steel lap welds produced by N d : Y A G -
laser. Analysis o f the fatigue tests results and the fracture surfaces identified sheet thickness and
inter sheet gaps as having considerable effect on fatigue life. W e l d width has a more moderate
influence on fatigue life and weld porosity has a negligible effect at low concentrations.
ii
Paper VII: Laser welding; the influence of laser choice and material properties on weld dimensions.
Three metals w i t h different thermal properties were welded under similar conditions by
N d : Y A G and C O , lasers. The N d : Y A G laser was found to give superior welding performance.
The welding process efficiency was found to be affected by four material properties: the specific
heat, the density, the melting point and the keyhole absorption.
iii
Papers
Paper I J. Powell and K . Nilsson: A Review o f C O , Laser Welding: Mechanism and

Techniques. Industrial Laser Review, Buyers Guide, March 1994.
Paper I I K . Nilsson H . Engström, J. Flinkfeldt, T. Nilsson, A. Skirfors and M . Miller: High

Power Laser Welding o f Construction Steels. Submitted for publication i n Journal
o f Laser Applications
Paper I I I K. Nilsson and J. Heyden: Laser Welding o f Zinc Coated Steel. Proc. 6th
Conference on Lasers i n Manufacturing, L I M - 6 . May 10-11, Birmingham, 1989.
Paper I V K . Nilsson and I . Sarady: Laser Welding w i t h Metal powder as Filler Material.
Proc. 4th conf. on Lasers in Manufacturing, L I M - 4 M a y 12-14, Birmingham,
1987
Paper V I . Sarady, K . Nilsson, C. Magnusson and T . Wahlberg: Investigation into the

Welding o f Super Alloys w i t h a C W N d : Y A G Laser and Dual- Fokusing Optics.
Proceedings o f the Laser Materials Processing Conference I C A L E O ' 9 8 , N o v . 16-
19, 1998, Orlando, Florida, USA
Paper V I K . Nilsson, J. Linder, H . Engström a n d j Powell: Fatigue Strength o f N d . Y A G -

laser Welded Stainless Steel Lap Joints. Accepted for publication i n the
Proceedings o f the Laser Materials Processing Conference I C A L E O ' 0 1 , Oct. 15-
18, 2001 Jacksonville, Florida, U S A
Paper V I I T . Forsman, K . Nilsson, J. Powell and C. Magnusson: Laser welding; the

influence o f laser choice and material properties on weld dimensions. Submitted
for publication in Journal o f Laser Applications
iv
Contents
Paper I A Review o f C 0 2 Laser Welding: Mechanism and 1

Techniques.
Paper I I H i g h Power Laser Welding o f Construction Steels. 15
Paper I I I Laser Welding o f Zinc Coated Steel. 29
Paper I V Laser Welding w i t h Metal powder as Filler Material. 43
Paper V Investigation into the Welding o f Super Alloys w i t h

a C W N d : Y A G Laser and Dual- Fokusing Optics. 57
Paper V I Fatigue Strength o f N d : Y A G - laser Welded Stainless

Steel Lap Joints. 69
Paper V I I Laser welding; the influence o f laser choice and

material properties on weld dimensions. 87
v
K.Nilsson: Paper 1- A Review o f C O 2 Laser Welding: Mechanism and Techniques
K . Nilsson: Paper I - A Review o f C O 2 Laser Welding: Mechanism and Techniques
A Review of CO2 Laser Welding:

Mechanism and Techniques
1
K . Nilsson: Paper I - A Review of C O 2 Laser Welding: Mechanism and Techniques
2
K . Nilsson: Paper I - A R e v i e w o f C O 2 Laser Welding: Mechanism and Techniques
A Review of CO2 Laser Welding: Mechanism and Techniques

-1 +
John. Powell*, Klas Nilsson " and Claes Magnusson
*Laser Expertise, Nottingham NG7 2 T R , U . K .

+
L u l e å University o f Technology, S-951 87 Luleå, Sweden
Abstract
This paper provides an introduction to the subject o f C 0 2 laser welding. The mechanism and
techniques o f the process are analysed and the future commercial growth o f the subject is
discussed.
1 INTRODUCTION
C O , laser welding involves the use o f a focused beam to produce a melt that is protected by a
l o w velocity shroud o f inert gas as shown i n Figure 1. This melt is used to j o i n two parts o f a
metallic component together. The focused nature o f the laser spot gives rise to very narrow
welds that means that joints can be completed w i t h the m i n i m u m amount o f melting and heat
input to the component. This minimal heating o f the workpiece allows the process to be used to
hermetically seal electronic devices without damage to delicate internal components. Another
benefit is the avoidance o f thermal distortion on cooling as the small cross section welds
produced by laser methods do not stress the surrounding material as much as larger more
traditional welds.
W e l d joint
Figure 1 . Principles of laser welding
Laser welding produces welds o f similar quality to those generated by electron beam methods
w i t h o u t the need for a vacuum chamber. It must be noted however that unlike electron beam
3
machines lasers can only be used effectively on thin to medium sections. Although sections o f
more than 20 m m o f mild steel have been successfully welded at laser powers o f 10 or 15 k W ,
most laser welding is carried out on sections o f less than 5 m m . One great advantage o f the use
o f the laser as a heat source for welding is the fact that a wide range o f dissimilar metals can be
welded. Most metal combinations have been joined i n this way as a result o f the highly localised
nature o f the molten pool and the exact control over the energy input which is possible.
2 WELDING MECHANISMS
C0 2 laser welding can be carried out by one o f two mechanisms;
a. Conduction limited welding, where the laser acts as point source o f energy moving across
the surface o f the sheet. Welds formed by this process are roughly semi circular i n cross
section.
b. Keyhole welding, where the laser acts as a line source o f energy penetrating into the body
of the material. This line source travels across the sheet producing welds that are narrow and
deep.
The transition from conduction limited to keyhole welding is determined to a large extent by
the energy density o f the beam and the interaction time as demonstrated by Figure 2. These
two welding mechanisms w i l l n o w be
discussed separately.
weld
Typical scale:
Figure 2. Typical weld cross sections (increasing in laser power or decreasing in process
speed from a to e).
Conduction limited welding
The principle o f conduction limited welding is extremely simple; the beam irradiates the
material surface and heat is conducted radiaUy away from the laser - material interaction zone.
The molten pool thus established has a semicircular type cross-section as shown i n Figure 2a.
The depth to w i d t h ratio o f welds o f this sort gives them a higher tolerance to poor fit up
than keyhole type welds. Conduction limited welds are often used where hermetic sealing o f
4
a preconstructed part is necessary. I n this case the low penetration o f the process helps to
avoid damage to components inside the sealed chamber. As a j o i n i n g process however,
conduction limited welding is far less efficient than keyhole welding i n terms o f the energy
consumed per unit area o f j o i n .
Deep penetration (keyhole) welding
A t high power densities C 0 lasers are capable o f deep penetration welding. Welds produced
2
in this way often have depth to width ratios o f 10 to 1 or more. A n example o f such a weld is
shown i n cross section in Figure 3.
Figure 3. Deep penetration weld cross-section in 2 m m thick stainless steel. (Laser power: 2500 Watts,
welding speed: 4 m/min).
The generation o f welds w i t h large aspect ratios is not possible by the conduction limited
surface welding mechanism discussed earlier. W h e n deep penetration welds are produced the
laser acts as a line source o f energy throughout the depth o f the material rather than a point
source acting from the top surface only. This line source welding mechanism is made possible
by the generation o f a 'keyhole' that penetrates into the material. This keyhole takes the f o r m
o f a narrow deep hole surrounded by molten metal. As this zone is traversed across a metal
sheet the liquid metal flows around the hole and solidifies behind it producing the type o f
weld shown i n Figures 2c-e and 3. The mechanism by which a keyhole is generated can be
explained as follows:
Keyholing:
Figure 4 shows i n schematic form, the development o f a keyhole from an initial laser
generated surface melt. As the melt becomes rapidly heated by the laser, a severe thermal
gradient is set up. The centre o f the melt approaches the boiling point and the edge, w h i c h is
in contact w i t h solid material, remains at the melting point. This thermal gradient is
associated w i t h a surface tension gradient as demonstrated in Figure 4a The higher surface
tension at the relatively cool edges o f the melt acts to pull the liquid away from the centre
w h i c h causes the geometry o f the melt to change (Figure 4b).
5
The shape o f the melt improves the absorptivity i n that area and this causes temperatures to
rise further. This increase i n central temperature amplifies the depth o f the central depression
by a combination o f surface tension effects and the initiation o f surface boiling which
increases the pressure on the centre o f the melt. This depression depth amplification
continues until a keyhole is formed (Figure 4c). This narrow deep hole is prevented from
collapsing by the vapour pressure o f the boiling liquid surrounding it.
Molten Vapour v
zone
Melt c .V: < Melt
Boiling
point TEMPERATURE
GRADIENT
Melting
point
SURFACE
TENSION
GRADIENT
Figure 4. The creation of a keyhole type weld pool.
It is believed that the energy from the laser is absorbed by the boiling vapour i n the keyhole
and then passed on from this plasma to the surrounding walls o f the keyhole to produce the
molten weld pool. However, i f the plasma becomes super heated it can create a highly
absorptive cloud o f electrons and ions above the metal surface w h i c h can frustrate the welding
process.
3 WELDING TECHNIQUES
Laser welding is n o w employed by industries as diverse as electronics and shipbuilding. T o

fulfil the demands o f this broad range o f application, a number o f specialist techniques have
been developed. The following notes explain the basic features o f each method under the
following headings;
1. Continuous wave butt-welding

2. ' T ' Joint welding
3. Spot welding
4. Welding w i t h filler metal
5. Pulsed welding
6
K . Nilsson: Paper I - A Review o f CG>2 Laser Welding: Mechanism and Techniques
Continuous wave butt-welding
This is the standard method o f welding and consists merely o f running a perpendicular
focused beam along the line where two plates meet, as i n
figure 5.
Laser beam
Weld
Figure 5. Laser butt-welding
It was mentioned earlier that dissimilar metals, could be welded. Figure 6 shows an interesting
variation on the usual alignment, w h i c h was used to weld a copper alloy to a stainless steel
(ref 1). The copper is highly reflective to the incident laser light and it was found to be
beneficial to position the laser focus spot to one side o f the copper alloy-steel seam.
^ Copper alloy
1 j Stainless steel (
Original junction j Weld
Figure 6. Laser butt-welding of copper to stainless steel
In this way a deep penetration keyhole weld was produced i n the steel. This keyhole was in
contact w i t h the original seam only at one side. Melting at the copper-steel interface was thus
made possible to a much greater depth than was practicable when the laser irradiated the
copper directly.
7
' T ' Joint Welding
The obvious way to produce a full penetration ' T ' j o i n t weld is the double pass method
shown i n Figure 7a. I n certain applications however this approach can be expensive,
inconvenient or completely impractical. I t is fortunate therefore that this type o f weld can be
produced from one side using a technique k n o w n as skid welding (Ref. 2), The principle is
shown i n figure 7b.
Figure 7. T-joint weld. a. Double pass method, b. Skid welding
A f u l l penetration weld can be produced i n this way w i t h properties comparable to or

superior to the more usual method o f fillet welding. Although the laser is incident at an angle
to the axis o f the T j o i n t , the welding energy is fairly evenly distributed along the intersection
o f the t w o plates as a result o f the complex heat sinking geometry o f the joint.
Spot-welding
The major difficulty underlying laser spot welding is the fact that the two articles to be joined
must be i n close contact. Electrical spot welding incorporates a clamping action automatically
but laser welding is a non-contact process and clamping must be provided by some external
means. T w o types o f laser spot welding have been developed both o f w h i c h involve a single
laser melting from one surface through to the interface o f the two sheets to be joined:
The first technique involves firing a pulse or series o f pulses at the workpiece that is
positioned at, or close to the focal point. The result is a single spot o f melt w h i c h penetrates
through the first layer o f metal into the second, see Figure 8. This method has been used to
successfully produce daisy wheel printing heads.
8
Laser pulse
Figure 8. Laser spot welding
The second technique is an approach developed in the U.S.A. (ref 3), w h i c h involves the
production o f a spiral weld. This process (the 'Laspot' process) results i n high quality localised
welds, which have strengths comparable to traditional resistance spot welds. Welds produced
in this way do not suffer from the surface indention and the surrounding sheet separation
typical o f resistance welds, because clamping forces are low.
Welding with filler metal
Good quality welds have been achieved using filler metal supplied to the weld pool i n the
form o f wire (ref 4). The process is similar to M I G welding w i t h the laser supplying the
energy rather than an electric arc. Filler wires can have the same chemistry as the plates to be
welded or can be o f a different alloy content i n order to improve the toughness etc o f the
weld. Fit up o f the two pieces to be joined is, o f course, far less critical than i t is for the more
usual autogenous laser welding. This process is o f great interest to metal w o r k i n g industries
that work w i t h thick section (10 m m + ) sheet. The process is applicable to both Butt and T
section welding. The use o f a powder spray as a method o f introducing filler metal into the
weld pool has also been investigated w i t h some success (ref 5), but the ready availability o f
M I G filler wires and their control equipment has led to a concentration o f research on wire
feed techniques.
Pulsed welding
For thin section w o r k , the use o f the laser in its pulsed mode is common. Pulsing the laser
allows for a very fine control o f the energy input into the weld. Pulsed welding can be
divided up into t w o regimes;
a) Continuous melting; i n this case the laser pulses at a high frequency (e.g. 1000 H z + ) and
the weld pool is kept continuously molten. The high peak powers achieved by the pulses
allow deep penetration by encouraging boiling inside the weld keyhole.
9
b) Intermittent welding; i n this case the finished weld consists o f a line o f overlapping spot
welds each o f which is generated by a single laser pulse. This method o f welding restricts the
amount o f heat lost to the workpiece by conduction to a m i n i m u m . As a result the workpiece
remains comparatively cool and welds can be carried out on heat sensitive partially finished
electronic components. The process is particularly useful for hermetic sealing o f electronic
packages. I n this case the weld does not need to be deeply penetrating and therefore the heat
input to the component can be minimised and welding speeds maximised.
4 WELDING S P E E D S AND PENETRATION DEPTHS
The depth o f penetration o f the welding process for a given material is determined by the laser
power, the focused spot diameter and the processing speed (i.e. P / V D , where P is the laser
power, V the processing speed and D is the focused spot diameter). As an example Figure 9
shows the variation o f penetration w i t h welding speed at typical laser welding powers for
austenitic stainless steel. Materials w i t h higher reflectivity and thermal conductivity are welded at
lower rates w i t h reduced maximum penetration. For example copper 1.5 m m thick is welded at
only 0.6 metres per minute at a laser power o f 2 k W .
1
OJ
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Welding speed (m/min)
Figure 9. W e l d penetration versus processing speed
Deep penetration welding can be interrupted i f conditions i n the keyhole create a substantial
cloud o f ionised vapour or plasma. This plasma takes the form o f an intensely bright plume o f
gas, w h i c h is expelled f r o m the keyhole. Under these conditions a large proportion o f the beam
is absorbed by the plasma and the keyhole collapses as its energy source is blocked. This effect is
k n o w n to be strongly affected by the type o f shroud gas employed to shield the weld. Most
workers n o w agree that helium is the best gas for weld protection as it ionises less readily than
other shielding gases such as argon. I t must be noted however that the presence o f a moderate
amount o f plasma inside the keyhole helps the welding process by absorbing the laser energy and
passing it on by conduction to the molten keyhole walls.
Figure 10 shows a photograph o f welds made in austenitic stainless steel at a laser power o f
2550 Watts using a five inch focal length lens. It is clear that as the process speed is reduced
the welds become broader as well as deeper. This effect is due to the increased loss o f energy
10
from the keyhole by conduction to the surrounding material. The faster welds do not, i n
effect, have time to pass on much heat from the keyhole before it has moved on. There is
therefore an optimum laser power and speed combination for the most effective penetration
and largest weld depth to w i d t h ratio. A t the highest speeds and lowest powers the welding
mechanism is rather inefficient and conduction limited. A t the lowest speeds the keyhole
penetration is less efficient as a result o f conduction losses. Between these two extremes i t is
possible to get welds w i t h optimum aspect ratios.
Figure 10. Bead on plate welds in 7 m m thick austenitic stainless steel. (Laser power: 2550 Watts,
welding speeds from left to right: 3.8 m/min, 3.0 m/min, 2.3 m/min, 1.5 m/min, 0.76 m/min and
0.38 m/min)
In the case o f Figure 10 this o p t i m u m weld shape, which joins a particular material thickness
w i t h the minimum o f melting, can be observed i n the three fastest welds. A more detailed
discussion o f the effect o f process speed on efficiency is presented i n ref 6.
5 FACTORS AFFECTING THE COMMERCIAL EXPLOITATION O F

