Optics and Laser Technology 94 (2017) 279–289

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Optics and Laser Technology

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Full length article

Experimental and simulation study on the microstructure of TA15

titanium alloy laser beam welded joints
Xiaohong Zhan a,b, Qingyu Peng a, Yanhong Wei a,⇑, Wenmin Ou a
a
College of Material Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 211106, China
b
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Laser beam welding technique offers obvious advantages over other fusion welding processes in terms of
Received 8 June 2016 joining titanium alloy. The microstructure of welded seam and heat affected zone resulted from diverse
Accepted 6 March 2017 welding speeds and laser powers were investigated after simulating welding heat treatment. The analysis
Available online 21 April 2017
of the thermal transport properties successfully explained the morphology. Optimal process parameters
were obtained. The simulation results were consistent with the corresponding experimental
Keywords: observations.
TA15 titanium alloy
Ó 2017 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Laser beam welding
Microstructure
Simulation

0. Introduction
TA15 titanium alloy is widely used to manufacture important
structures which are served in high temperature or under complex
stresses in aerospace applications due to their unarguable proper-
ties such as excellent corrosion resistance, high specific mechanical
resistance, and good temperature performance [1,2]. During the
manufacturing of titanium components, joining plays a fundamen-
tal role in ensuring mechanical properties at the least cost. How-
ever, the welded joints of TA15 alloy fabricated by traditional
fusion welding techniques exhibit inferior mechanical properties
and poor formability due to the insufficient protection measures
and the irregular, complex weld pool shapes [3]. Nowadays, a vari-
ety of advanced welding methods such as laser beam welding
(LBW) [4], electron beam welding (EBW) [5], laser-MIG hybrid
welding (LAMIG) [6], friction stir welding (FSW) [7] have been
developed to join titanium alloy.
Of these techniques, LBW and EBW can provide a significant
benefit for the welding of titanium alloys because of their precision
and rapid processing capability [8]. It was reported that, compared
to the joint welded by EBW, the titanium joint welded by LBW has
narrower weld-seam and fine grains [9]. Zhang et al. found that
residual stress distribution zone in a titanium alloy joint welded
by LBW is much narrower than the one welded by traditional
fusion welding processes [10]. Besides, it has attractive advantages
including the great controllability of welding heat input, no use of
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: yhwei@nuaa.edu.cn (Y. Wei).
filler metal, the high efficiency and the high precision that make
LBW one of the most popular welding methods.
Nonetheless, the laser welding is quite a complicated process
which induces uneven temperature, non-uniform chemical com-
position and stress. In addition, a high energy density and a low
heat input is also the characteristic of LBW. In the process of laser
beams welding for TA15 titanium alloy, the rapid solidification and
quench associated with these characteristics affects the
microstructure and in turn the properties of the welded joint
[11]. Welding in the atmosphere and specimen preparation influ-
ence the chemical composition of the fusion zone and its mechan-
ical properties [12], as the absorption of O2 or N2 or H2 changes the
mechanical properties. The change in welding heat input has a sig-
nificant influence on weld forming, microstructure and property of
welded joint, due to the poor thermal conductivity and the high
sensitivity of TA15 alloy to laser beams welding thermal cycle. In
order to obtain the most appropriate welding parameters with
good welded joint quality of laser welded TA15 alloy, the welded
seam and heat-affected zone structure need to be analyzed.
However, most research on laser beam welding of titanium
alloy focuses on the joint quality associated with the LBW welding
procedure and the influence of microstructures on weld perfor-
mance. On one hand, it has been found that for all the welding pro-
cesses, sufficient shielding protection of the heat affected zone
(above 400 °C) is crucial for producing successful joints. It was
demonstrated that helium compared to argon as the shielding
gas resulted in a lower imperfections during the laser welding pro-
cess [13]. It has been reported that fusion zone grain refinement
and improving weld ability are acquirable through micro-alloying

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.optlastec.2017.03.014
0030-3992/Ó 2017 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
280 X. Zhan et al. / Optics and Laser Technology 94 (2017) 279–289
of the weld pool with yttrium. In terms of microstructure, lower
speeds of laser welding produce larger grain sizes due to the
increase in heat input. The hardness of the fusion zone increases
with increasing laser welding speed [14]. As mentioned, the linear
energy expressing the heat input to the weld samples was a highly
influencing parameter for the bead shape. Higher linear energy
promoted an X-shaped bead, whereas lower one promoted V-
shaped bead [15]. Tzeng has described the seam welding as a series
of overlapping spot welds to form a fusion zone or seam. The for-
mation and quality of seam welds are the results of a combination
of various pulsed laser processing parameters, such as the travel
speed, the average laser power, the pulse energy, the pulse dura-
tion, the average peak power density and the spot area [16]. The
molten pool behavior has been synchronously observed to under-
stand laser welding phenomena of commercially pure titanium
[17]. In order to reduce the spattering or porosity, feasibility of
adaptive control of laser peak power and pulse duration has been
examined by considering the relationship between the in-process
monitoring signals and the welding results. Casalino et al reported
that Al-Ti fiber laser offset welding (FLOW) focuses a fiber laser
beam onto the Ti side of the weld close to its centerline. Neither fil-
ler metal nor groove preparation was necessary [18]. On the other
hand, recent studies on beta heat-treated Ti-5Al-5Sn-2Zr-4Mo and
Ti-6Al-4V have indicated that a larger prior-beta grain size pro-
motes poor ductility. Earlier studies on the alpha-beta titanium
alloy Ti-6AI-6V-2Sn have also addressed the ductility problems
associated with a large prior-beta grain size in gas tungsten arc
weldments [19].
While at present, there are limited studies about the influence
of welding parameters on microstructure of TA15 alloy laser beams
welded joint. The systematic and qualitative analysis of the LBW
welded joint structure is presented here. The reasonable laser
beams welding parameters are obtained by analyzing the effect
of welding parameters on the welded seam and heat-affected zone
structure.
1. Experiment
1.1. Materials
TA15 titanium alloy is a near-a titanium alloy with high alu-
minum equivalent, and its chemical composition is shown in
Table 1. The main elements of TA15 titanium alloy are Al, Zr, Mo,
V. Al as an a-stabilizing element plays an important role in solid
solution strengthening effect on titanium alloy. Neutral element
Zr and b-stabilizing elements Mo and V make a difference in
improving the mechanical properties. The substrates with the ther-
mophysical parameters shown in Table 2 are prepared by rolling
and annealing.
1.2. Experimental equipment
The LBW equipment consists of laser source, laser fiber, laser
optic and handling system. The main parameters are shown in
Table 3.
The laser is reflected and then focused on the TA15 samples
after transmitted through the optical fiber. The change of the beam
polarization state and direction, the emission and aggregation of
the beam are achieved by the light guide and focusing system.
Table 1
Chemical composition of TA15 alloy (wt.%).
Al Zr Mo V Fe
6.82 2.16 1.47 1.8 0.046
The function of the welding machine is to realize the relative
motion between beam and workpiece so as to accomplish the laser
welding. The IPG YLS-6000 fiber laser and the schematic diagram
of laser beams welding are illustrated in Fig. 1. For the LBW test,
TA15 alloy substrates of dimensions 100
50
3 mm3 were used
as illustrated in Fig. 1(b).
After the welding process, the MPD-2W metallographic polish-
ing machine with double disk was used for the polishing process.
Photographs of the welded joint microstructure and defects were
taken by metallurgical microscopy and then they are all analyzed.
1.3. Experimental process
In this study, the titanium alloy plate was cut into workpieces
with the dimensions of 100 mm
30 mm
3 mm using wire cut-
ting machine, and then pre-welding treatments, including sanding
and cleaning were performed.
In the process of laser welding, the plasma produced by laser
radiation decreased the laser power radiated on the surface of
the workpiece, and expanded the range of laser speckle and heat-
ing, which seriously affect the welding process. The impact of the
plasma could be effectively reduced by measuring and keeping
the shield gas passing through the weld zone and the temperature
of the weld zone area higher than 400 °C. Simultaneously, the
shield gas was used to prevent oxygen, nitrogen or hydrogen in
the air from entering the weld. As a result, the weld quality was
improved. The shielding gas in this experiment was consisted of
80% argon and 20% carbon dioxide with flow rate of 15 L/min.
After LBW process, weldments were cut perpendicular to the
section of weld seam by the wire cutting machine for metallo-
graphic preparation. Start and end of the weld, and the uneven area
of weld seam were avoided when samples were cut. In another
word, the most representative parts of the weldments were
selected for cutting into samples.
2. Modeling theory
In the numerical simulation of laser welding process, the
absorption effect of molten pool on plasma energy needs to be con-
sidered. On the other hand, the keyhole effect appeared in deep
penetration laser welding needs to be taken into account, too.
Due to the above mentioned two aspects, the combination of gauss
surface heat source and cone body heat source model, which has
higher simulation precision, is used. The weld molten pool mor-
phology appeared to be nail heads morphology of laser welding
was simulated.
The actual heat source parameters used in simulation are
shown in Table 4.
The welding heat input changes with its angel. In order to
reduce the heat input, 90° was used as laser heat source input
direction.
Since there is no complete phase diagram of TA15, the Ti-Al
phase diagram is used as reference of preliminary study, consider-
ing that the TA15 is a near-a titanium alloy with Al alpha stabilizer
element (see Fig. 2).
Equilibrium phase diagram can only provide some qualitative
reference for calculating the components of phase change. In fact
phase change process is very complex, and it is very difficult to
compute the components of phase change and material properties.
Si C N H O Ti
0.046 0.011 0.0069 0.0024 0.054 Balanced
 X. Zhan et al. / Optics and Laser Technology 94 (2017) 279–289 281