LASER WELDING
It is clear from the review that there are a large number o f applications where laser welding
offers substantial technical advantages over more traditional methods. I t may surprise therefore
that the commercial application o f these processes is not as widespread as that o f cutting.
Although the aerospace and automobile industries have started to adopt laser welding techniques,
the growth o f market i n general engineering has been small in comparison to cutting.
The reasons for the comparative sluggishness o f commercial engineers i n utilising this new
process are based on a number o f factors;
a. I t is far easier to assess the quality o f a cut than to analyse the properties o f a weld. The
qualities o f a cut are, i n general, external and easily quantified. A weld on the other hand, has
to be thoroughly investigated and tested before its performance can be relied upon. The
metallurgical and mechanical properties are interlinked and the justification o f a particular
welding procedure can take months. Once a procedure has been agreed upon i t is time
consuming and expensive to replace i t w i t h another, potentially better method, because all
the tests have to be repeated.
11
b. Laser welding is a thermodynamic process, which can only be adequately controlled by

C . N . C . methods. This means that although an excellent, repeatable weld can be achieved,
the capital cost o f the equipment is high. M a n y other welding processes rely on manual
guidance o f the welding source. These hand held methods (TIG, M I G . etc) are obviously
cheaper than fully C N C . controlled operations.
c. The C N C nature o f laser welding requires that jigging o f the workpiece be o f a very high
standard, the positioning o f the workpiece has
to be accurate w i t h i n very tight tolerances.
d. The laser welding process is usually autogenous i.e. no filler metal is added to the weld
zone. For this reason fit up between the sheets to be welded must be very accurate. A gap o f
more than a few tenths o f a millimetre may result i n a failure o f the welding process.
T o summarise this discussion; laser welding gives excellent high quality accurately controlled
welds but at a high capital cost. This cost can only be accepted i n environments where
repeatability and high quality are extremely important. I t is for this reason that the
traditionally quality conscious mass production industries such as automobile manufacturers
have started to use laser machines. As industry in general begins to rely less on skilled manual
welders i n favour o f robotic C N C type machines, the role of laser welding devices w i l l
undoubtedly become increasingly important.
Conclusions
Laser welding offers industry a new selection o f low thermal input j o i n i n g techniques. Dissimilar
metals can be joined more effectively than by traditional welding methods and thermal distortion
is kept to a m i n i m u m . The process produces electron beam quality welds w i t h o u t the need for a
vacuum chamber. O n the other hand, limitations on the commercial applications o f the
technology include; high capital cost, the need for excellent fit up and l o w maximum weld
penetration.
Commercial activity i n this field has centred on high quality batch or mass production industries
such as aerospace, electronics and automobiles. The history o f technology has clearly
demonstrated that these industries are often the first to use new techniques w h i c h later became
commonplace i n general engineering. There is little doubt therefore that the 1990's w i l l see an
ever increasing use o f lasers as welding tools.
6 REFERENCES
1. 1. Cantello, M et al. Laser beam welding in the power range between 100 W and 15 k W .
Proc. 2nd European conference on laser treatment of materials ( E C L A T 88) Bad
Nauheim, Oct. 13-16 1988, pp 28-32.
2. Brooke, S.J. Laser skid welding o f T joints for ship fabrication. Proc. 5th Int. conference
on Lasers i n Manufacturing ( L I M - 5 ) . Sept 13-14 1988 Stuttgart, Germany, pp 165-176.
3. Bazan, M . et al. The development o f the 'Laspot welding Process'. Proc. 3rd Int.
conference on Laser i n Manufacturing (LIM-3). June 3-5 1986 Paris, France, pp 107-116.
12
4. Sharp, M . C . Laser welding w i t h wire feed. Proc. 4th Int. conference on Laser i n
Manufacturing (LIM-4) M a y 12-14 1987, Birmingham, U . K . pp 195-202.
5. Nilsson, K and Sarady, I . Laser welding w i t h metal powder as filler material. Proc. 4th Int.
conference on Laser in Manufacturing ( L I M - 4 ) M a y 12-14 1987, Birmingham, U . K . pp
183-193.
6. Powell, J. C O , Laser Cutting. Book, Springer Verlag I S B N 3-S40-19786-9.
13
K . Nilsson: Paper I I - H i g h Power Laser Welding o f Construction Steels
14
Paper I I
High Power Laser Welding of

Construction Steels
15
K. Nilsson: Paper I I - H i g h Power Laser Welding o f Construction Steels
16
High Power Laser Welding of Construction Steels
K. N i l s s o n H. E n g s t r ö m a n d J . F l i n k f e l d t
Division of Production Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, SE-971 87 Luleå, Sweden
T. Nilsson
S S A B Tunnplåt AB, S-781 84 Borlänge, Sweden
A. Skirfors
S S A B Oxelösund AB, SE-613 80 Oxelösund, Sweden
M. Miller
Abstract
Volvo Articulated Haulers A B , SE-351 83 Växsjö, Sweden
Laser welding of thick steel plates has recently been introduced in ship building,
giving high quality welds with minimum distortion at high speeds. These properties
are also of great interest in the heavy automotive and mechanical industries. Laser
welding also offers new design opportunities, which can improve the manufacturing
process by shortening lead and production times as well as reducing the amount of
materials used.
This paper presents results from an investigation into laser welding of medium
section (6-15 mm) construction steels used in the heavy mechanical and heavy
automotive industries. The results include welding parameters for high power lasers
up to 17 kW, weld metallurgy, static and dynamic weld strength oftest specimens
and components designed for laser welding. The design opportunities offered by this
process are also discussed.
K e y words: C O , laser, welding, construction steel, strength test
I Introduction
The industrial use o f high power lasers for welding steel plate thicker than 5 m m is limited
compared to their use i n thin gauge applications and for mass production o f cut components.
However, the need for this significant new welding process has been obvious for some time due
to the k n o w n limitations o f existing welding techniques as far as thermal distortion, process
economy, and the potential for weld process automation are concerned.
Laser welding offers many advantages over other welding techniques. For example, the resulting
minimal thermal distortion compared to conventional welding techniques reduces the need for
post processing machining. Laser welding is fast and allows single track welding even w i t h thick
gauge plates, it is a non-contact process and is flexible and well suited for automation. Lasers
w i t h the power, beam quality and accessibility required for heavy industrial welding applications
are n o w commercially available, and even higher output machines are presently being
developed.
Recent R & D projects report full penetration i n 12 m m I and T joints using lasers o f up to 14
k W . Joint gaps o f up to 1,5 m m , were found to present no problem and the mechanical and
17
fatigue strengths o f the resulting joints were reported to be at least as good as those obtained by
arc welding. Impact toughness was also reported to be substantially improved compared to arc
welding. However, the sulphur and phosphor content o f the steel was found to be more critical
for the strength qualities i n laser welding than for conventional welding. Other recent studies '
investigated the influence o f laser parameters and material composition on the formation o f
solidification flaws. Techniques to avoid such welding defects by the combined control o f steel
composition and welding parameters were presented. W i t h recently developed high power
4
lasers, penetration depths o f up to 20 m m have been reported.
The aim o f the current project was to develop a laser welding technique for medium section
plates > 5 m m o f construction steels o f different strengths and to define the possibilities and
limitations for laser welding materials o f this type and thickness.
The following questions have been focused upon:
• Can laser welding be performed w i t h acceptable results on steel qualities developed for
conventional welding and used by heavy automotive and mechanical industries?
• What range o f plate thickness can be laser-welded w i t h acceptable results?
• What are the j o i n t preparation requirements?
• What measures should be taking i n order to eliminate pores and solidification flaws?
• What is the maximum allowed j o i n t gap?
II. Experimental
A, L a s e r equipment
Table 1 Laser equipment used
Laser I II III
Power [kW] 6 12 17
Focal length [mm] 275 270 300
Beam focal diameter [urn] 500 500 800
Shielding gas He He, H e / C 0 , He/Ar
2 He, H e / 0 2
Shielding gas supply Coaxial nozzle Coaxial nozzle Open + lateral supply
nozzle
Nozzle diameter [mm] 06 4x01.2 014 + 0 2
B. Steel grades
Domex steels < 8 m m . Three steel grades o f Domex cold forming steels were included i n the
tests and welded by Laser 1: Domex 280 Y P (8 mm), Domex 420 Y P (8 mm) and Domex 700
M C (6 mm). Domex cold forming steels are high strength hot rolled strip w i t h improved
formability i n comparison to conventional construction steels. The chemical compositions and
mechanical properties o f the steels tested are shown in table 2-3. The chemical composition o f
these steels can be characterised by their l o w carbon content and very small quantities o f n o n -
metallic elements. The required strength levels are achieved by small additions o f micro alloying
elements (Nb, T i , V ) i n combination w i t h thermo-mechanical rolling i n the hot strip mill. I n
relation to their strength, the carbon equivalent values o f D o m e x steels are very l o w .
18
Table 2. Chemical compositions of the Domex steels tested (wt-%).
1
S t e e l grade C Si Mn P S N Al Nb Ti V CE '
D o m e x 280 Y P , 8 m m 0.06 0.22 0.36 0.006 0 . 0 1 0 0.005 0.047 - - 0.008 0.13
D o m e x 420 Y P , 8 m m 0.06 0.01 „ e „ 0.009 0.006 0.006 0.048 0.050 - 0.005 0.17
U.bU
D o m e x 700 M C , 6 m m 0.07 0 . 2 7 1.63 0 . 0 1 0 0.002 0.007 0.034 0.061 0.113 0 . 0 1 5 0.37
1) Carbon equivalent CE(%) = C + Mn/6 + (Cr+Mo+V)/5 + (Cu+Ni)/15
Table 3. Mechanical properties of the Domex steel samples. The testing direction was transverse to the
rolling direction for the tensile tests and longitudinal for the Charpy specimen.
Yield Tensile Elongation Charpy V-notch

S t e e l grade toughness
strength strength A 5 (%)
2
R e (MPa) Rm(MPa) (Joule/cm / °C)
D o m e x 280 Y P , 8 m m 280 389 40 -
D o m e x 420 Y P , 8 m m 455 536 28 348 / -20
D o m e x 700 M C , 6 m m 721 '1
799" 1
25 ' 127 / -40
1) Testing direction: Longitudinal.
I n the current investigation one high strength structural steel, W E L D O X 500, and one wear
resistant steel, H A R D O X 400, were laser welded. The chemical composition and mechanical
properties o f these materials are shown i n tables 4 and 5.
Table 4. Chemical composition of W E L D O X 500 and HARDOX 400
t Al Nb B 1
Material C SI Mn P S Cr Ni Mo V Ti Cu CEiw
(mm)
W E L D O X 500 6 .087 0.24 1.49 .008 .002 .028 .057 .015 .083 .009 .030 .030 .038 0 0.37
H A R D O X 400 10 .127 0.46 1.37 .008 .002 .029 .038 .008 .009 .032 .010 .044 .023 .002 0.37
H A R D O X 400 15 .135 0.44 1.39 .009 .001 .022 .043 .011 .008 .031 .019 .028 .024 .002 0.38
1) CE, m = C + Mn/6 + (Cr+Mo+V)/5 + (Cu+Ni)/15
Table 5. Mechanical properties of W E L D O X 500 and HARDOX 400
t Delivery Re Rm A5 Hardness
Material CVL
(mm) condition (MPa) (MPa) (%) (HB)
W E L D O X 500 6 M 536 600 24 174J/-50°C' -

H A R D O X 400 10 Q - - - 30J/-40°C 1,2
408
1
H A R D O X 400 15 Q - - - 50J/-40°C 2
400
1) Specimen size, 5x10 mm; 2) Typical value
T h e welding parameters, presented i n table 6, were selected i n order to achieve a cooling rate of
l-5s between 800 and 5 0 0 ° C (At8/5).
19
Table 6. Welding parameters
1 )
Material t (mm) P (kW) v (m/min) Q (kJ/mm) At8/5 (S)2)
W E L D O X 500 6 5.0 2.4 0.12 1

W E L D O X 500 6 5.0 1.2 0.25 2
W E L D O X 500 6 3.0 0.4 0.45 5
HARDOX 400 10 10.5 2.4 0.26 1
HARDOX 400 10 10.5 1.7 0.37 2

HARDOX 400 10 10.5 1.0 0.63 5
HARDOX 400 15 17.0 1.1 0.93 5
1) Q (heat input) = P (kW) x 60/v (mm/min)
2) At8/5 = cooling time between 800 T and 500 °C
The following tests were performed to evaluate the laser-welded butt joints: visual inspection,
radiographic examination, macro-photographs, hardness, bending and tensile tests (transverse to
the welding direction) and Charpy V-notch tests.
C . Joint preparation
Three types o f joints were studied; 1) autogenously butt joints w i t h 90° edges; both machined
and laser cut, 2) filler welded butt joints w i t h 90° laser cut edges and V-shaped machined edges
and 3) corner joints, as shown i n figure 1.
Figure 1. Joint preparation and welding of corner joints
The quality o f individual joints as far as pores and material defects is concerned may be affected
by surface irregularities and impurities, burrs and oxides. A comparative test series was therefore
carried out, w i t h laser cut versus machined edges and, in the case o f coiner joints, w i t h surfaces
free from oxides versus surfaces w i t h normal levels o f oxidation.
D. Filler material
Adding filler material to the j o i n t is one way to eliminate weld undercut. The filler material used
in some o f the experiments was ESAB O K Autrod 12.51, 0 = 1 , 0 m m .
III. Results
A General
Joint gap. Because o f burrs and irregularities i n the j o i n t surfaces, there w i l l always be a j o i n t gap
of some extent. This does not have to be a problem i n autogenously welding up to a certain
limit since weld material is added by means o f the weld process forces, w h i c h tend to pull the
20
two workpieces together. A thicker welded plate adds more material and therefore a larger j o i n t
gap can be allowed.
Tests w i t h different j o i n t gaps i n 8 m m test specimens showed that a j o i n t gap o f 0,2 — 0,25 m m
w i l l gives an optimal result; w i t h neither over filled nor undercut welds, figure 2.
^Plate thickness 8 mm
/
/
0 0,1 0,2 0,3 0,4 0,5

J o i n t width b e f o r e w e l d i n g
Figure 2. Measured joint height at varying joint gaps
Figure 3 show the cross-sections o f welded joints (8mm) w i t h increasing joint gaps from 0.0
mm, in steps o f 0.1 m m , up to 0.5mm.
Figure 3. Cross sections of welded joints with increasing joint gaps.
B. Domex steels
Visual inspection showed that the surfaces o f the laser welds were smooth w i t h very little
spatter. Some examples of the weld macro-photographs are shown in figure 4. The weld
appearance is generally excellent w i t h a fine V-shaped geometry. However some of the joints
had incompletely f i l l e d grooves and showed a slight linear misalignment, although this was not
too significant. It can also be seen i n the macro-photographs that the heat-affected zones are
very narrow. This is due to the l o w heat input o f the laser welding process. The results of the
radiographic examination showed that most o f the laser welded joints had a small amount o f
internal porosity but no cracks or other major defects were observed. The numbers o f pores
were so f e w and so small that the mechanical properties of the welds should not be affected.
The cross sectional hardness measurements o f the laser welds for the three Domex steels are
shown i n figure 5. Whilst the hardness o f the joints is slighdy higher than in the base metal, no
soft zones can be seen in the heat affected zones w h i c h is often the case for M I G welding;
especially for high strength steels (here Domex 700 M C ) . The microstructure o f the weld metal
is a very fine-grained acicular ferrite.
V-bending tests on 30 m m wide transverse specimens, w i t h the bending line parallel to the weld
and a bending angle o f 1 2 0 ° , demonstrated the high quality o f the welds. For all three Domex
steels, bending was performed w i t h a punch radius o f 2 x thickness without any visible cracks
occurring i n the bend zone. The pores, w h i c h were observed i n the radiographic tests, do not
appear to have appreciably decreased the quality o f the joints. The results o f the strength and
toughness tests o f the laser-welded joints are shown in table 7.
21
Figure 4. Macro-photographs of the laser welded joints, a) Domex 280 YP, 8 m m . b) Domex 420 YP, 8
m m . c) Domex 700 MC, 6 m m . T h e row of dark spots in b) and c) are the indentations from the
hardness measurements.
Domex 280YP Domex 420YP Domex 700MC
400 400
in
> 300
in
300
X >
Hardness
8 200 200
IX 100 100
0 0
4 6 8
i 6 t 4 6 8 10
Distance(mm) Distance (mm) Distance (mm)
Figure 5. Hardness curves of laser welded joints for Domex steels.
Failure i n the tensile tests was always i n the base metal rather than i n the weld. This was the case
for all three steels at all the tested welding speeds. This implies that the laser-welded joints are
stronger than the parent sheets. The results obtained f r o m the Charpy V-notch toughness for
welds i n Domex 420 Y P and Domex 700 M C are approximately as good as for the base metal.
The mechanical properties o f the laser welded joints would therefore appear to be at least as
good as the properties i n the base metal. The main reason for this is the l o w heat input during
laser welding which results in very fast cooling and a fine grained microstructure w i t h good
strength and toughness.
Table 7. Tensile strength and toughness of the laser welded joints for the Domex steels (testing
direction is transverse to the welding direction).
Welding Yield Tensile Elongation Fracture Charpy V

Steel grade speed strength strength A (%)
5 position toughness, L ' 2
(m/min) Re(Mpa) Rm(MPa) (Joule/cm / °C)2
Domex 280YP, 8mm 0.90 295 403 29 BM"

Domex 420YP, 8mm 0.60 448 544 24 BM
0.80 448 539 23 BM 3)
117(A ), 3 0 2 ( C " ) / - 0 4
Domex700MC, 6mm 1.20 738 813 19 BM 3)

223(A ), 105(C") /-40
1) BM = Base metal.
2) Longitudinal to the rolling direction.
3) A = W e l d metal. C = HAZ (1 m m from fusion line).
C . W E L D O X and H A R D O X steels
Generally the weld quality w i t h these materials was excellent, figures 6 and 7. Whilst some o f
the welded joints had small numbers o f intemal pores, no cracks or other defects were observed.
22
K. Nilsson: Paper I I - H i g h Power Laser Welding o f Construction Steels
—w
a) b) c)
Figure 7. Macro-photographs of laser welded joints of HARDOX 400.
a) t=10 m m , At8/5=1 s. b) t=10 m m , At8/5=2 s. c) t=10 m m , At8/5=5 s.
d) t=5 m m , At8/5=5 s. e) t = 15 m m , At8/5 = 5 s.
The cooling time At8/5, w h i c h means the cooling time between 800 and 500 ° C , is very
important for the hardness i n a welded j o i n t . The weld metal and heat affected zone ( H A Z ) o f
the W E L D O X 500 joints showed greater hardness than the base metal due to rapid cooling, as
shown i n figure 8. However, due to the relatively l o w carbon content o f W E L D O X 500, this
increased hardness is limited to below a level that w o u l d present problems.
H A R D O X 400 is a quenched wear plate. The welded j o i n t i n this material is softer than the
base metal however, the w i d t h o f this soft zone is narrower, as shown in figures 8 and 9, than in
joints welded using conventional arc welding methods. The wear properties o f the laser-welded
joints are thus improved.
Weldox 500
400
>
x
CD
C
"D
(6
x
150„
2 4 6 10
Distance (mm)
Figure 8 Hardness (HV1) at different cooling times At8/5 for laser-welded joints in W E L D O X 500. T h e
hardness is measured transversely across the welded joint along a line 1,5 mm below the
surface.
23
Hardox400, t=10mm, 1 sec H a r d o x 4 0 0 , t= 10 m m , 2 s e c
4 6 8 10 12 14 6 8 10 12
Distance (mm) D i s t a n c e (mm)
Hardox400, t=15 mm, 5 sec
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22
Distance (mm)
Figure 9 Hardness (HV5) for laser-welded joints in HARDOX 400. The hardness w a s measured
transversely across the welded joint along a line 2 mm below the weld surface
The metallographic examination together w i t h the mechanical investigations confirmed that

excellent mechanical properties are obtained i n laser-welded joints in W E L D O X 500, despite
the high content o f martensite and bainite, table 8-9.
Table 8 Quantification of microstructure in laser welded W E L D O X 500 as a function of the cooling time
At8/5.
Microstructure
At8/5 (s) % Ferrite % Pearlite % Martensite % Bainite
in the HAZ
Martensite/
1 - - 81 19
Bainite
Martensite/
2 - - 65 35
Bainite
5 15PF,75AF - - 10 Bainite
B a s e Material 85PF 15 - -
PF= polygonal ferrite, AF= acicular ferrite
The laser-welded joints i n H A R D O X 400 had good impact toughness d o w n to a cooling time
o f 2s, table 9. For most wear applications, the impact toughness obtained w i t h At8/5 = 1 s is also
quite sufficient.
24
Table 9. Tensile strength and impact toughness of the laser welded joints.
Material t At8/5 Re Rm A50 Fracture Impact t o u g h n e s s at - 4 0 C (J)

(mm) (s) (MPa) (MPa) (%) position Specimen size: 5x10 mm
WM/HAZ
W E L D O X 500 6 1 - 585 36 BM 54/48
W E L D O X 500 6 2 - 590 36 BM 68/37
W E L D O X 500 6 5 - 581 28 1
BM 63/64
H A R D O X 400 10 1 1114 1230 7 HAZ 23/8
H A R D O X 400 10 2 1108 1213 6 HAZ 30/15
H A R D O X 400 10 5 1032 1058 4 HAZ 20/22
H A R D O X 400 15 5 1011 1108 8 HAZ 30/27*
1) A5(%)
2) Specimen size: 10x10 mm
IV. Application test
A Fatigue testing.
A new design o f box beams (shown in part i n figure 1) made f r o m Domex 355 was laser welded
using Laser I . The thickness o f the top and bottom parts was 8 m m and the rib was 10 m m thick.
The total length o f the beams was 2m. I n total eight box beams were fabricated using laser
welding and tested, three for bending and five for torsional loads.
Bending. Three box beams were tested for bending, figure 10, at bending forces o f ± 7 5 , ± 6 0
and ± 50 k N . The corresponding number o f cycles to failure were 248 800, 723 200 and 1
258 900 respectively. These results were i n the same range or better when compared to
1
conventional MIG-welding tests performed earlier.
Torsion. Five box beams were tested for torsional fatigue. The torsional loads were ± 1 2 , ± 1 5
and ± 1 8 k N . The box beam tested at ± 1 2 k N failed at 1 581 400 cycles, but the point o f
fracture was inside the end bracket. A t ± 1 5 k N the number o f cycles to failure were 1 518 800
and for the ± 1 8 k N there were 727 800 cycles to failure. These values are well inside the normal
lifetime o f beams o f this type.
Figure 10. Fatigue testing in bending of laser welded box beam.
25
V. Design Opportunities
Because o f reduced distortion and the ability to achieve large penetration depths, laser welding
has a great potential to influence design. However, laser welding demands very accurate
preparation to give small j o i n t gaps. I t has been shown that it is possible to successfully weld 10
and 12 m m materials cut by laser; although i n some situations, the need for excellent fit-up
requires machining o f the edges, w h i c h adds significantly to the cost.
The use o f accurately prepared parts and small distortion associated w i t h laser welding w i l l give
more accurate weld assemblies. Also, pre-machined parts w i l l not be distorted and bearings and
other components w i l l be easier to attach. Laser welded joints can be placed closer to machined
surfaces w h i c h offers opportunities for smaller and more easily handled sub assemblies.
Local stiffeners can be welded i n "in-plane" instead o f "off-set plane". Laser welding, as a full
penetrating welding process, also results i n less noticeable notches compared to conventional
welding techniques, giving the structure higher strength, and thus the ability to carry larger
loads.
VI. Conclusions
This w o r k has demonstrated excellent laser welding results in a number o f high strength cold
forming, structural and wear resistant steels. The laser welded joints i n cold forming steels
(Domex, t = 6 - 8 mm) all show excellent formability and strength and toughness equal to or better
than the base material. Excellent welding results were also obtained i n D o m e x steels >10 m m ,
but here solidification flaws might reduce the weld quality i f appropriate welding parameters not
are used.
Laser welded joints i n W E L D O X 500 (t=6mm), a high strength stractural steel, showed
excellent mechanical properties i n spite of At8/5 cooling times as short as 1 s. Laser welded joints
in the wear resistant steel, H A R D O X 400 (t=10-15mm), demonstrated good mechanical
properties d o w n to a cooling time At8/5 o f 2 s.
Fatigue bending tests show that laser-welded box beams had the same or better strength
compared to M I G - w e l d e d beams. Torsional fatigue tests shows that laser welded beams are
much better than M I G - w e l d e d .
VII. Acknowledgements
The Swedish National Board for Industrial and Technical Development, N U T E K have
supported this work. The authors w o u l d also like to thank Eur. Eng. David Legge for valuable
linguistic comments.
VIII. References
1. "Exploitation o f Laser Processing i n Shipyards and Structural Steelwork". Proceedings

f r o m the International Conference i n Glasgow 30-31 M a y 1996. T W I , Abington Hall,
Abington, Cambridge C B 1 6AL, U K .
2. J. Bell: "High-power lasers weld ship-shape structures". Opto & Laser Europe, May
1996, p p l 7 - 2 1 .
26
3. J. K. Kristensen, L. E. Hansen, S. E. Nielsen and K. Borggren, "Solidification Flaws in

th
Laser Welds o f Structural Steels - Materials and Process Aspects". 7 Nordic Conference
i n Laser Processing o f Materials. Lappenranta University o f Technology, Lappeenranta,
Finland, A u g 23-24, 1999, I S B N 951-764-350-0.
4. H . G . Wegman, H . Franck and M . K o m , "Hohe Automatisiemng durch

richtungsweisenden CO,-laser f u r den Schiffsbau". Lazer Magazin 1/98. pp 6-9.
5. T . Dahle, K - E . Olsson and B . Jonsson, " H i g h Strength Welded Box Beams Subjected to
Torsion and Bending - Test Results and Proposed Design Criteria for Torsion/Bending
Interaction", Proc. International Conf. on Welded High-Strength Steel Structures,
Stockholm, Sweden, 7-8 Oct. 1997
27
K . Nilsson: Paper I I I - Laser Welding o f Zinc Coated Steel
28
aper I I I
Laser Welding of Zinc

Coated Steel
29
30
K . Nilsson: Paper I I I - Laser W e l d i n g o f Zinc Coated Steel
LASER WELDING OF ZINC COATED S T E E L
Klas Nilsson, Johan Heyden, Claes Magnusson

Luleå University of Technology, Department of Metal Working
ABSTRACT
Laser welding o f thin sheet has been investigated. The material was welded either as-rolled or
zinc coated, i n a lap j o i n t configuration. The present investigation was designed to reduce the
severity o f porosity and to investigate the source o f the zinc vapour i n the j o i n t . Three different
C0 -lasers were used, both pulsed and continuous. Successful lap j o i n t welds were obtained
2
both w i t h pulsed and continuous laser i f preventive measures were taken
1 INTRODUCTION
Welding w i t h high power C0 -laser is a relative new technique, w h i c h n o w is expanding, in

2
many industries e.g. automobile companies. This new technique has many advantages compared
to other welding techniques, such as high quality characteristic o f the weld and large possibilities
for rationalisation. However, to utilise the advantages o f laser welding and to achieve appropriate
welding result i t is necessary to understand the process.
During laser welding a high energy density laser beam vaporises the workpiece to f o r m a
keyhole for deep penetration. The vapour created by the laser beam plays two competing roles
for the penetration. The pressure o f the vapour i n the keyhole contributes to the penetration by
stabilising the keyhole and keeping it open for further penetration. O n the other hand, the
vapour above the surface o f the workpiece forms a plasma, by interaction between the laser
beam and the metal vapour, which absorbs the laser beam energy and reduces the weld
penetration. Furthermore the plasma also deteriorates the welding result by changing the optical
quality o f the beam. W h e n welding i n zinc coated sheet metal there are problems i n producing
sound welds, attributed to the strong vaporisation o f zinc. This indicates that, when welding in
zinc-coated material, the plasma absorption o f the laser beam energy overshadows the role o f the
keyhole stabilisation.
31
The purpose o f this study is to investigate the effect o f the plasma control on porosity level when
welding i n zinc coated steel and tries to reduce the plasma production w i t h a pulsed laser beam.
2 PLASMA FORMATION
Laser induced plasma is i n general a gas o f free positive and negative charges based on metal
6 2
vapour. The plasma is formed during the welding process at beam intensities above 10 W / c m
and the density o f the metal vapour is an essential factor i n the plasma formation and for the
plasma absorption o f the beam.
Plasma formation starts w i t h the absorption o f laser energy i n the material that creates free
electrons i n the evaporation front. Electrons inside the interaction volume are accelerated i n the
laser radiation by inverse "bremstrahlung" until the kinetic energy is sufficient to ionise the
metallic vapour. This increases the number o f electrons by avalanche ionisation. However, the
lifetime o f free charge i n an atmosphere o f gas is very short, so therefore there is a continuous
creation o f new plasma.
Ionisation o f the metal vapour is caused by absorption o f incoming laser beam energy. This
means that the vapour substantially reduces the laser beam energy before reaching the bottom o f
the keyhole. I f the energy o f the laser beam, w h i c h reaches the material, is too low to vaporise
the metal the keyhole w i l l collapse and the plasma disappears i n a short time. The whole process,
from formation o f keyhole to the plasma plume, is i n the range o f milliseconds, dependent on
the focusing and the material that is welded (1). B y looking at the plasma during the welding
process, the fluctuation o f the plasma is visible and prior investigations have shown that the
plasma fluctuation results in high porosity i n the weld seam (1).
The intensity o f the beam and the frequency o f the plasma fluctuation depend on several
different welding parameters,
1. Intensity o f the laser beam.

2. Density o f the vapour.
3. Welding speed.
4. The dynamics o f the material i n the weld pool.
5. Type o f joint.
6. Type and delivery o f the shielding gas.
Thus, the characteristics o f the laser induced plasma is affected both by welding and laser
parameters.
W h e n welding in zinc-coated metal, there is a very strong plasma formation due to the l o w
boiling point o f Zinc ( 906°C) and it's high vapour pressure, which are about eight orders o f
magnitude greater than that o f Fe (2). The high vaporisation o f zinc increases the pressure o f the
vapour, w h i c h is transformed to plasma i n the laser beam, to expand further into the free space
above the metal surface. This w i l l disturb the beam absorption and create a fluctuation o f the
plasma. I n practice this is shown as increased splattering and porosity i n the weld. Prior
investigations have shown that the weld defects, due to the vaporisation o f zinc, can be reduced
by optimised shielding gas parameters and introducing a gap between the plates (3,4).
32
3 EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
The steel sheet (Swedish Standard 1147) was welded as rolled or zinc coated as samples, 200 x
100 x 0.8 m m , i n lap j o i n t configuration. The thickness o f the zinc coating was 7, 10 or 20 |J.m
on b o t h sides by electroplating or hot-dipping.
Three types o f lasers were used i n this investigation:
1. A C0 -laser from United Technologies w i t h transverse f l o w system and a constant output up

2
to 10 k W . The beam was focused w i t h a spherical mirror w i t h a focal length o f 15 inch.
2. A CO,-laser o f type Rofin-Sinar RS 1700 (1.7 k W ) w i t h both continuous and

pulsed output power, including a focusing ZnSe-lens w i t h 5-inch focal length.
3. A CO^-laser o f type T r u m p f T L F 5000 (5.0 k W ) w i t h both continuous and pulsed

output power. The beam was focused w i t h a parabolic mirror w i t h 150 m m focal
length.
The tests were designed to produce sound welds and to minimise the negative effect o f the zinc
vapour. The welding was performed w i t h the geometry shown in Figure 1:
Laser b e a m
Clamp
Clamp
Welding direction
Figure 1 T h e welding geometry
A l l material was degreased prior to treatment, and the j o i n t clamped 20 m m on either side o f the
weld line along its entire length. A programmable numerical controlled workstation was used to
traverse the workpiece. The position o f the focal point was placed on the surface o f the
workpiece. Protection o f the molten pool was achieved using a jet o f shielding gas delivered
from an external nozzle.
The focusing optic was protected from splattering by an aerodynamic w i n d o w , which was
developed at Luleå University o f Technology. This aerodynamic w i n d o w consists o f two
chambers. The upper chamber, closest to the lens, has an over pressure o f air and i n the lower
33
K. Nilsson: Paper I I I - Laser Welding o f Zinc Coated Steel
chamber there is a high-pressure air j e t transversal to the laser beam. Splatter w h i c h otherwise
would have destroyed the lens was n o w stopped by the over pressure and/or transported away
by the air jet. The aerodynamic w i n d o w worked excellently and it didn't allow any particles to
pass through.
4 RESULTS
T o utilise the advantages o f laser welding and to achieve good welding result it is necessary to be
able to understand and control the physical processes, which appears during welding. Especially
the effects from the laser induced plasma.
T o achieve successful lap joints i n zinc coated steel "plasma control" is necessary. Plasma control
means that the laser induced plasma is suppressed and/or eliminated from the welding spot. This
can be done i n three different ways; by shielding gas, gap between the sheets and/or pulsing the
laser beam.
4.1 Shielding gas
W h e n laser welding zinc coated material gas shielding is an essential factor to produce a sound
weld as it has a strong influence on the plasma. The shielding gas is in this case used both to
protect the molten metal against oxidation and to b l o w the plasma away from the beam path.
A n optimised shielding gas flow rate makes the difference between a good and a poor weld. This
test showed that the suppressing effect on the plasma was most effective when the gas was
delivered to the molten metal by an external nozzle i n the welding direction, Figure 2.
L a s e r beam
E x t e r n a l gas Gas
nozzle
4 _
W e l d i n g direction
Figure 2. Welding with external shielding gas directed in the welding direction.
This arrangement increases the penetration due to the reduced absorption of the laser
beam in the plasma. An optimised shielding gas flow rate and gas supply suppresses
the plasma without deteriorating the welding result, Figure 3.
34
a b c
Figure 3. An optimised shielding gas flow rate will suppress the plasma and increase the penetration
without deteriorating the welding result.
a. Too high flow rate. b. Optimal flow rate. c. Too low flow rate.
Two types of shielding gases were tested to minimise the plasma formation. It was
shown that helium has a more favourable effect on the plasma formation than nitrogen
at optimised flow rates and makes the weld more homogeneous. A heHum flow rate of
3
1.0 m / h was found to be satisfactory when using a circular nozzle of internal
diameter of 1.5 mm.
4.2 Gap
Weld bead ejection was found to be common when welding zinc coated sheets in lap
joint due to the almost explosive vaporisation of the zinc layer between the sheets, see
Figure 4.
a b c
Figure 4. Welding with continuous laser beam, a gap between the sheets is necessary to produce a
sound weld. a. No gap. b. Optimal gap. c. T o o big gap
The only way to avoid this problem when welding w i t h a cw laser was to introduce a gap
between the sheets, which gave the zinc vapour an alternative escape route. This was also
verified i n the SEM-analysis, w h i c h showed that the zinc had disappeared into the gap and
zinc remained i n the j o i n t , see figure 5.
35
Fe Fe Zn FeFe Zn Zn
Figure 5. SEM-analysis of a joint welded with cw laser beam and a gap between the sheets,
a. Weld material, b. Material that escaped through the gap.
It was also showed that the pores i n the weld material had a big zinc content, which indicates
that the porosity was created by trapped zinc vapour. It was found that a gap o f around 0.1 m m
between the sheets was optimal. The gap was achieved either by inserting a spacer prior to
welding, or by clamping the j o i n t only on one side, see Figure 6. By varying the gap between
the sheets i n relation to the thickness o f the zinc coating it was possible to produce satisfactory
welds even i n 20 urn coated sheets.
Vapour
k 4
Molten metal
V <
41
Figure 6. A gap between the sheets is necessary when welding with cw C 0 - l a s e r to give the vapour
2
an alternative escape route during welding, a. Without gap. b. With gap
The problem w i t h introducing a gap between the sheets is to maintain it constantly during the
entire welding. This consideration makes a gap between the sheets undesirable i n the production
line.
36
4.3 Pulsing
Pulsed laser beam welding has been investigated i n order to improve the bead shape and to
reduce the weld defects. During this investigation it was found that for each type o f zinc coating
there existed an optimum pulse frequency i n which the pulse frequency correlated w i t h the
frequency o f the plasma fluctuation, see table below. W i t h this pulse frequency, satisfactory
welds were produced without having gap between the plates.
Table. Optimal welding parameters for different materials when welding with a 5 kW pulsed laser
(Trumpf TLF5000)
Material Effect PID* Welding Freq. Pulses Volume molten Visual

speed /mm Zn/pulse judgement'
3
(kW) (%) (m/min) (Hz) (mm /pulse)
SS 1147, 2.5 50 4.5 200 2.7 5.24X10" 3
Electroplated 2.5 50 4.5 500 6.7 2.08 +