Table 2
The main thermophysical parameters of TA15 alloy.

Density (kg/m3) Solidus temperature (K) Liquidus temperature (K) Heat conductivity (J/(m s K)) Latent heat of fusion (J/kg)
4378.48 1963 1978 26.96086 292798.0

     n 
Table 3 Q
LBW experimental parameters. Solution : yic ¼ 1  exp  k0  exp  i  ðDt þ si Þ  F i  yim
RT
Model IPG YLS-6000 ð3Þ
Laser working way Continuous
Wavelength 1064 nm In the equation, yic represents the phase transition component
Rated output power 6000 W of step I, yim is the largest phase transition component which is
Beam quality 4.0 mm mrad default 1.0, k0 is the relative constant of material phase transition,
Output power stability 1.0–2.0%
Output optical fiber diameter 200 lm, 400 lm T i is the temperature, si is function relevant to T i and phase tran-
i
sition component F . The phase change range of laser welding heat
A mathematical model is necessary so as to reasonably predict the process is determined from 800 °C to 850 °C, in which austenitic
phase change process. The JMAK equation is a common isothermal phase transformation occurs in TA15. The a to b transformation
phase transformation kinetics equation, which is: takes place in heating process while b to a transformation takes
place in cooling process. Because both phase transformations are
f i ¼ 1  expðbi t ni Þ ð1Þ diffusional phase transformation, all the above formulas for calcu-
where f i represents the degree of isothermal phase transition, bi is lation models of phase transformation are available. However the
the constant changing with the temperature corresponding to f i , corresponding phase transformation parameters of heating and
and ni is the corresponding crystallization nucleation constant. cooling process are different. Namely, k0 , Q and n are different.
For welding, the instantaneous heating and cooling process are Besides, the model is limited in only laser welding and near-a tita-
not applicable. Therefore, the JMAK equation is improved based on nium alloy.
the corresponding non-isothermal continuous cooling curve CCT
diagram so as to be in line with the characteristics of non- 3. Experimental results and discussion
isothermal phase change. Another way is to discrete time, get the
logarithm of the JMAK equation and perform the differential of 3.1. Microstructure observation and analysis
time t via finite element. The non-isothermal JMAK equation
launched in this way is as follows: Fig. 3 shows the solidified as-cast structure weld seam after
  welding thermal cycle.
db _ tþDt bn
y_ tþDt  ð1  yt Þtn T þ ¼0 ð2Þ Due to the self-diffusion of titanium in the beta phase, high-
dT t
temperature heating increases the growing tendency of b phase.

Fig. 1. The schematic diagram of laser beams welding.