7 nm 2.5 50 4.0 500 7.5 1.88 + +
2.5 50 3.2 500 9.4 1.48 +
2.5 50 4.5 1000 13.3 1.04 -
2.5 50 4.0 1000 15.0 0.92 -
SS 1147, 2.5 50 4.0 300 4.5 4.44

Hot-dipped 2.5 50 4.0 500 7.5 2.68 -
10 um 2.5 50 4.0 700 10.5 1.88 +
2.5 50 4.0 900 13.5 1.48 +
2.5 50 4.0 1000 15.0 1.32 + +
2.5 50 4.0 1500 18.0 1.08 +
2.5 50 3.5 1200 20.5 0.96 -
2.5 50 4.0 1600 24.0 0.84
2.5 50 4.0 2000 30.0 0.68 -
2.5 50 3.5 2000 34.3 0.56 -
SS 1147, 2.5 50 3.5 1000 17.2 2.32

Hot-dipped 2.5 50 3.0 1200 24.0 1.68 +
20 nm 2.5 50 3.5 1500 25.7 1.56 + +
2.5 50 4.0 2000 30.0 1.32 -
2.5 50 3.5 2000 34.3 1.16 -
* PID = Pulse in Duty

** + + = Best
+ = Good
- = Poor
- - = Very poor
The characteristic o f the welds mode, which was welded w i t h optimum frequency, is that they
are sound and fully penetrated, see Figure 7. It can be noted that the optimum pulse frequency
increases w i t h increasing welding speed and thickness o f the zinc coating. This indicates that the
zinc coating has a major effect on the plasma formation.
37
a b
Figure 7. Cross-sections of weld with pulsed laser beam,
a. With gap. b. Without gap
-3 3
In this test i t was shown that 1.60 x l O m m molten zinc per pulse was optimal i n order to
create a sound weld w i t h the 5 k W T r u m p f laser. The results from the measurements are listed
in the table above.
5 DISCUSSION
Pulsed laser beams are superior to continuous wave when welding zinc coated material because
no preparation o f the j o i n t is necessary before welding. The reason for this is that the length o f
the pulses is too short to vaporise enough material to create a plasma, w h i c h absorbs the beam
and causes the keyhole to collapse. The pulse must however be long enough to create a keyhole.
W h e n the laser beam is turned o f f in the pulse pause all the vaporised material disappears almost
instantly. The pulse pause gives the zinc vapour time to escape. This phenomenon can therefore
be explained as a correlation between the pulse frequency and the plasma fluctuation. The SEM
analysis showed that no zinc remained i n the weld material when pulsed laser beam was used.
This proved that the zinc had time to disappear out o f the j o i n t i n the pulse pause.
I f the sheets are coated on both sides the volume o f the molten zinc (V) can be expressed by a
function o f length o f the weld (1), w i d t h o f the weld (w) and thickness o f the zinc coating (t):
V= 1•w t•4 (equation 1)
The distance the beam travels during one pulse when the beam is i n duty (d) is:
PID • v • 1000
d
= (Equation 2)
f • 60
where P I D is the pulse i n duty, v is the welding speed and f i s the pulse frequency. The volume
o f molten zinc per pulse (m) can then mathematically be expressed by:
38
2 • PID • v • t • w
m = • 100 (Equation 3)
3- f
W i t h equation 3 it is possible to calculate the optimum volume o f molten zinc per pulse. It
should be noted that the optimum value o f molten zinc calculated w i t h this equation are
characteristic for the type o f laser, w h i c h is used, and w i t h an other equipment new values w i l l
appear. However, to verify this, further investigation is required.
6 CONCLUSION
1. The influence of the gas shielding has a considerable effect on porosity and weld
penetration. An optimised shielding gas flow rate reduces the plasma without
deteriorating the quality of the weld.
2. To produce sound welds with a continuous laser beam a gap between the sheets is
necessary, to allow the zinc vapour to escape.
3. When welding with pulsed laser the plasma production is reduced and a gap is
not necessary.
4. Tests showed that the optimised pulse frequency is dependent on welding speed
and thickness of zinc coating. This can be explained as a correlation between the
pulse frequency and the plasma fluctuation.
7 REFERENCES
1. Beyer, E. Gasser, A. Plasma fluctuations in laser welding with cw C02-lasers;

Proc. of the 6:th int. cong. on appl. lasers and electro - optics, ICALEO '87. 8-12
Nov. 1987. San Diego. California, s. 17 - 23.
2. Moon, D.M. Metzbower, E.A. Effects of alloying elements of low boiling point on
the key hole mechanism during laser beam welding; Proc. of the 5:th int. cong. on
appl. lasers and electro - optics, ICALEO '86.10 -13 Nov. 1986. Arlington,
Virginia, USA. s. 193
3. Imhoff, R. Behler, K. Gatzweiler, W. and Beyer, E. Laser beam welding in car

body making; Proc. of the 5:th int. cong. on lasers in manufacturing, LIM 5.13 -14
Sep. 1988. Stuttgart, West Germany, s. 247 - 258.
4. Akhter, R. Steen, W. M. and Cruciani, D. Laser welding of zinc coated steel; Proc.
of the 5:th int. cong. on lasers in manufacturing, LIM 5.13 -14 Sep. 1988. Stuttgart,
West Germany, s. 195 - 206.
39
5. Kimara, S. Welding properties with high power pulsed C0 -laser; Proc. of the 5:th
2
int. cong. on appl. lasers and electro - optics, ICALEO '86.10 -13 Nov. 1986.
Arlington, Virginia, USA. s. 89 - 96.
6. Arnot, R.S. Albright, C.E. Plasma plume effect in pulsed carbon dioxide laser spot
welding; Proc. of the int. cong. 14 -17 Nov. 1983. Los Angeles, USA. Vol. 38 s. 51 -
57.
7. Arata, Y. Abe, N. and ODA, T. Beam hole behaviour during laser beam welding;
Proc. of the int. cong. 14 -17 Nov. 1983. Los Angeles, USA. Vol. 38 s. 59 - 66.
40
41
Paper I V : K . Nilsson-Laser Welding w i t h Metal Powder as Filler Material
42
Laser Welding with Metal

Powder as Filler Material
44
Paper I V : K. Nilsson-Laser Welding w i t h Metal Powder as Filler Material
LASER WELDING WITH METAL POWDER AS FILLER MATERIAL
K. Nilsson and I. Sarady

Luleå University of Technology, Sweden
ABSTRACT
Welding w i t h a 2.5 k W C0 -laser o f deep drawing sheet metal was performed w i t h

2
simultaneous addition o f iron powder into the butt j o i n t by an automatic powder feeder. The
influence o f parameters, such as the powder quantity and quality, feed gas and protective gas,
welding speed, the maximum w i d t h o f the j o i n t gap, etc. has been investigated. A new method
utilising a magnetic field to feed the powder into the j o i n t gap has been developed. Results
indicate that by using the above method a gap o f < 0.4 m m can be over bridged w i t h
reinforcement o f the weld.
1 INTRODUCTION
Laser butt-welding o f thin sheet metal puts high demand on j o i n t preparation as a gap invariably
leads to undercut i n the weld i f no filler material is used. The undercut is for certain applications
unacceptable, partly from a strength point of view, but also from the aesthetic point of view.
This is particularly so i n the automobile industry, where very high demand is put on non-
covered joints, w h i c h have to be completely smooth.
As i t is practically almost impossible to avoid a weld w i t h undercut, y o u w o u l d rather want to

produce a j o i n t w i t h reinforcement o f the weld. A moderate reinforcement o f the weld can
easily be removed by grinding. The reinforcement can be obtained by the use o f filler material
T o day most methods use wire as filler material. Such methods result however i n an
unacceptably large reinforcement o f the weld when welding thin sheets The extra heat input
being added for the melting o f the filler wire results furthermore i n severe thermal deformation
o f the welded sheet.
The difficulties o f adding filler wire and simultaneously minimising the heat input are increasing
for thinner sheets. Therefore a new technique for producing a desirable result, i.e. a j o i n t with a
moderate reinforcement o f the weld and w i t h a m i n i m u m o f heat input was necessary.
45
Paper IV: K . Nilsson-Laser Welding w i t h Metal Powder as Filler Material
I n this w o r k a method to feed powder as filler material into a butt joint gap during laser welding
o f t h i n steel sheet is presented. A n integral part o f the w o r k has been to investigate the influence
o f t w o different types o f powders, shielding gas and feed gas, the optimum welding speed and
also the maximum gap which can be over bridged w i t h a satisfactory weld result
2 DESCRIPTION OF THE METHOD
For the experimental work a 2.5 k W cross flow C0 -laser, type Spectra Physics model SP-973,
2
was used. The laser beam was focused at the movable w o r k piece and the protective gas was
delivered through a gas nozzle concentric w i t h the laser beam.
The powder was delivered through a separate powder nozzle ahead o f the laser beam i n
immediate connection to the welding operation, see Figure 1.
For the powder delivery a separate powder feeder was used, namely Tecflo 5102 MicroFlo
Universal Powder Feeder. This operates on fluidics principle, which provides for a continuous
non-pulsating feed o f powder. The flow o f carrier gas is monitored and controlled by a flow
meter. The delivery rate is a function o f the quantity o f the fluidising gas, which is controlled by
the fluidising gas regulator. The powder delivery rate is monitored at a "TeroMeter" on the
powder feeder control panel.
Figure 1. Laser welding with powder filler material. Experimental set-up.
T o ensure that the powder material w i l l be fed preferably i n to the gap o f the joint, a magnetic
field is introduced. This magnetic field is generated by an electromagnet, w h i c h is built into the
fixture. I f the w o r k pieces being welded are made o f a ferromagnetic material, for instance steel
sheet, they can be a part of a magnetic circuit that is traversed by a closed magnetic flux, see
Figure 2.
46
WORK MAGNETIC JOINT WORK

PIECE S T R A Y FLUX GAP PIECE
i i
ELECTRO
MAGNETIC
MAGNETIC
FLUX
FIXTURE
CURRENT G E N E R A T O R
Figure 2. Generation of a magnetic stray flux in an electromagnetic fixture
I f this magnetic conductor has an interruption, for instance a j o i n t gap, a magnetic stray flux is
formed. This causes a magnetic polarisation o f the gap edges, whose magnetic poles attract the
delivered powder, i f it is a ferro-magnetic. The attraction causes the powder to be collected
preferably i n the j o i n t gap.
3 EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
3.1 Experimental set-up
During all the tests the work piece was mounted on a special fixture w i t h a built i n
electromagnet and the powder was fed continuously ahead o f the laser beam, see Figure 1.
The powders was fed through a powder nozzle located at two different distances ahead o f the
laser beam and at t w o different angels to the work piece, see Figure 3.
WELDING
DIRECTION A B C D
POWDER LASER (deg) (mm) (mm) (mm)
NOZZLE NOZZLE
1 37 10 5 22
60 10 58
A •
A: Powder nozzle angle
B: Powder nozzle height
C: Laser nozzle height
D: powder jet distance from
W O R K PIECE the laser focal point
Figure 3. Location of the powder nozzle
During the welding process powder is blown into the gap between the two workpieces and held
there prior to welding b y the magnetic field. The weld zone is therefore fed material f r o m this
47
Paper IV: K . Nilsson-Laser W e l d i n g w i t h Metal Powder as Filler Material
powder track as it melts its way through it. The quantity o f powder fed (PF) to the j o i n t can be
calculated from a theoretical cross section area (A) o f the powder track as follows:
PF = A • d • v (g/min)
2
where A = the theoretical powder track cross section area i n m m
v = welding speed i n m m / m i n
3
d = the powder density i n g / m m
The welding speed was varied from 2 m / m i n to 6 m / m i n .
A l l the welded pieces were examined metalographic as well as tensile strength tested.
3.2 Welded material
The material used in the tests was 1 m m thick deep drawing sheet metal. The composition o f
this material was as follows:
C < 0.08 %, M n < 0.45 %, P < 0.03 %, S < 0.03 %
The sheets were cut i n a guillotine shears to a dimension o f 100x200 m m and then welded
without any further machining o f the edges.
3.3 Powder used
During the experiments two different powder qualities were used, namely:
Powder no 1; iron sponge powder

Powder no 2; spherical iron powder
The powder data is shown i n table 1.
Table 1. Powder data
Powder no 1 2
C<0.01 C<0.01
Composition (%) P<0.015 N<0.01
S<0.15 O<0 .11
Density (g/mm) 3.1 4.6
Particle size (mm) 0.020-0.175 0.043-0.104
These powders have approximately equal compositions and particle sizes, but the geometrical
shape o f the individual particles is very different, see Figure 4.
48
Paper IV: K . Nilsson-Laser W e l d i n g w i t h Metal Powder as Filler Material
Figure 4. T h e geometrical shape of the powder

a. Powder no 1; iron sponge powder b. Powder no 2; spherical iron powder
3.4 Focusing optics
The focusing optics used was a ZnSe-lens w i t h a focal length o f 127 m m , which gives a focal
point spot size o f approximately 0.4 m m i n diameter.
3.5 Protective and powder feed gas
B o t h nitrogen and helium was tested as protective gas and the gas f l o w rates were 10 and 20
1/min respectively. The protective gas was supplied through a 4 m m diameter nozzle concentric
w i t h the laser beam. B o t h nitrogen and helium were used as feed gas for the powder supply. The
gas f l o w rate was about 1.5 and 3 1/min respectively
3.6 Joint gap
One o f the purposes w i t h this project was to find out which maximum j o i n t gap width could be
welded i n 1 m m thick sheet metal, w i t h and without filler material used and w i t h satisfactory
result. For this purpose some o f the welds were done in precisely controlled gap widths
produced by a pieces o f foil metals put between the sheets being welded. The gap widths were
varied from 0.1 to 0.4 m m .
4 RESULTS
4.1 The role of the protective gas
In all the welding tests nitrogen as protective gas gave a porous weld, see Figure 5a. W i t h helium
as protective gas the result became much better, see Figure 5b. B o t h samples were welded w i t h
iron sponge powder (powder no 1, table 1). The powder quantity corresponds to a powder track
2
area o f 4 m m . The welding speed was 4 m / m i n and the j o i n t gap w i d t h was minimised.
49
a b
Figure 5. Samples welded with iron sponge powder and the joint gap minimised (50x).
a. With nitrogen as protective gas b. With helium as protective gas
The tensile strength test gave fractures i n the base material when helium was used as protective
gas. I n the case o f nitrogen the fracture was located i n the weld material, giving a strength level
o f 70 % o f the base material.
4.2 The role of feed gas
It was noted that nitrogen f r o m the feed gas also had a detrimental effect on the welding results.
This effect could be eliminated i f helium was used as feed gas. But i t was however noted that the
delivery from the powder feeder became more irregular w i t h helium as feed gas as compared
w i t h nitrogen.
The problem o f the detrimental effect from the feed gas was eliminated w h e n the angle o f the
powder nozzle was changed from 37 to 60 degrees w i t h the w o r k piece and the distance from
the laser beam changed from 22 to 58 m m , see Figure 3.
4.3 The powder nozzle location
As mentioned above, the location o f the powder nozzle was important for avoidance o f feed gas
mix up w i t h the protective gas. But it was also noted that the powder nozzle angle had an
influence on the quantity o f powder being collected i n the j o i n t gap.
W h e n the powder nozzle angle was changed from 37 to 60 degrees (Figure 3) w i t h the work
piece, the quantity o f powder collected in the j o i n t gap was increased, as seen i n the welding
result, see Figure 6. The welding parameters were i n this case the same as for the weld shown in
Figure 5b, but the powder nozzle angle was n o w 60 degrees instead o f 37 degrees. The result
was a big reinforcement o f the weld.
50
Paper IV: K . Nilsson-Laser Welding w i t h Metal Powder as Filler Material
Figure 6. Samples welded with iron sponge powder and the

powder nozzle at 60 degrees to the work piece (50x)
4.4 The role of joint gap width
It was noted during the experiments, that the quantity o f the powder being collected in the j o i n t
was not only a function o f the quantity delivered f r o m the powder feeder and a function o f the
powder nozzle angle, but also a function o f the j o i n t gap width. Therefore a series o f
experiments was performed where the height and width o f the powder track was measured as a
function o f the j o i n t gap width.
D u r i n g these tests the powder nozzle was angled at 60 degree to the w o r k piece, and the feed
gas was nitrogen. The results indicated that the maximum amount o f powder collected i n the
j o i n t was obtained when the gap width was about 0.2 m m , see Figure 7.
H (mm) W (mm)
POWDER
JOINT GAP
1.6- 5.0 H
_ -;• —... . 1
1.4 -4.0
H W
= W ~~
1 2 3 0
f H: Height of powder
W: Width of powder
0.1 0.2 0.3 0-4 G (mm) G: Width of joint gap
Figure 7. T h e amount of collected powder as a function of the joint gap
There is obviously a maximum magnetic stray flux i n the j o i n t at this gap w i d t h . This
phenomenon had an influence on the optimum powder feed rate for each j o i n t gap w i d t h .
51
Paper I V : K. Nilsson-Laser Welding w i t h Metal Powder as Filler Material
The following series o f experiments w i t h different j o i n t gap widths were performed w i t h the
powder nozzle angle at 60 degrees w i t h the work piece and w i t h helium as protective gas and
nitrogen as feed gas (20 and 1.5 1/min respectively).
0.1 mm joint gap width
I n this case, no difference i n the result was found between the two powder qualities. The best
result was obtained at a welding speed o f 4 m / m i n and a powder feed rate corresponding to a
2
powder track area o f 3.4 m m , see Figure 8. Figure 9 shows the corresponding result without
powder.
The tensile strength test gave fractures i n the base material for both powder qualities.
Figure 8. Sample welded with 0.1 mm joint Figure 9. sample welded with 0.1 m m
N o w i t was noted a deterioration o f the results for the iron sponge powder (powder no 1) see
Figure 10a. The spherical iron powder (powder no 2) was still giving a satisfactory result, see
Figure 10b. Same welding parameters i n both cases, but the powder track area was reduced to
2
2.5 m m .
• - '•mn'. "'
"' ' *• * '
.. ..
I ••«#> * '•
:
., • • ,"«**• » •
i 0.2mm !
a b
Figure 10a. Samples welded with a 0.2 m m joint Figure 10b. Samples welded with a 0.2 m m joint
gap and with iron sponge powder gap and with spherical iron powder
52
The tensile strength test w i t h specimens welded w i t h powder no 2 gave fractures i n the base
material.
Figure 11 shows the corresponding result without powder. This was the biggest j o i n t gap width,
which could be welded w i t h o u t powder.
Figure 11. Sample welded with a 0.2 mm joint gap without powder (50x)
The results obtained w i t h powder no 1 became very poor compared to powder no 2, see Figures
12a and 12b. T o obtain the best results welding speed was reduced to 3 m / m i n and the powder
2
track area was 2.5 m m .
Figure 12 Samples welded with a 0.3 m m gap at a speed of 3 m/min

a. W i t h iron sponge powder. b. With spherical iron powder
The tensile strength test for sheet welded w i t h powder no 2 gave fractures i n the weld material
w i t h a strength level o f 92 % o f the base material
53
N o further attempts w i t h powder no 1 was made. The result w i t h powder no 2 was still
satisfactory, see Figure 13. This specimen was welded w i t h a speed o f 2 m / m i n and the powder
2
track area was n o w increased to 3.4 m m .
Figure 13. Sample welded with as 0.4 m m joint gap at a speed of 2 m/min
and a spherical iron powder (50x)
The tensile strength test gave fractures i n the weld material w i t h a strength level o f 86 % o f the
base material.
5 CONCLUSIONS
This series o f experiments has pointed out that by adding powder filler material it is possible to
weld a butt j o i n t i n 1 m m thick sheet metal without any j o i n t preparation. I t is also established
that the maximum j o i n t gap w i d t h , which gives a satisfactory weld result, is 0.4 m m .
T o achieve optimal welding results, the following recommendation need to be noted:
- H e l i u m as protective gas is better than nitrogen.
- Nitrogen as the powder feed gas is better than helium.
- The bigger the j o i n t gap w i d t h is, the lower the welding speed has to be.
- I f the j o i n t gap w i d t h is less than 0.2 m m , the geometrical shape o f the powder
particles is not significant
- I f the j o i n t gap w i d t h is 0.2 m m or more, a spherical iron powder gives better

results than a sponge iron powder.
- A t a j o i n t gap width o f about 0.2 m m , there is a maximum efficiency o f powder

collection i n the j o i n t due to the maximisation o f the magnetic stray flux.
54
Paper IV: K. Nilsson-Laser Welding w i t h Metal Powder as Filler Material
6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This w o r k was made possible by financial support from The Swedish Board for Technical
Development. The authors wish to thank Prof. Claes Magnusson, head o f Dept. o f Metal
Working, Luleå University o f Technology and our other colleagues o f the laser group, especially
M r Göran Åberg.
7 REFERENCES
1. Nilsson, K . and Sarady, I . Cutting and welding 3-dimensional sheet metal parts w i t h high
accuracy. Proc. o f Lasers i n Manufacturing. 1st International Conf. Brighton, 1983.
2. Dawes, C. J. Laser welding o f sheet metal fabrications - process improvements.

Proc. o f I C A L E O '85, San Francisco, 1985.
3. Shinmi, A . et al. Laser welding and its applications for steel making process. Proc.
o f I C A L E O '85, San Francisco, 1985.
55
K . Nilsson: Paper V - Investigations into the Welding o f Superalloys w i t h a C W N d : Y A G Laser and
Dual-Focusing Optics
56
Paper V
Investigations into the Welding of Superalloys

with a C W N d : Y A G Laser and
57
K. Nilsson: Paper V - Investigations into the W e l d i n g o f Superalloys w i t h a C W N d : Y A G Laser and
58
Investigations into the Welding of Superalloys with a C W Nd: Y A G Laser

and Dual-Focusing Optics.
I. Sårady, K. Nilsson, C. Magnusson and T. Wahlberg*
Luleå University o f Technology, SE-971 87 Luleå, Sweden

E-mail: Istvan.Sarady@mb.luth.se
* V o l v o Aero Corp., SE-461 81 Trollhättan, Sweden
Summary
Continuous wave Nd:YAG-lasers operating at power levels o f about 3 - 4 k W are exceptionally
well suited for welding thin-walled (< 5 mm) shell constmctions. The goal o f the present work
was to investigate the possibility to weld sheet metal parts, where extremely high demands are
placed on weld geometry and quality. Examples include turbine components, pressure
transducers, endless bands for process industries and others applications i n the aircraft and
aerospace industry. Such parts are typically manufactured from stainless steel sheets and sheets of
superalloys and are welded i n an inert gas (Ar) atmosphere.
Investigations prior to the present have shown a tendency for porosity formation i n the weld. To
achieve improved weld geometry and to reduce the probability o f porosity formation, a new,
dual-focusing optic was designed and successfully tested.
Apart from stainless steels, two superalloys used w i t h i n the aircraft industry, H A Y N E S 25 and
I N C O N E L 718, were included i n the investigation. The particular laser used was able to
deliver 3 k W to the target via a 0.6 m m optical fibre. Comparison o f welds produced by single
and dual focusing optics was made. X-ray and metallographic investigations showed that the
quality and geometry o f the welds produced using the dual-focusing optics were superior to
those produced w i t h the single-focusing optics.
K e y w o r d s : N d : Y A G Laser; Optical Fibres; Dual-Focusing Optics; Superalloys; Welding;
1 Introduction
Advanced machine parts and aircraft engine components made o f stainless steel and superalloy
sheets require high quality butt welds. Areas o f sink adjacent to the weld bead, undercuts and
incompletely filled roots are not allowed at all, Fig. l . b . I n addition, i t is often impossible to use
filler material, which means that to achieve high quality welds, b o t h the preparation o f the joint
and the method o f energy deposition have to be optimised.
In general, the edges to be welded must be tightly fixtured w i t h no gap and no mismatch and
correct seam following by the laser are necessary to produce high-quality butt welds. Another
problem when welding stainless steel and superalloys is the formation o f small porosity's i n the
weld bead. The origin o f this porosity's is still not completely clear, although it has been found
that careful surface preparation to remove any significant oxide layer results i n less porosity.
Investigations prior to the present study have shown that the frequency o f porosities (number
and size o f porosity per unit length) is dependent on several factors, including the alloy, welding
speed, power density i n the focus, the shielding gas on the beam entrance and root side [1.].
59
a). b). c).

Fig. 1. Cross-sections of butt welds, a ) . Nail-shaped weld in low-carbon steel.
b) . Weld containing areas of sink adjacent to the weld bead and lack of fusion.
c) . Requested, ideal weld cross-section for stainless steels and superalloys.
Full penetration welds i n stainless steel and superalloys often show a cross section w i t h a
characteristic geometry, having a broad or nail-head-shaped entrance side, a somewhat
broadened root side and a 'waist' i n between, Fig. I.e. The reason for this f o r m is thought to be
the lower thermal conductivity o f these alloys compared to l o w carbon steel and other metals as
well as thermo capillary f l o w effects i n the melt [2.].
(When performing bead-on-plate welding in superalloys w i t h incomplete penetration, the weld
cross section is 'nail-shaped', as is the case w i t h l o w carbon steels, Fig. l.a).
The goal o f this investigation was three-fold: Firstly, to minimise the influence o f beam
positioning/centering on weld geometry, secondly, to minimise the generation o f porosity, and
thirdly, to optimise the geometry o f the weld cross section.
T w o ways to achieve broadened weld beads were considered:

• Using lower welding speed i n combination w i t h single-focusing optics, or
• Using 'dual-focusing optics', where the beam is focused to two foci, separated i n the x - y
plane by 0.5 — 1.0 m m , or i n z-direction by a few m m .
Optics w i t h a separation o f t w o foci i n the x - y plane are commercially available Fig. 2.a.
In order to investigate dual-focus optics w i t h a separation in the z-direction, a special optic was
developed as shown i n Fig. 2.b.
2 Dual-focus techniques
The principles o f splitting the focus i n x - y and i n z directions, using a wedge plate and a
Diffractive Optical Element, D O E , are shown schematically i n Fig. 2.
Investigations prior to the present study showed that dual-focusing optics w i t h a separation o f
foci i n the x - y plane (Ax = 0.6 mm) did not significantly improved the weld bead geometry nor
the weld quality as far as porosity content.
60
Collimating lens
Wedge
plate DOE
Diffractive
Optica!
Element
Focusing lens
Primary focal plane

Secondary focal plane
Figure 2 a. Displacement in the x-y-plane, Ax. 2.b. Displacement in z-direction, Az.
W h e n welding stainless steel and superalloys, the dual-focusing optics shown in Fig. 2.b. have
been proven to be more useful by generating wider weld beads and lower porosity content. The
magnitude o f separation o f the foci is dependent upon the focal length o f the objective. For the
lenses used, f = 200 m m and f = 150 m m , Az was = 4 m m and 3 m m , and the power content in
the upper and lower foci were 40% and 60 % respectively.
3 Welding experimental procedure

The samples consisted o f laser-cut flat sheet metals o f 150 x 50 m m and thickness o f 1.6, 2.0,
2.1, and 3.2 m m . Any dross from the laser cut edges was removed using a diamond file.
For all welding experiments a H A A S 3006 D Nd:YAG-Laser was used, combined w i t h a fibre
optical beam delivery system. The fibre diameter was 0.6 m m and the laser was running at full
power, delivering 3 k W o f continuous power to the w o r k piece. The focal length o f the
collimating lens was 200 m m , and the focusing lenses used had focal lengths o f 200 m m and 150
m m respectively. As shielding gas Argon was used on both the beam entrance and the root side,
w i t h a f l o w rate o f 15 — 20 1/min.
Having determined the optimum focus position relative to the surface - corresponding to the
best penetration at a maximum speed - only the welding speed was varied i n subsequent tests.
The values o f dimensions B, W , C, B and C,, illustrated in Figure l c , were already defined by
h
industrial requirement. T o p and root side widths, B and C have to be o f the same order o f
magnitude as the thickness, T . The w i d t h o f the waist W , must be ca. C / 2 . Sink adjacent to
the weld bead, undercuts and incompletely filled roots were not allowed at all.
61
K . Nilsson: Paper V - Investigations into the W e l d i n g o f Superalloys w i t h a C W N d : Y A G Laser and
4 Evaluation
I n order to provide good test samples, trial welds were inspected using a stereomicroscope^ This
initial visual check o f the weld allowed the weld parameters to be optimised. Once a good weld
set up was achieved, a number o f sample welds were carried out. These samples were then
studied using X - r a y photography and then cross-sectioned for metallographic investigation. The
porosity content was determined using real-time X - r a y equipment, w h i c h allowed automatic
counting o f porosities.
4.1 X-ray, photographic

Directly after welding, fine-focus X - r a y photography was performed, typical results f r o m 3.2
m m thick samples are shown below.
0.5mm
1NX2
Fiqure 3 Fine-focus X-ray photographs of the welds. Positive image. Laser power: 3 KW cw.
INX1 • W e l d e d with single-focus optics, welding speed = 1.2 m/min. Contains visible porosities.
INX2- W e l d e d with dual-focus optics, welding speed = 0.85 m/min. No porosity can be seen.
Figure 4. Real time x-ray images.

a. Sample INX1, shows visible porosities of size b. Sample INX2, contains very few, almost
invisible, small porosities.
20 - 50 urn
62
Table 1. Porosity size in m m versus No. of porosity per 100 m m weld length.
Sample Thickn. 0.1 - 0.2- 0.3- TPA RPA

(mm) <0.1 >0.4 COMMENTS 2
No. 0.2 0.3 0.4 (mm ) (%)
INCONEL 1 3.2 61 17 6 4 0 single-focus 1.945 0.61
INCONEL 2 3.2 29 1 0 0 0 dual-focus 0.259 0.08
TPA = Total Porosity Area; RPA = Relative Porosity Area-.
2 2
(RPA = (Projected Total Porosity Area mm ) / (Nominal weld area mm ))
A limited number of welding trials were carried out on samples o f H A Y N E S 25 and

N I M O N I C C263 using the same weld parameters as for the I N C O N E L tests. The result o f this
limited set o f tests were not as good as obtained for the I N C O N E L ; although this was probably
due to the weld parameters not being optimised for the particular welding characteristics o f these
materials. Further investigations are required to optimise the welding o f these alloys. One
possibility is to remove any oxide from the sheets before welding, a technique which has proved
successful i n other situations for reducing porosity.
4.2 Metallographie investigation of cross-sectioned samples

W h e n performing laser butt welding, very precise seam following is necessary, otherwise the
weld process w i l l break down. Missing the correct position by a few percent causes dramatic
changes i n the penetration depth and root defects w i l l appear as are shown i n Figure 5. Both
specimens were prepared from the same 2.1 m m thick I N C O N E L 718 test piece
a b
Figure 5. Effect of beam positioning on weld quality. Both are butt-welded using single-focus optics with
laser power P = 3 kW, and maximum welding speed for full penetration: 3.0 m/min
a. A good weld with full penetration and acceptable geometry.
b. A n unacceptable weld resulting from missing the ideal centering of the join.
63
K. Nilsson: Paper V - Investigations into the Welding o f Superalloys w i t h a C W N d : Y A G Laser and
A t lower welding speed, the risk for lack o f fusion w i l l also be reduced, but not eliminated.
Lowering the welding speed by 35 % results i n a broadening of both the root side and the waist
of the weld; the w i d t h o f the root side increases by 100%, whilst the w i d t h o f the waist increases
by only about 25%. The cross section geometry is i n general improved. Figure 6. shows full
penetration butt welds i n 2.1 m m thick I N C O N E L 718 w i t h single-focus optics using laser
power P = 3 k W , at two different welding speeds.
Figure 6. a). Maximum welding speed 2.85 m/min b). Welding speed: 1.85 m/min.
RPA: 0.81 % RPA: 0.04 %
Using the same welding speed and power w i t h dual-focus optics results i n a much larger volume
o f material being melted. Correspondingly, the waist is broadened, and the risk o f missing the
seam is reduced. A t the same time, the number and the total volume o f porosities i n the "dual
focus" weld are also significandy reduced.
Figure 7. a). W e l d e d with single-focus optics. b). W e l d e d with dual-focus optics.