282 X. Zhan et al. / Optics and Laser Technology 94 (2017) 279–289

Table 4 Therefore, bulky beta columnar crystal forms in the weld seam. The
The heat source model parameters. beta columnar crystal grows inwards with a basement of semi
Name Project Concrete value molten grains in matrix area. It is found that the grains far away
Ze Z coordinate of upper surface of 0.6 from the fusion line grow rapidly. This can be attributed to the
weldment poor thermal conductivity of titanium alloy, thus the liquid metal
Zi Z coordinate of lower surface of 0.27 in center of the molten pool cooled down slowly and remained
weldment in overheating state for a long time.
re Radius of heat source applied on the 0.06
upper surface
The growth direction of the beta columnar crystals at the top of
ri Radius of heat source applied on the 0.0 the weld seam is different from that in the middle of the weld
lower surface seam. The beta columnar crystals at the top of the weld grows
H Heat depth 0.4 towards the surface of the weld center from the fusion line, as
g Coefficient 0.9
shown in Fig. 3(c). While the beta columnar crystals in the middle
P Laser power Concrete value shown in
Table 3 of the weld grow parallel to each other towards the weld center, as
V The maximum of heat flux distribution Concrete value shown in shown in Fig. 3(d). This is attributed to the effect of the character-
Table 3 istics of laser welding heat source. The heat emission condition of
the top and the middle of the weld is different from each other as
the cooling speed of weld seam is fast. Besides, there is heat source
over the weld seam, where the laser melted the material. Therefore
the cooling rate in center is smaller than that of the middle of the
weld.
As illustrated in Fig. 4, martensitic structure is found in the
inside of the columnar grains under high magnification
microscope.
Insufficient time for the alloying elements to diffuse in the cool-
ing process of the weld seam is the reason behind the formation of
martensite. Supersaturated alpha solid solution, which is the so
called a0 lamellar martensite, is formed from the b columnar crys-
tal and b isometric crystal through coherent shear.
Microstructure of the heat affected zone consists of nascent a-
phase and acicular martensite (Fig. 5). The acicular martensite in
heat affected zone is less and finer compared with that of weld
seam. This is because of the temperature difference between the
designated areas.
Microstructure of heat affected zone is not uniform and changes
along the direction perpendicular to the fusion line, as illustrated
in Fig. 5. The area away from the fusion line is not fully re-
crystallized in which the grain sizes are diverse, as demonstrated
Fig. 2. The Ti-Al phase diagram. in Fig. 5(c), as this area maintains high temperature for a short

Fig. 3. As-cast structure in weld zone.

 X. Zhan et al. / Optics and Laser Technology 94 (2017) 279–289 283

Fig. 4. Martensite structure inside the columnar crystal.

Fig. 5. The nonuniform structure, nascent a-phase and acicular martensite of the heat affected zone.
284 X. Zhan et al. / Optics and Laser Technology 94 (2017) 279–289

Fig. 6. The schematic of titanium alloy laser welding scheme characteristics and diagram of 3 mm thickness plate welding parameters and width thickness 3 mm diagram.

time, thus diffusion and grain growth was incomplete. Therefore, vapor increases. Surface width is increased through heat conduc-
the initial grains coexist with the new grains. The area near the tion with the molten pool. No obvious change occurs to the root
fusion is maintained at high temperature for a long time, which width and middle width.
makes the alloy to be a superheat state. In the area near the fusion, Surface width, middle width and root width are expected to be
the sizes of equiaxed grains are large and a small amount of narrow and close to each other. When the welding speed is around
martensites emerge (Fig. 5(d)). 2.4 m/min, the widths in Fig. 6(d) meet the requirements. As
shown in Fig. 6(e), when laser power is in the range from
2400 W to 2700 W, the widths are close to each other. As a result,
3.2. Weld appearance and microstructure
a combination of laser power of 2500 W and welding speed of
2.5 m/min is the most optimal choice according to Table 5.
The macro morphology of 3 mm TA15 alloy laser welding joints
The morphology of martensite is intimately linked with the
obtained varies under different welding process parameters. The
welding heat input. Fig. 7 shows the morphology of martensites
greater the welding speed is, the narrower the weld is when the
under different laser powers at the constant welding speed using
laser power is constant. At the constant welding speed, the smaller
the metallurgical microscope. Fig. 8 displays the morphology of
the laser power is, the narrower the weld is. No obvious relation-
ship between the heat affected zone width and the change of weld-
ing process parameters was found.
The surface width, root width and middle width of the welding
joints measured by JR Screen Ruler are shown in Fig. 6(a)–(c). The Table 5
Laser welded joint width of 3 mm thickness plate width.
process parameters and weld widths are recorded in Table 5.
Fig. 6(d) illustrates the diagram of welding speed and width No. Laser Welding Focus Front Middle Backside
when the laser power is 2200 W. Fig. 6(e) shows the diagram of power speed (m/ (mm) width width width
(W) min) (mm) (mm) (mm)
welding laser power and width at the constant welding speed of
2 m/min. It is obvious, the welding heat input depends on welding 1 2200 1.5 3 3.50 2.52 2.01
speed at the constant laser power. For instance, the higher the 2 2200 2 0 2.67 1.19 0.65
3 2200 2.5 +3 2.33 0.45 0.63
welding speed is, the smaller the welding heat input is. Thus, the 4 2500 1.5 0 3.43 1.69 2.28
surface width, root width and middle width are decreased. Simul- 5 2500 2 +3 2.86 1.03 1.30
taneously, the cooling rate of molten pool increases. When the 6 2500 2.5 3 2.57 1.34 0.70
welding speed is constant, the welding heat input depends on laser 7 2800 1.5 +3 4.04 1.67 2.19
8 2800 2 3 3.07 1.26 1.04
power. The absorptivity of laser in surface increases with increas-
9 2800 2.5 0 2.60 1.00 1.53
ing laser power. As a result, the temperature of plasma and metal
 X. Zhan et al. / Optics and Laser Technology 94 (2017) 279–289 285

Fig. 7. The weld microstructure under different laser powers when the welding speed is 2.0 m/min (a) 2200 W, (b) 2500 W, (c) 2800 W.

Fig. 8. The weld microstructure at different welding speeds when the laser power is 2800 W (a) 1.5 m/min, (b) 2.0 m/min, (c) 2.5 m/min.

martensite at different welding speeds when the laser power is
fixed.
When the welding speed is fixed, the weld heat input is deter-
mined by the laser power. From Fig. 7, the martensites mostly pre-
sent a parallel state and grow towards multi-direction when the
laser powers and the weld heat input are low. The short fine acic-
ular martensites appear among the long parallel acicular marten-
sites forming the basket weave structure. With increasing the
laser power as well as the weld heat input, the distribution of
the martensites tend to be scattered without obvious directional-
ity. The multidirectional distribution of martensites of weld seam
is beneficial to improving the performance of welded joint. That
is because the more martensites is dispersed within, the less stress
concentration is caused. In addition, the tortuosity of grain bound-
ary is also fraise to the expansion of crack. However, an increase in
the weld heat input at the same time makes the columnar crystal
oversized. The welded point makes embrittlement and in poor
performance.
When the laser power is constant, the weld heat input is deter-
mined by the welding speed. The molten pool remain high temper-
ature for a long time under low welding speed, as a result, the weld
heat input is large. From Fig. 8, in this case, the microstructure of
weld is finer and the distribution of the martensites is scattered
without obvious directionality. With increasing the welding speed,
the welding heat input decreases and the distribution of the
martensites starts to be directional.
The microstructure and performance of heat affected zone are
closely associated with the welding heat input. The morphology
of heat affected zones under different laser powers at constant
welding speed is presented in Fig. 9. On the other hand, the mor-
phology of heat affected zones at different welding speeds is pre-
sented in Fig. 10.
The low heat input accelerates the cooling rate of molten pool
and reduces the transition temperature when the welding speed
is large or the laser power is small. From Figs. 9 and 10, the
microstructure of heat affected zone is refined and the heat
affected zone narrows down. Some areas like the annealed zone
and the recrystallization zone even disappear completely. Thus
the division of the heat affected zone is very fuzzy, and the base
metal grains extend to the area near the fusion line.
286 X. Zhan et al. / Optics and Laser Technology 94 (2017) 279–289

Fig. 9. The HAZ microstructure under different laser powers when the welding speed is 2.5 m/min (a) 2200 W, (b) 2500 W, (c) 2800 W.