RPA: 0.81 % RPA: 0.04 %
The welding speed and the laser power i n both cases above were v — 2.1 m / m i n and P — 3 k W
respectively.
64
5 Summary and conclusions

Using a high-power continuous wave N d : Y A G laser i n combination w i t h special focusing
optics, the solidification o f the molten material i n the weld bead can be controlled, so that a
smooth weld surface without sinking or undercuts can be achieved.
The present investigation concerned butt welds i n AISI 410 and austenitic 18/8 stainless steel
and aircraft-grade superalloys as H A Y N E S 25 and I N C O N E L 718. A limited number o f tests
were also carried out on N I M O N I C C263 alloy.
The weld geometry was found to be positively influenced when using dual-focus optics. This
was seen in the stainless steel samples and also i n the aircraft-grade superalloys. I n all cases, the
size and the frequency o f porosities were significantly reduced. The most pronounced effects
were seen in 2.1 m m and 3.2 m m thick I N C O N E L 718.
For butt welds i n superalloys, the volume o f the weld is increased by 50 % when using dual-
focusing instead o f single-focusing optics w i t h exactly the same beam power and the same
welding speed. This indicates that the losses from the keyhole when welding w i t h single-
focusing optics must be considerably higher than w i t h dual-focusing optics. A t the same time,
the dual-focusing optics resulted i n smooth top and root weld surfaces, w i t h no areas o f sink
adjacent to the weld bead. N o undercuts and incompletely filled roots could be observed.
Furthermore, the waist o f the welds produced w i t h the dual focus optics was 75 % broader than
for the single focus optics, which minimises the risk o f missing the j o i n and consequent lack o f
fusion. The occurrence o f porosities i n samples welded using dual focus optics was largely
reduced; the Relative Porosity Area, R P A being 1 0 - 2 0 times less than f o r the single-focusing
optics.
Careful removal o f oxides from the surface surrounding the j o i n t was f o u n d to be necessary to
ensure high quality welds: The more careful the preparation and cleaning o f the surfaces were,
the lower was the porosity content in the weld.
It is hoped that the developments presented here w i l l open up new possibilities for industry and
allow T I G and Electron Beam welding to be replaced i n many applications.
Welds produced using the dual focus optics offer many advantages over T I G - and EB-welding
including broader welds, reduced thermal loading and distortion and reduced risk for micro-
crack formation.
6. References
1. Johansson, R.: Examination w o r k on laser welding, 1998, Luleå University o f Technology
(In Swedish).
2. Johansson, T h . : Examination work on laser welding, 1996, Luleå University o f Technology

(In Swedish).
3. Lampa, C , Ivarsson, A., et al.: The Influence o f Gap W i d t h on Laser Welding. Proc. o f
I C A L E O ' 9 5 . , pp. 504 - 512.
4. Lampa, C , Ivarsson, A., et al.: Factors AfFecting the Efficiency o f Laser Welding. Lasers i n
Engineering (4), 1995, pp. 73 - 83.
65
5. Sarady, I . & Soltanieh, S.: Welding o f Superalloys w i t h cw. Nd:YAG-laser. Technical

Report, Luleå University o f Technology, 1995.
6. Handbook o f the EuroLaser Academy. D . Schuöcker, Editor. Ch. 4. & C h . 12.

1998, Chapman & Hall, I S B N 0 412 81920 1.
66
67
K . Nilsson: Paper V I - Fatigue Strength o f Nd:YAG-laser Welded Stainless Steel Lap Joints
68
Paper V I
Fatigue Strength of Nd:YAG-laser

Welded Stainless Steel Lap Joints
69
70
Fatigue Strength of Nd:YAG-laser Welded Stainless Steel Lap Joints

1 2
Klas Nilsson Jan Linder
1 3
Hans Engström John Powell
1)
Luleå University of Technology
2)
Swedish Institute for Metals Research
3)
Laser Expertise Ltd
Abstract
Fatigue tests were carried out on thin section stainless steel lap welds produced by N d : Y A G -
laser. Analysis o f the fatigue tests results and the fracture surfaces identified sheet thickness and
inter sheet gaps as having considerable effect on fatigue life. W e l d width has a more moderate
influence on fatigue life and weld porosity has a negligible effect at l o w concentrations.
1 Introduction
The primary field o f application f o r thin section stainless steels has traditionally been to provide
a corrosion resistant surface. M o r e recent applications o f these materials have also concentrated
on structural applications and there is an increasing demand for data concerning the properties
of welds. Laser welding is ideally suited to the j o i n i n g o f thin section stainless steel sheets and
this paper presents the results o f an investigation into the fatigue properties o f such welds. The
work investigates the influence o f sheet thickness, weld w i d t h , porosity and inter-sheet gaps on
the fatigue life o f the welds. (Inter-sheet gaps are often a problem when producing laser welds,
as clamping is not an intrinsic part o f the process).
The experimental results revealed that sheet thickness and inter-sheet gaps have a considerable
influence on the fatigue life o f the welds. W e l d widths were found to have a more moderate
effect and l o w levels o f porosity had a negliagible effect.
2 Experimental procedure
2.1 Materials used
The tensile strength properties o f the sheet material used in this investigation were measured
using the specimen type shown i n figure 1. For evaluation o f the yield and ultimate tensile
strength, a strain rate o f 0.5%/min was employed.
71
The chemical composition o f the 1.0 and 2.5 m m sheets are presented i n table 1 together w i t h
tensile test results.
«1 R=12
<N
\ _ J
„ 30.0 „ j, 75.0
Figure 1. Specimen used for tensile tests of sheet materials.
Table 1. Chemical composition and tensile strength of the sheet materials investigated.
Sheet C Si Mn P S Cr Ni RpO.2 A50 [%]

thickness [MPa] [MPa]
[mm]
1.0 0.042 0.35 1.62 0.029 0.006 18.4 8.1 552 801 39.8
2.5 0.043 0.33 1.53 0.026 0.006 18.3 8.1 512 756 41.9
2.2 Welding and fatigue specimen manufacture
The laser welding experiments were performed using an Nd:YAG-laser (HL3006D from Haas
Laser GmbH) w i t h beam delivery via a fibre optic cable. The laser gave a maximum 3 k W
power at the workpiece after the fibre optic delivery system.
Each test consisted o f welding two sheets o f the approximate dimensions 210x150mm to give a
welded blank o f 210x275mmn as shown i n figure 2. This was later sectioned to yield four
fatigue test specimens as shown i n figure 3. The final dimensions o f the specimens were
obtained by milling the edges, i n order to eliminate any residual plastic deformation. Four
sheets were welded for each experimental series giving a total o f 16 fatigue specimens for each
series.
72
Weld seam
Specimens cut
• later
a
tests Laser beam
}
i ^Sz
Gap^^
25
275
Figure 2. Lap joint weld geometry
45
150
Figure 3. Fatigue test specimen.
Eight different series o f fatigue specimens were tested as shown in table 2. Laser-welding
parameters were selected to produce different gaps (g) between the sheets and to produce
different laser-weld widths (w), see figure 4.
W
P
Figure 4. Definition of laser weld width (w) and gap between the sheets (g).
73
K. Nilsson: Paper V I - Fatigue Strength of Nd:YAG-laser Welded Stainless Steel Lap Joints
Table 2. Fatigue test sample matrix.
T h i c k n e s s of joined
Series Weld bead width, w Sheet gap, g
sheets [mm]
1 1.0/1.0 Standard 0
2 1.0/1.0 Standard A s large as possible
3 1.0/1.0 As large as possible 0
4 1.0/1.0 As small as possible 0
5 2.5/ 2.5 Standard 0
6 2.5/2.5 Standard A s large as possible
7 1.0/2.5 Standard 0
8 1.0/2.5 Standard As large as possible
Laser welding o f sheets w i t h differing thickness was always conducted w i t h the thin sheet on
top of the thicker one. The laser parameters used for manufacturing the fatigue specimens are
shown i n table 3. A trailing gas shield was used to produce an oxide free top surface o f the
weld. The maximum weld gap possible was determined experimentally, w i t h a k n o w n gap
between the sheets being carefully introduced. Weld quality was established using visual
inspection of the weld on the top and root side and optical microscopy o f the weld cross-
section. The maximum weld bead w i d t h was determined experimentally by reducing the
welding power and speed. The criteria for maximum weld w i d t h were that the welding speed
should be at a reasonable production level and that deformation should be low. The m i n i m u m
weld bead width was established at maximum laser power and maximum welding speed giving
barely full penetration welds. I n this case, a lens w i t h a short focal length (100 mm) was used to
obtain a minimum laser spot diameter, whilst giving the highest possible welding speed.
Table 3. Laser parameters used.
L a s e r parameter
Laser power [kW] 2 (series 3) and 3 (other series)

100 (series 4)
Focal length [mm] 200 (other series)
0,35 (focal length 100 mm)
Focal spot size [ m m ]
0,6 ( f o c a l length 200 mm)
Fibre optic diameter [ m m ] 0.6
Argon; 15 (series 1-4)
Coaxial shielding gas type; flow [1/min]
Helium; 30, (series 5-8)
Argon; 16 (series 1 -4)
Trailing gas type; flow [1/min]
Helium; 32 (series 5-8)
Coaxial gas nozzle diameter [ m m ] 7
Root gas type; flow [1/min] Argon; 16
Welding speed [m/min] 1.5-8.0
74
3 Results
3.1 Examination of the laser welds

The laser welding parameters for the eight weld types are presented i n table 4.
Table 4 . Laser weld parameters used for the different series studied.
Sheet steel Weld bead Welding Heat Relative

Experimental Gap Shield Power
thickness width 1
speed input heat
Series [mm] Gas [W]
[mm] [mm] [m/min] [J/mm] input
1 1,0+1,0 0 0,8 Ar 3000 4,0 45 2,0
2 1,0+1,0 0,4 1,3 Ar 3000 3,2 56 2,5
3 1,0+1,0 0 1,3 Ar 2000 1,5 80 3,6
4 1,0+1,0 0 0,6 Ar 3000 8,0 22 1,0
5 2,5+2,5 0 1,2 He 3000 1,0 180 8,2
6 2,5+2,5 0,9 1,7 He 3000 0,8 225 10,2
7 1,0+2,5 0 1,0 He 3000 2,0 90 4,1
8 1,0+2,5 0,4 1,4 He 3000 1,8 100 4,5
1
T h e weld bead width measured in the joint between the sheets
One typical weld of each type was examined using X-ray and optical microscopy. Etched cross
sections o f each type o f weld can be seen i n figures 7-14. general comments on each type o f
weld are as follows:
Series 1 (fwure 5: 1.0+1.0 mm. standard weld)

The gap between the plates was supposed to be zero in this case, but as figure 7 demonstrates,
there was a small gap o f approximately 0.05 m m . This emphasises the difficulty i n obtaining a
zero gap, particularly over large work pieces.
The weld cross section is waisted in the centre and expands towards the top and bottom o f the
weld. The weld is almost flat on top and close to the original line o f the top sheet. O n the
b o t t o m surface the weld protrudes only slightly.
X - r a y examination revealed no pores i n this type o f weld.
Series 2 (fwure 6: 1.0+1.0 mm. max sheet pap)

As this type o f weld involved two sheets o f 1 m m thick steel separated by a 0.6 m m gap it is
not surprising that the top o f the weld is well below the surface of the top sheet. The root of
the weld is also somewhat indented away f r o m the bottom sheet surface. This weld is not
waisted towards the centre as the series 1 weld was. The width of the weld is almost uniform
from top to bottom.
X ray examination revealed no pores i n this type o f weld.
Series 3 (fwure 7: 1.0+1.0 mm. max bead width)

This type o f weld is deliberately broader than the series 1 weld but otherwise it is similar i n
cross section shape. I n this case the w i d t h o f the waist (which determines the weld strength at
the sheets interface) has increased from 0.8 m m to 1.3 m m .
X ray examination revealed no pores i n this type o f weld.
75
Series 4 (fwure. S: 1.0+1.0 mm. min bead width)

I n this case the weld w i d t h at the waist has been reduced to 0.5 m m . The weld also protrudes
from the top and bottom surface o f the sheet surface more than the series 1 weld.
X ray examination once again revealed no pores i n this type o f weld.

A typical laser keyhole weld w i t h a broad top, w h i c h narrows before expanding slightly
towards the bottom. The top and the bottom o f the weld profile protrude slightly from the
sheet surface.
X ray examination revealed the presence o f 10-12 pores/cm o f which the great majority were
less than 1 m m i n diameter. (Early experimental runs using Argon as a shield gas had given
unacceptable levels o f porosity i n series 5-8. The situation was improved by using Helium.
Series 6 (fwure 10: 2.5+2.5 mm. max sheet cay)

The overall weld shape is similar to series 5 but:
a) the waist o f the weld at the sheet interface has increased from 1.2 to 1.7 m m .
b) the top o f the weld has sunk below the sheet surface.
c) the bottom o f weld is almost level w i t h the sheet surface.
X ray analysis revealed a similar pore size and density to series 5.

A similar weld profile to series 5 although the weld waist at the interface has been reduced to
1.0 m m .
X ray examination revealed the presence o f 2-3 pores/cm and these were generally larger than
these i n series 5 and 6.
Series 8 (fwure 12: 1.0+2.5 mm. max sheet aap)

Overall the weld profile was similar to series 7 except:
a) pores were larger
b) the waist o f the weld profile was increased by 40%
c) the top o f the weld solidified below the level o f the sheet.
Figure 5. Series 1; 1,0+1,0 m m . Normal welding Figure 6. Series 2,1,0+1,0 m m . Maximum gap.
parameters with no gap
76
: Paper V I - Fatigue Strength o f Nd:YAG-Iaser Welded Stainless Steel Lap Joi
Figure 1 1 . Series 7,1,0+2,5 m m . No gap, Figure 12. Series 8, 1,0+2,5 m m . Maximum gap (0,4
normal weld bead width.
mm), normal weld beam width. A large pore, 0.7 m m
in diameter can be seen in the weld root
77
3.2 Fatigue testing results
3.2.1 Typical fatigue failure results
During the fatigue tests, specimen load and displacement were monitored continuously. The
AP
specimen stiffness can be defined as
Ae
where: AP is the cyclic load range
Ae is the cyclic elongation range.
Figure 13 shows the result o f a typical fatigue test. I t is clear that the specimen stiffness remains
constant until the initiation o f fatigue failure.
0 200000 400000 600000 800000 1000000 1200000 1400000 1600000
No cycles
Figure 13. Typical appearance of specimen stiffness versus number of cycles for laser welded
specimens.
Figure 14 a-h presents polished and etched cross sections o f the failed fatigue specimens. I n
each case failure was initiated at a position between the two sheets at the fusion line o f one o f
the sheets. The crack then generally propagated either along the fusion line (eg Figure 14b, d
and h) or in a straight line by the shortest route. I n general this shortest route was through the
weld (eg Figure 14a, c and g). I n the case o f Figure 14e however, the geometry o f the melt i n
the gap between the sheets meant that the inter-sheet fusion line was some distance f r o m the
general body o f the weld. I n this case the shortest route to failure was through sheet itself.
78
Figure 14a. Typical fatigue failure in series 1 F i g u r e , 4 b , T y p i c a | f a t i g u e føi|ure
in series 2
• • i i
Figure 14c. Typical fatigue failure in series 3 Figure 14d. Typical fatigue failure in series 4
6
Sir 1 4 a T v P i c a l f a t l g u e
fa'^re in series 5 Figure 14f. Typical fatigue failure in series 6
Figure 14g. Typical fatigue failure in series 7 Figure 14h. Typical fatigue failure in series 8
79
Crack initiation could be stimulated by small oscillations o f the weld width. Figure 15 presents
an electron micrograph of a fractured surface and it is clear that there are localised variations i n
the weld w i d t h . I t also shows an initial gap between the sheets of about 35 microns.
figure 15. An electron micrograph of the fatigue failure showing the oscillation
of the weld width. This sample is taken from series 1
Figure 16 shows a schematic of such an oscillating weld boundary and it is clear that the outer
'points'of such a melt/solid interface could act as stress raisers. These are the probably fatigue
cracks initiation points.
r -i -i "1
Critical fatigue points
Figure 16. A schematic top view of the oscillating weld width showing probable crack initiation sites.
The presence o f pores has no noticeable effect on the fatigue failure, as the following results
w i l l demonstrate. This is reasonable because the pores do not congregate near the crack
initiation sites.
3.2.2 T h e influence of laser weld width on fatigue strength
It was mentioned earlier that the strength o f a lap j o i n t is largely dependant on the width o f the
weld at the point where the two sheets meet. Figure 17 demonstrates the improved fatigue
performance o f welds w i t h greater widths. I n this case approximately doubling the weld width
from 0 6 m m to 1.3 m m has increased the number o f cycles to failure by between two and five
depending on the load. For similar numbers o f cycles to failure the load can be increased by
between 10 and 20%
80
10
R=0.05
A £A*>^J£.AX""*""*-*
X s e r i e s 3, 1.0mm/1.0mm, no gap,
w=1.3mm
A series 4, 1.0mm/1.0mm, no gap,

w=0.6mm
10 000 100 000 1 000 000 10 000 000

C y c l e s to failure
Figure 17. Results from fatigue tests on lap welds between 1.0mm thick sheeets with different
weld width.
3.2.3 T h e influence of sheet t h i c k n e s s on fatigue strength
W h e n lap joints are loaded, strain takes place in the f o r m of j o i n t rotation as shown i n figure
18. This rotation is a result o f the asymmetry of the j o i n t in the direction o f loading. Joint
rotation eventually gives rise to crack initiation and subsequent failure, ref 1.
No load Load
Figur 18. Joint rotation strain experienced by loaded lap joints
W h e n j o i n t rotation is inhibited by using a thicker (stiffer) sheet then the fatigue behaviour of
the j o i n t is improved. This point is demonstrated by figure 19. Increasing the overall thickness
o f the j o i n t by 75% from 2 m m (1 + l m m ) to 3.5mm (1+2.5mm) improves the fatigue life by a
factor 10 for a given load. For a similar number o f cycles to failure the load can be increased
by between 20 and 40 %.
81
100
x series 5, 2.5mm/2.5mm, no gap, w=1.2mm
• series 7, 1.0mm/2.5mm, no gap, w=1.0mm
• Series 1,1.0mm/1.0mm, no gap, =0.8mm
10
E
a.
10 000 100 000 1 000 000 10 000 000