Fig. 10. The HAZ microstructure at different welding speeds when the laser power is 2800 W (a) 1.5 m/min, (b) 2.0 m/min, (c) 2.5 m/min.

Fig. 11. The phase composition of the weld at different time step.
 X. Zhan et al. / Optics and Laser Technology 94 (2017) 279–289 287

4. Modeling results and analysis
The phase distribution of molten pool in different time is shown
in Fig. 11. The percentage of pearlites gradually decreases from
inside to out. The volume/area fraction of pearlites accounts for
0.3 in the outermost phase of molten pool edge, and 0.6 in the
outer. Then the inward pearlites content increases to 0.75. The
pearlites content quickly increases from outside-in; therefore the
outer phase with low pearlites content is quite thin. The pearlites
phase in center of molten pool is close to 100 percent. In Fig. 11
(a), the molten pool is completely filled up with pearlite phase
when the time step is 20. A tiny porphyritic area where pearlite
content plunges to 0.75 is formed at the tail of molten pool. The
pearlites content in center falls to 0.6 at the time step of 30, as pre-
sented in Fig. 11(b). The external diameter of porphyritic area grad-
ually increases and the area turns into columnar area penetrating
the molten pool. The pearlites content in center of columnar area
decreases from 0.75 to 0.6 and remains at 0.3 finally. As exhibited
in Fig. 11(e), several more porphyritic areas appear around the
columnar area at the time step of 80.
In order to verify the distribution of beta columnar crystal
quantitatively in the heating process, the simulation was executed.
The simulation result is showed in Fig. 12. The phase fraction of
beta columnar crystal rises to the 1.0, however, the beta columnar

Fig. 12. The distribution of beta phase based on the simulation results.

Fig. 13. Heat affect zone.

Fig. 14. The TA15 titanium alloy weld center organization distribution.
288 X. Zhan et al. / Optics and Laser Technology 94 (2017) 279–289
Fig. 15. The TA15 titanium alloy heat affect zone organization distribution.
Fig. 16. The organization distribution quantitative result of b phase in TA15 alloy heat affect zone.
crystal suddenly changes to the 0.4 at the time of 15 s. This phe-
nomenon illustrates that the process of phase transformation is
not stabile, so the directions of the beta columnar grains at the
top are different in the weld seam.
In the heat affect zone, Fig. 13 shows the complicated phase
transformation. In the heat affected zone, the fraction is increased
from 0.6 to 0.8. Therefore the heat affected zone becomes obvious,
and it can be observed in Figs. 12 and 13.
In order to verify the simulation results, the volume fraction of
each phase after welding was quantitatively obtained through cal-
ibrating the organization of different colors. As shown in Fig. 14(b),
weld center of TA15 alloy with b phase is calibrated.
The ruler is hidden away at first so as to guarantee the accuracy
of measuring area. From the picture shown above, volume fraction
of b phase is calculated to be about 0.45.
Fig. 15(b) is the calibrated b phase microstructure of TA15 alloy
heat affect zone.
Fig. 16(b) is the volume fraction statistics of b phase. The b
phase of the largest area accounts for around 0.285 which is very
close to the simulation result of 0.3. Therefore the simulation
results of distribution of beta phase are basically consistent with
the experimental results.
5. Conclusions
(1) The process parameters are selected by means of studying
TA15 alloy welded seam and heat affected zone microstruc-
ture, then the calculation results are verified via modeling.
(2) The structure of welded seam is found to be columnar crys-
tal while the heat affected zone is consisted of isometric
crystal. The internal microstructure of the columnar crystal
consists of the basket weave structure while that of the heat
affected zone is a mixture of alpha phase and a0 phase.
(3) The martensites mostly present a parallel state and grow
towards multi-direction in welded seam when the weld heat
input is low. With increasing the weld heat input, the distri-
bution of the martensites tends to be scattered without
obvious directionality.
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