Cycles to failure
Figure 19. Result from fatigue tests showing the influence of joined sheet thickness on
fatigue strength
3.2.4 T h e influence of inter sheet g a p s on fatigue strength
In many applications clamping o f the sheets is difficult and a gap can exist between them. This
has an effect on the final weld profile and the strength o f the weld. As figure 20 demonstrates a
gap equal to 20% o f thickness of the two sheets to be welded reduces the allowable fatigue load
by approximately 40% for the same number o f cycles to failure. For the same load the number
o f cycles to failure is decreased by a factor o f 10.
100
• series 3, 1.0mm/1.0mm, no gap, w=1,3mm
• series 2, 1.0mm/1.0mm, gap=0.4mm, w=1 3mm
X s e r i e s 5, 2.5mm/2.5mm, no gap, w=1.2mm
A series 6, 2.5mm/2.5mm, gap=0.9mm, w=1.7mm
10 000 100 000 1 000 000 10 000 000

Figure 20. Results from fatigue tests for lap specimens with and without gaps between the sheets.
82
4 Discussion
It has been shown that sheet thickness and inter sheet gaps all have a considerable influence on
the fatigue life o f laser produced lap welds. W e l d w i d t h has a more moderate effect. O u r
results are summarised i n table 5.
Table 5: T h e influence of weld width, sheet thickness and inter sheet gap on the fatigue life of laser
produced lap welds.
s
Effect on max load to 1 0
Parameter c h a n g e Effect on c y c l e s to failure
c y c l e s life time
Increase weld width by 115% Increased by a factor of between Increased by between 10 and
from 0.6 to 1.3 mm 2 and 5 20%
Increase weld joint thickness Increased by a factor of 10 Increased by between 10 and
from 2.0 to 3.5mm 20%
Increase inter sheet gap from Decreased by a factor of 10 Decreased by 4 0 %
zero to 2 0 % of the thickness of
the two sheets to be welded
Figure 18 demonstrated that the asymmetry o f a lap j o i n t i n the direction o f loading gives rise
to j o i n t rotation and eventual fatigue failure. Figure 21 shows the forces and bending moments
acting on a lap j o i n t under load. A bending moment ( M J is applied to the j o i n t during loading
where:
M, F * t/4
where F = applied force

t = joint thickness
Ay
X
.X M.
Figure 2 1 . A schematic drawing of the reaction forces and moments that occur in a laser-welded
overlap specimen, M and T are the reaction moment and force which develop during loading of the
r r
specimen.
As the bending moment increases the fatigue life o f the sample decreases. This explains the
influence o f gap w i d t h on fatigue life (see table 5) because the gap increases the j o i n t thickness
(t) without contributing to the strength o f the joint.
The effect o f increasing the material thickness is rather more complicated because, although t
and therefore M , are increased, the stiffness and strength o f the j o i n t are also increased. Figure
22 compares the performance o f joints 5.0 and 3.5 m m thick and it is clear that the 30%
thicker sample has a 35% higher allowable stress for a 10'' cycle lifetime.
83
180
j— I
{
— CariAfi C- .5mm/2.5mm,
' no gap, w=1.2nim
160
—O - Series 7:1
.0mm/2.5mm, no gap, w=1.0rii m
140
a.
120
100
80
_ o X
60
40
~ ~o - -rj£
20
0
10 000 100 000 1 000 000 10 000 000
Figure 22. The increase in t h e 10 cycle fatigue stress with increasing joint thickness
This is because, although the bending moment has been increased by 30%, the stiffness o f the
j o i n t has also increased, this increase i n stiffness can be expressed as:
where W = Joint stiffness

2
b = specimen width
Therefore an increase in j o i n t thickness f r o m 3.5 to 5.0 m m constitutes a doubling o f the j o i n t

stiffness.
The influence o f the weld w i d t h on fatigue life is less profound than might be expected but
this is clearly understood by reference to figure 23.
Figure 23 demonstrates the stress distribution i n the laser lap weld and i t is clear that there is a
stress concentration towards the center edges o f the weld which is also where fatigue crack
initiation begins, this stress concentration is not dissipated by widening the weld and this is the
reason w h y a large increase i n weld w i d t h produces only a moderate improvement i n fatigue
life.
84
Stress distribution in
the laser weld at
section A-A.
Figure 23. A schematic representation of the stress distribution for a shear loaded laser lap weld.
5 Conclusions
• Gaps between laser lap welded sheets have a severe deleterious effect on the fatigue life o f
the j o i n t .
• The fatigue life o f laser lap welds is much improved i f the thickness o f one or both sheets
is increased.
• Increasing the weld w i d t h at the interface between the sheets improves the fatigue
performance o f the weld only moderately.
• L o w levels o f porosity i n laser lap welds have a minimal effect on fatigue life
6 Acknowledgement.
The present research was a part o f the " V A M P 13" programme w i t h i n the National Swedish
program V A M P , financed by N U T E K . Additional financial support from Adtranz Sweden and
Avesta Sheffield are also acknowledged.
7 References
[1] Wang, P., C., Fracture Mechanics Parameters f o r the fatigue Resistance o f Laser-welds, Int.
J., Fat., Vol.17, N o . l , pp. 22-34, 1995.
[2] Wang, P., C., Ewing, K . , M . , Effects o f Process Parameters on the fatigue strength o f Laser
Beam Welds, J. Laser appl, N o . 6, pp. 14-22, 1994.
[3] Larsson, J., K . , Abdulwahab, F., Meurling, F., Fatigue properties and FE-simulation o f
1
laser-welds, Proc. 7' ' Nordic Conference i n laser processing o f materials ( N O L A M P ) , eds
Kujanpää, V . , and Ion, J., v o l 1, pp. 55-61, 1999.
85
K. Nilsson; Paper V I I - Laser welding; the influence o f laser
choice and material properties on weld dimensions
86
K . Nilsson; Paper V I I - Laser welding; the influence o f laser
Paper V I I
Laser welding; the influence of

laser choice and material properties
on weld dimensions
87
K . Nilsson; Paper V I I - Laser welding; the influence of laser
88
Laser welding; the influence of laser choice

and material properties on weld dimensions
T . F o r s m a n * , K . Nilsson*, J . Powell**, C . Magnusson*
*Division o f Manufacturing Systems Engineering,

Luleå University o f Technology, S-971 87 Luleå, Sweden
Phone: +46 920 91771, E-mail: Tomas.Forsman@mb.luth.se
Phone: +46 920 91054, E-mail: Klas.Nilsson@mb.luth.se
**Laser Expertise Ltd., U n i t H , A c o m Park Industrial Estate, Harrimans Lane, Dunkirk,

Nottingham N G 7 2 T R , England
Phone: + 4 4 115 985 1273
Abstract
Three metals w i t h different thermal properties were welded under similar conditions by
N d : Y A G and C O , lasers. The N d : Y A G laser was found to give superior welding performance.
The welding process efficiency was found to be affected by four material properties: the
specific heat, the density, the melting point and the absorption o f the keyhole.
1 Introduction
Laser welding can be used to produce a wide range o f weld cross sections. However, since
welding metals involves metallurgical changes, it is usually o f interest to make the weld as small
as possible. For example, an ideal butt weld w o u l d j o i n two pieces by melting only the narrow
interfacial region throughout the material thickness as shown i n figure l a . A n example o f such
welding is friction welding as shown i n figure l b which is used when welding large diameter
vehicle axles.
a)
Figure 1. a) A n ideal butt weld and b) an example of friction welding of tubes of 10 m m wall thickness
(courtesy of Ferruform).
89
A n ideal lap weld would j o i n the t w o pieces by melting only a certain w i d t h o f the interface
between the pieces as shown i n figure 2a. The optimum weld width has been shown to be o f
the order o f the thickness o f the thinner o f the two sheets [1]. The depth o f the weld is not
important at all as long as the interface between the t w o sheets is melted. A f o r m o f welding
which approaches this ideal is resistance welding. Only the interface is melted by this process
but the workpiece is also deformed. A truly ideal lap weld is possible when laser welding two
polymer sheets where the top sheet is transparent to the laser wavelength and the bottom sheet
is fully absorbing [2] as shown i n figure 2b. Unfortunately it is impossible to transfer this
procedure to the welding o f metals since all metals absorb the common laser wavelengths ( C O ,
and N d : Y A G ) i n the first few atomic layers o f the surface [3].
Figure 2. a) A n ideal lap weld and b) a n example of diode laser lap welding of clear 1.5 mm
polycarbonate (PC) to charcoal-filled 2.0 m m PC (courtesy of IVF).
The cross sectional shapes o f laser welds are usually divided into two types:
a) conduction limited welds w h i c h are approximately semicircular in cross section (shown i n
figure 3) and
b) keyhole welds which have a m u c h greater depth to width ratio and have a profile similar to
figure 4.
Figure 3. Cross sections of conduction limited welds in 2 m m thick Inconel using a) a C 0 laser and b)
2
an Nd:YAG laser at a power of 2000 W and a speed of 2 m/min. Heat travels radially away
from the surface hot spot generated by the laser and the resulting weld is approximately
semicircular in cross section.
90
K. Nilsson; Paper V I I — Laser welding; the influence o f laser
Figure 4. A typical cross section of a keyhole weld in 2 m m thick Inconel. In this case the laser heats
the material past the boiling point, thus creating a keyhole which penetrates into the material
and acts as a line source of heat.
Conduction limited welding is similar for N d r Y A G and C O , lasers and produces similar weld
profiles in both cases (see figure 3). The weld profile is approximately semicircular and this of
course imposes a severe limitation on weld depth. The weld depth w i l l always be
approximately half the width and w i l l i n general be o f the order o f only 1-2 m m . I f
conduction limited welds are produced by N d : Y A G and C O , lasers under similar conditions
(focal spot diameter, beam power, etc) the N d : Y A G laser w i l l produce a larger weld as shown
in figure 3. This can be explained by the difference i n absorptivity for the two types o f laser
light which w i l l be discussed later i n this paper.
The first part o f this paper involves a comparison o f keyhole weld profiles produced by C O ,
and N d r Y A G lasers under similar conditions. The second part expands the discussion to the
effect o f workpiece properties on the weld profile.
2 Experimental work
In order to investigate the typical cross sections obtained in keyhole laser welding, experiments
were performed w i t h t w o lasers w i t h different wavelengths (see table 1). Three alloys w i t h
different thermal properties were investigated as detailed i n table 2.
Table 1. Laser data.
Laser 6 kW C 0 2 4 k W NdrYAG
Power on work-piece [W] 2000 2000
Wavelength [um] 10.64 1.06
Beam guiding Mirrors Optical fibre
Beam intensity distribution at focus Figure 5a Figure 5b
Focusing device Parabolic mirror Lens
Focal length [mm] 275 100
Focal point diameter [mm] 0.30 0.30
91
Table 2. Material data [4].
Material AA6016 Mild steel Inconel 718
Composition AI-1%Mg-1%Si Fe-0,1%C 54%Ni-19%Cr-18%Fe

Thickness [mm] 2.0 2.0 2.0
Thermal conductivity at
ambient temperature 180 60 10
[W/mK]
Melting point [°C] 650 1350 1560
Boiling point [°C] 2400 2750 2720
a) b)
Figure 5. Beam intensity distribution at the focus for a) the C 0 beam and b) the Nd:YAG beam.
2
In order to compare the results o f the two lasers, the same power, focal point diameter and
welding speed were used to ensure the same average beam intensity on the work-piece and the
same energy input. Differences still remain such as higher absorptivity for the N d : Y A G
wavelength [5], greater field o f depth for the 275 m m C 0 mirror [3], higher plasma
2
absorption for the C O , beam [6] and higher beam maximum intensity for the C O , beam due
to its superior mode quality [7].
3 Results and discussion
3.1 A comparison of the performance of C 0 and Nd:YAG lasers 2
3.1.1 The effect of laser type on penetration depth

Figure 6 shows cross sections of welds made w i t h similar process parameters by the N d : Y A G
and C O , lasers i n the Inconel alloy. Figure 7 shows a similar comparison for mild steel. It is
clear from both figures that the penetration o f the weld is improved i f the N d : Y A G laser is
used. T o understand this result we need to examine the absorption o f light i n the weld
keyhole.
92
a
) b)
Figure 6 Comparison of a) Nd:YAG and b) C 0 laser welds in 2 m m thick Inconel (laser power 2000
2
W , focal point diameter 0.3 m m and welding speed 3 m/min).
a) b)
Figure 7. Comparison of a) Nd:YAG a n d b) C 0 2 laser welds in 4 m m thick mild steel (laser power 2000
W , focal point diameter 0.3 m m and welding speed 0.5 m/min).
The keyhole is an approximately conical vapour filled hole in the liquid which forms the melt
pool as shown m figure 8. Energy f r o m the laser beam is absorbed inside the keyhole by two
mam mechanisms:
i. direct absorption by the keyhole molten surface; the laser beam is partially absorbed and
partially reflected o f f the melt surface during a series o f internal reflections in the keyhole
(see figure 8),
ii. absorption by the vapour cloud followed by re-radiation o f energy to the surrounding
5
melt.
93
Welding direction
Laser light
•
Vapour filled
keyhole
Weld
Figure 8. A schematic diagram of the keyhole and melt pool.
Direct absorption is a function o f the surface condition o f the absorbing surface and the angle
between i t and the direction o f the incident light. There is no fundamental difference i n the
situation i f either laser is used as, i n most cases, the absorbing surface is a steeply inclined hot
liquid metal. I t is probable however that the N d : Y A G laser light w i l l be absorbed more
effectively than the C O , light as a result o f its shorter wavelength as shown i n figure 9 (for
solid metals at normal incidence the absorptivity for N d : Y A G laser light is approximately twice
that for C O , lasers).
50 i—
Nd:YAG - Fe
45 Nd:YAG - Al
40 C02-Fe
C02-AI
35 -
£
- 30
o
S. 25
Sä
I 20 —
<
10
5 --
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
9
Angle of Incidence [ ]
Figure 9. Absorption as a function of angle of incidence (0° is perpendicular to the surface) of laser
light for aluminium and iron at their respective melting points calculated from Ordal [8].
The metal vapour inside the keyhole is always ionised to some extent and is therefore referred
to as a plasma. The absorption o f light by an ionised vapour (the inverse bremsstrahlung effect)
is proportional to the square o f the wavelength o f the light [6]. W h e n welding w i t h a C O ,
94
laser beam the proportion o f the light absorbed by the plasma may typically be between 10 and
40% [9] depending on the plasma type and ionisation level. As the wavelength o f a C 0 laser is 2
ten times that o f the N d : Y A G the absorption for an N d r Y A G laser w i l l be 1% o f the C O ,

value (i.e. 0.1 to 0.4%) and can therefore be ignored as an energy transfer mechanism. The
difference i n absorption coefficient between the two types o f laser is demonstrated i n figure 10.
Mulser
" 10'-
0.1 1 10
Wavelength (nm)
Figure 10. Plasma absorption coefficient as a function of wavelength [3, 6].
The difference i n absorption coefficient in aluminium and iron plasmas is demonstrated in

figure 11 w h i c h was calculated using
z V hot)
a = n.n, 1 - exp (1)
3 2 3 ne lm £ litkT
6^/3hco m, c e n n 1- e e 0
where
a = absorption coefficient [1 / m ]
n = number density o f electrons [ 1 / m 'J
e
n, = number density o f ions [ 1 / m ]

Z = number o f protons [1]
e = electron charge [C]
h = Planck's constant [Js]
CO = angular velocity [ l / s ]
m = electron mass [kg]
e
c = speed o f light i n vacuum [m/s]

(l
£(, = electrical permittivity in vacuum [F/m]

k = Bolztmann's constant [T/K]
T = temperature [K]
g = quantum mechanical Gaunt factor [1]
and
» = -7^ (2)
95
where
X — wavelength o f laser light [m]
and [10]
4exp(-Cj
(3)
hoo
JcT
where
C = Euler's constant [1].
t
C02/AI
10000 15000
Plasma temperature [K]
Figure 1 1 . Absorption coefficient as a function of temperature of the plasma of laser light in pure
aluminium and iron respectively.
As a C O , laser beam travels downwards through the keyhole it is progressively absorbed by the
plasma and this has the effect o f concentrating the laser energy towards the top o f the keyhole.
This, o f course, interferes w i t h the ability o f the beam to penetrate deep into the material. The
N d : Y A G laser light is not affected by plasma absorption and that is w h y weld penetration for
this type o f laser is superior to a C O , laser w i t h the same process parameters (see figures 6 and
V).
3.1.2 The effect of laser type on weld width

Figures 12 and 13 demonstrate that, given the same basic process parameters, N d : Y A G lasers
produce more melt volume and wider welds than their C O , laser counterparts. I n the
examples shown here the N d r Y A G laser has produced 30% more melt than the C O , i n the
case o f the Inconel alloy and 10% i n the case o f the aluminium. This increase i n weld w i d t h
w o u l d be generally o f no benefit when butt welding but may increase the j o i n t strength o f a
lap weld. Sometimes a wider weld can o f course be useful i n butt welding i f f i t up is poor and
a broader melt is necessary to bridge the gap between the workpieces.
96
a) b)
Figure 12. Comparison of a) Nd:YAG and b) C 0 laser welds in 2 m m thick Inconel (laser power 2000
2
W , focal point diameter 0.3 m m and welding speed 2 m/min).
a) b)
Figure 13. Comparison of a) Nd:YAG and b) C 0 laser welds in 2 m m thick aluminium (laser power
2
2000 W , focal point diameter 0.3 m m and welding speed 2 m/min).
The increase i n melt volume generated by N d : Y A G lasers is, i n part, attributable to the
improved absorptivity compared to C O , lasers. Another contributory factor is the inefficiency
o f plasma absorption/reradiation compared w i t h direct keyhole weld absorption. Once energy
is absorbed by the plasma it is reradiated i n all directions. I n this way a proportion o f the
energy is radiated out of the keyhole and is thereby lost to the process. I n addition to this,
energy is wasted in the boiling and ionisation process associated w i t h plasma formation.
3.2 The effect of workpiece thermal properties on the weld profile
W h e n laser welding metals there are a number o f material properties w h i c h could influence
the process. These include
• thermal conductivity,
• surface reflectivity,
• melting point,
• boiling point,
• specific heat and
• density.
For the purpose o f this paper three metals w i t h widely differing thermal properties were
welded by C O , and N d . Y A G lasers under similar conditions. Figure 14 shows comparable
welds made by C O , laser and figure 15 shows similar results for the N d : Y A G laser.
97
a) b) c)
Figure 14. C 0 laser welds made in 2 m m thick a) Inconel, b) mild steel and c) aluminium at a laser
2
power of 2000 W , a process speed of 2 m/min and a focal spot diameter of 0.3 m m .
a) b) c)
Figure 15. Nd:YAG laser welds made in 2 mm thick a) Inconel, b) mild steel a n d c) aluminium at a
laser power of 2000 W , a process speed of 2 m/min and a focal spot diameter of 0.3 m m .
Table 3. T h e relevant material properties of the three alloys welded.
Property AA6016 Mild steel Inconel 718

Melting point [ C ] 650 1350 1560
Boiling point [°C] 2400 2750 2720
Thermal 180 60 10
conductivity [W/mK]
Thermal diffusivity [m'/s] 6.3*10" 5
1.4*10" b
0.3*10*
Density [kg/m ] 3
2710 7870 8190
Specific heat [J/kgK] 890 448 435
A review o f figures 14, 15 and table 3 reveals no correlation between thermal conductivity and
weld w i d t h . This apparently surprising result can be clarified by reference to the original heat
transfer equation developed into a welding equation b y Rosenthal [11].
98
K . Nilsson; Paper V I I — Laser welding; the influence o f laser
Lateral 4
2
distance
[mm] Linear distance [mm]
Figure 16. Thermal gradients established by a moving line source of energy in AA6063 (after
Rosenthal [11]). The peak temperature located at the origin is a singular point and was set at
the boiling point of 2400 °C.
Figure 16 demonstrates how a moving line source creates a steady state thermal gradient in a
workpiece as it moves across it. The equation w h i c h describes the temperature at any point is:
2 2
r - T = - ^ - e : {Pe )K ^Pe +Pe ^
0
2 0 z r (4)
Ink
where
T = temperature [K]
T = room temperature [K]
0
P = power absorbed [ W ]
alB
X = thermal conductivity [ W / m K ]
t = workpiece thickness [m]
Pe = Peclet number (lateral direction)
r
Pe = Peclet number (linear direction)

z
K„ = modified Bessel function o f second kind and order zero

and
vr
Pe. (5)
2a
where
v = process speed [m/s]
r = lateral distance [m]
2
a = thermal diffusivity [m /s]
and
Pe = (6)
2a
where
z = welding distance [m]
99
and
(7)
2 2
V / V2 *lpe +Pez T
(approximation by Adams)
Equation 7 into 4 yields

2 2
p exp| Pe. +Pe,

y y abs (8)
2 2
Vfe^ ^Pe +Pe
The peak temperature T reached at any point is derived by finding the following extremum
p
o f equation 8:
(9)
which yields
(10)
r„-r„ JSneAtPe,
2P, ,a
h
T -T (11)
P o 8mÅtvr
where
a - (12)
PCp
where
p — density [kg/m']
C = specific heat [J/kgK]
p
T -T (13)
P » J87æÅtvrpC p
w h i c h reduces to
2P
T -T = (14)
P o J&TvetvrpC
From equation 14 i t is clear that the maximum temperature reached at any point around the
weld is affected by only two material properties: the specific heat o f the material (C ) and the
density (p)
1
(15)
CpP
The result o f equation 14 for the three materials under consideration is presented i n figure 17.
100
1
0 J
0,0 0,5 1,0 1,5 2,0
Lateral distance [mm]

Figure 17. T h e maximum temperature reached as a function of lateral distance from the weld centre
line. The curves end at the materials' respective melting points.
Because we are interested in the width of the weld the maximum temperature reached curves
in figure 17 have been cut o f f at the melting points o f the materials. The curves for Inconel
and steel overlap because the specific heat multiplied by the density give a similar result for
these two materials and these are the only material properties which affect the slope o f the
curve (see equation 15). The lateral distance f r o m the origin to the end o f each curve gives a
first approximation o f the width o f the weld and shows similar widths for the Inconel and mild
steel and a greater w i d t h for the aluminium (see figure 14 and 15).
Taking measurements directly from figures 14 and 15 i t is possible to state an average weld
w i d t h by dividing the weld cross sectional area by the material thickness. Relative average
weld widths can then be found for the three materials as shown i n tables 4 and 5.
Table 4. Relative average weld widths of the C 0 2 laser welds shown in figures 14.
... Weld c r o s s sectional Average width Relative average

" area [mm ] 2
[mm] width
Mild steel 1.19 0.59 1.00
Inconel 1.39 0.69 1.17
AA6016 2.80 1.40 2.37
Table 5. Relative average weld widths of the Nd:YAG laser welds shown in figures 15.
Alloy Weld c r o s s sectional Average width Relative average

area [mm ] 2
[mm] width
Mild steel 1.20 0.60 1.00
Inconel 1.75 0.88 1.47
AA6016 3.30 1.65 2.75
101
These experimental results can then be compared to the theoretical values obtained f r o m figure
17 presented i n table 5.
Table 5. Absolute and relative values of theoretical weld widths.
Average weld Relative average

Alloy
width [mm] width
Mild steel 1.22 1.00
Inconel 1.04 0.85
AA6016 3.70 3.03
It w o u l d not be expected that the crude analysis provided by equation 14 w o u l d give accurate
weld w i d t h figures and this is confirmed by a comparison o f tables 4 and 5. O n the other hand
equation 14 might be expected to give the same trends in relative average w i d t h . I n fact the
theory underestimates the relative weld w i d t h for Inconel and overestimates the value for
aluminium. This is undoubtedly due to differences i n absorptivity for the three materials. I n
producing figure 17 f r o m equation 14 a general approximation o f 60% was made for the
absorption o f the materials to both sorts o f laser light. Apart from the fact that the materials
have a higher absorptivity for N d : Y A G laser light they also exhibit differences between
themselves. I t is well established [12] that the absorptivity o f metals to infrared laser light is
related to their electrical conductivity i n the following way
A°c-L (16)
Vcr
where
A = absorptivity [1]
O = electrical conductivity [ A / V m ] .
This being the case it is clear that aluminium w i l l have the lowest and Inconel the highest
absorptivity o f the three materials under discussion. Equation 16 refers to infrared light at
normal incidence and gives relative absorptivity figures o f 19, 6 and 1 for Inconel, m i l d steel
and aluminium respectively at r o o m temperature. These figures exaggerate the differences
between the materials during welding because the keyhole is an environment w h i c h promotes
absorption.
The volume o f melt generated during laser welding is therefore influenced by four material
characteristics:
• the specific heat,
• the density,
• the melting point and
• the absorption o f the keyhole (a function o f the electrical conductivity).
4 Conclusions
a) "When process parameters are similar N d : Y A G lasers provide better weld penetration
compared w i t h C O , lasers.
b) Under similar process parameters N d : Y A G lasers produce wider welds than C O , lasers.
102
c) The amount o f melt generated by a laser during welding is proportional to the absorption
o f the keyhole which is related to the electrical conductivity o f the material.
d) The amount o f melt generated by a laser during welding is inversely proportional to the
specific heat, density and melting point o f the material.
5 References
1. RAPP, J, D A U S I N G E R , F & H Ü G E L , H . Laser beam welding of aluminium alloys.
Proceedings o f E C L A T ' 9 6 . 97-106 (1996).
2. N I L S S O N , T & L A M P A , C. Diode laser welding of plastics. Proceedings o f 7* N O L A M P .

472-481 (1999).
3. H Ü G E L , H & D A U S I N G E R , F. Interaction phenomena. Handbook o f the EuroLaser

Academy, V o l 2, Chapman & Hall, London (1998).
4. Metals Handbook. 9"' ed, vol 1-2, (1989).
5. STEEN, W , M . Laser materials processing. Springer-Verlag, London (1991).
6. M U L S E R , P. Hydrogen plasma production by giant pulse laser - A theoretical study.

Internal study. Institut für Plasmaphysik, Garching bei M ü n c h e n (1969).
7. F O R S M A N , T , L A M P A , C, P O W E L L , J & M A G N U S S O N , C. Prediction of the cross-

sectional geometry of Nd:YAG laser welds in aluminium alloys. Proceedings o f ICALEO'99.
N o v (1999).
8. O R D A L et al. Applied optics. V o l 27, 1203 (1988).
9. K A P L A N , A, F, H . A model of deep penetration laser welding based on calculation of the keyhole

profile. Journal o f physics D : applied physics. V o l 27, 1805-1814 (1994).
10. D O W D E N , J, P O S T A C I O G L U , N , D A V I S , M & K A P A D I A , P. Journal o f physics D :

applied physics. V o l 20, 36-44 (1987).
11. R O S E N T H A L , D . Welding Journal. V o l 20, 220s (1941).
12. H A G E N , E, R U B E N S , H . Über Beziehungen des Reflexions- und Emissionsvermögens der

Metalle zu ihrem elektrischen Lietvermögen. A n n d. Physik. V o l 11, 873 (1903).
103
104
NR: 2001:21
LULEÅ I ISSN: 1402-1544
TEKNISKA ISRN: LTU-DT--01/21--SE
UNIVERSITET
Utbildning
Doctoral thesis
Institution Upplaga
Material- och produktionsteknik 200
Avdelning Datum
Produktionsutveckling 2001-05-06
Titel
Technical Development of the Laser Welding Process
Författare Språk
Klas Nilsson Engelska
Sammanfattning
This thesis describes the technical development of the laser welding process and presents
the results from a number of experimental investigations. The seven papers that make up
the thesis investigate various aspects of the technical development of the laser welding
process mechanism as well as industrial applications.
The thesis provides an introduction to the subject of C02 laser welding. The mechanism
and techniques of the process are analysed and the future commercial growth of the
subject is discussed.
An investigation of laser welding of construction steels used in the heavy mechanical

industries is presented. The results include welding parameters for high power lasers up to
17 kW, weld metallurgy and static and dynamic weld strength of test specimens. Also
components designed for laser welding were tested.
An investigation of the effect of plasma control on porosity levels when welding

zinc-coated steel is is presented including the reduction of plasma production by using a
pulsed laser beam.
Laser welding of deep drawing sheet steel has been performed with simultaneous feeding
of iron powder into a butt joint. A new method using a magnetic field to feed the powder
into the joint gap has been developed.
A continuous wave Nd:YAG-laser was used to weld sheet metal parts with very high
demands on the weld geometry and quality. Examples include applications (cont.)
Granskare/Handledare
Claes Magnusson
URL: http://epubl.luth.se/1402-1544/2001/21

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2001:21

Department of Material and Manufacturing Engineering

2000:21 • ISSN: 1402 - 1544 • ISRN: L T U - D T - - 00/21 - - SE

Technical Development of the Laser Welding Process

Department of Materials and Manufacturing Engineering

Doctoral thesis 2001:21

Department o f Materials and Manufacturing Engineering

Paper I: A Review of C O , Laser Welding: Mechanism and Techniques.

Paper II: High Power Laser Welding of Construction Steels.

Paper III: Laser Welding of Zinc Coated Steel.

Paper IV: Laser Welding with Metal powder as Filler Material.

Paper I J. Powell and K . Nilsson: A Review o f C O , Laser Welding: Mechanism and

Paper I I K . Nilsson H . Engström, J. Flinkfeldt, T. Nilsson, A. Skirfors and M . Miller: High

Paper V I . Sarady, K . Nilsson, C. Magnusson and T . Wahlberg: Investigation into the

Paper V I K . Nilsson, J. Linder, H . Engström a n d j Powell: Fatigue Strength o f N d . Y A G -

Paper V I I T . Forsman, K . Nilsson, J. Powell and C. Magnusson: Laser welding; the

Paper I A Review o f C 0 2 Laser Welding: Mechanism and 1

Paper I I H i g h Power Laser Welding o f Construction Steels. 15

Paper I I I Laser Welding o f Zinc Coated Steel. 29

Paper I V Laser Welding w i t h Metal powder as Filler Material. 43

Paper V Investigation into the Welding o f Super Alloys w i t h

Paper V I Fatigue Strength o f N d : Y A G - laser Welded Stainless

Paper V I I Laser welding; the influence o f laser choice and

A Review of CO2 Laser Welding:

A Review of CO2 Laser Welding: Mechanism and Techniques

*Laser Expertise, Nottingham NG7 2 T R , U . K .

Figure 1 . Principles of laser welding

Conduction limited welding

Deep penetration (keyhole) welding

Figure 4. The creation of a keyhole type weld pool.

Laser welding is n o w employed by industries as diverse as electronics and shipbuilding. T o

1. Continuous wave butt-welding

Continuous wave butt-welding

Figure 5. Laser butt-welding

Original junction j Weld

Figure 6. Laser butt-welding of copper to stainless steel

' T ' Joint Welding

Figure 7. T-joint weld. a. Double pass method, b. Skid welding

A f u l l penetration weld can be produced i n this way w i t h properties comparable to or

Figure 8. Laser spot welding

Welding with filler metal

4 WELDING S P E E D S AND PENETRATION DEPTHS

Welding speed (m/min)

Figure 9. W e l d penetration versus processing speed

5 FACTORS AFFECTING THE COMMERCIAL EXPLOITATION O F

b. Laser welding is a thermodynamic process, which can only be adequately controlled by

6. Powell, J. C O , Laser Cutting. Book, Springer Verlag I S B N 3-S40-19786-9.

High Power Laser Welding of

High Power Laser Welding of Construction Steels

Division of Production Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, SE-971 87 Luleå, Sweden

S S A B Tunnplåt AB, S-781 84 Borlänge, Sweden

S S A B Oxelösund AB, SE-613 80 Oxelösund, Sweden

K e y words: C O , laser, welding, construction steel, strength test

Table 1 Laser equipment used

Table 2. Chemical compositions of the Domex steels tested (wt-%).

D o m e x 280 Y P , 8 m m 0.06 0.22 0.36 0.006 0 . 0 1 0 0.005 0.047 - - 0.008 0.13

Yield Tensile Elongation Charpy V-notch

Table 4. Chemical composition of W E L D O X 500 and HARDOX 400

1) CE, m = C + Mn/6 + (Cr+Mo+V)/5 + (Cu+Ni)/15

Table 5. Mechanical properties of W E L D O X 500 and HARDOX 400

W E L D O X 500 6 M 536 600 24 174J/-50°C' -

Table 6. Welding parameters

W E L D O X 500 6 5.0 2.4 0.12 1