Applied Surface Science 253 (2007) 8050–8053

www.elsevier.com/locate/apsusc

The influence of shielding gas in hybrid LASER–MIG welding

Giovanni Tani, Giampaolo Campana *, Alessandro Fortunato, Alessandro Ascari
Department of Mechanical Construction Engineering, University of Bologna, Viale Risorgimento 2, 40136 Bologna, Italy

Available online 28 February 2007

Abstract
Hybrid LASER-GMAW welding technique has been recently studied and developed in order to meet the needs of modern welding industries.
The two sources involved in this process play, in fact, a complementary role: fast welding speed, deep bead penetration and high energy
concentration can be achieved through the LASER beam, while gap bridgeability and cost-effectiveness are typical of the GMAW process.
Particularly interesting, in this context, is the CO2 LASER–MIG welding which differs from the Nd:YAG LASER–MIG technique for the high
powers that can be exploited and for the good power/cost ratio of the process.
This paper is a part of a wide study on the hybrid CO2 LASER–MIG welding and investigates the influence of the shielding gas both on the
stability of the process and on the dimensional characteristics of the weld bead. Two different parameters have been taken into consideration in
order to develop this analysis: the shielding gas composition and the shielding gas flow.
The experiment, performed on AISI 304 stainless steel plates, has been planned exploiting design of experiment techniques. The results have
been analyzed through a statistical approach in order to determine the real influence of each parameter on the overall process.
# 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Hybrid welding; Shielding gas; GMAW; Laser; Stainless steel welding

1. Introduction
Hybrid Arc-LASER welding technology has been thoroughly
studied and successfully applied [1–3] in the last few years. In
particular hybrid LASER Nd:YAG–GMAW process meets the
needs of automotive industry thanks to its easy implementability
on anthropomorphic robots, while LASER CO2–GMAW is
suitable for shipbuilding industry, but also for transport and
aerospace industry applied to panels manufacturing, thanks to its
characteristic high powers. On the other side the two welding
sources, coupled to perform an hybrid welding process, require a
fine tuning of both sets of technological parameters in order to
obtain a stable, repeatable and productive process.
According to this, many studies have been carried out
regarding power-related parameters [4,5] such as coupled arc
voltage and LASER beam power and on source positioning
related ones [6] such as defocus position and distance between
the sources, in order to trace out the basics regarding the
applicability of the process. More specific studies have been
carried out considering plasma interaction [7] and molten pool
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +39 0512093456; fax: +39 0512093412.
E-mail address: giampaolo.campana@unibo.it (G. Campana).
0169-4332/$ – see front matter # 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.apsusc.2007.02.144
fluid dynamics [8] with the aim of tuning the complex
equilibrium which stands behind this kind of processes.
The aim of this work is therefore to investigate the influence
of shielding gas composition and flow on the whole process. In
order to accomplish this goal the planning of the experiment
and the analysis of the results have been performed by means of
design of experiment techniques. This approach allowed to
clearly underline the real influence of the studied parameters on
the stability of the process and on weld bead geometry.
2. Experimental setup
The equipment used to carry out the experimental tests is
based on an EL.EN. C3000 FAF 3 kW CO2 laser source and on
a CEBORA Sound MIG 3840/T Pulse 380 synergic pulsed
GMAW generator. In order to couple the two sources a Binzel
ABIMIG automatic torch has been exploited and assembled on
the laser head of the CNC cell.
The experimental activity was carried out using AISI 304
stainless steel. The test specimens are couples of 15 mm 
10 mm  120 mm sticks tack welded on each end in a zero-gap
butt joint configuration. Every stick has been obtained by sawing
from an 8 and 10 mm thick plate in order to simulate a poor
 G. Tani et al. / Applied Surface Science 253 (2007) 8050–8053 8051

quality edge preparation. Every specimen has been then welded

without any restraint or jigs in order to maximize the effect of
weld distortion.
Several parameters have been kept constant during the
whole testing:

 GMAW torch inclination: 658.

 Welding speed: 1 m/min.
 Welding direction: MIG trailing.
 GMAW source setting: synergic pulsed.
 Laser power: 3 kW.
 AISI 308L 1.0 mm filler metal wire.

The shielding gas parameters have been varied:

 Three gas flow rates: 10, 30, 45 l/min. Fig. 1. Characteristic dimensions of a weld bead obtained exploiting a 40% He
mixture and a 30 l/min flow rate.
 Three different gas compositions:
 30% He–67% Ar–3% O2;
 40% He–57% Ar–3% O2; the melted zone. Every cross-section has been polished and
 60% He–37% Ar–3% O2. etched for observation with optical microscope and the bead
geometry has been characterized by measuring the following
Previous experiments, carried out by the authors, allowed to parameters: penetration depths (D), widths (W) and reinforce-
evaluate the following setup parameters which permit to ments (R), as shown in Fig. 1.
achieve good bead penetrations and geometry [9]: A two-way analysis of variance has been carried out on the
measured dimensions in order to get information regarding the
 Arc voltage: 20 V. influence of the controlled process parameters and of the
 Distance between sources: 3 mm. external disturbance factors.
 Laser beam focal position: 7 mm below the upper base metal
surface. 4. Results and discussion

3. Experimental Figs. 2 and 3 concern bead penetration depths and widths,

respectively. The plotted lines show the mean values between
The experiments were split into two different phases: a the two repetitions for each helium percentage analyzed. These
preliminary and a main one. graphs show that bead depth increases if helium percentage and
The first preliminary stage was aimed to investigate the gas flow increase, as well as bead width.
minimum helium percentage necessary to achieve a stable Figs. 4–6 show the values related to bead depths for both
process. Several tests have been carried out exploiting 10% and repetitions together with the respective mean value. By
20% He mixtures at different flow rates. In these cases a comparing these graphs the evidence is that at higher helium
consistent plasma plume above the molten pool caused the percentages, 60%, the dispersion of results becomes more
absorption of a large portion of the laser energy with a negative important. This is, probably, due to the destabilizing effect of
effect on bead penetration depths and on process efficiency. helium on the GMAW arc especially in a pulsed mode.
Starting from 30% He gas mixtures the working condition
changed radically. The high ionisation energy of helium
together with the higher percentage of the gas in the mixture
allows to limit the plasma plume formation and consequently
the absorption of the laser beam. According to this outcome, in
the following part of the experiment 30%, 40% and 60% He gas
mixtures were exploited.
During the main experimental stage every seam was
produced exploiting a shielding gas environment characterized
by a specific flow rate/composition match. Every single trial has
been repeated twice in order to evaluate the repeatability of the
process and to free the results from external disturbance factors
as much as possible.
The average length of the obtained seams is 100 mm and
every bead has been cross-sectioned in correspondence of its Fig. 2. Comparison between mean bead penetration depths as a function of gas
normal symmetrical plane in order to investigate the shape of flow rate and composition.
8052 G. Tani et al. / Applied Surface Science 253 (2007) 8050–8053

Fig. 3. Comparison between mean bead widths as a function of gas flow rate Fig. 5. Graph of bead penetration depths behaviour exploiting a 40% He gas
and composition. mixture.

The two-way ANOVA summarized in Table 1, puts in

evidence that the role of disturbance and uncertainty factors
is not negligible if compared to the role of the investigated
parameters. In fact both the calculated F values for gas flow
(F = 1.41) and composition (F = 4.23) are lower than
F crit = 9.55, which is the critical value of this experiment.
This means that the null hypothesis cannot be rejected and
that the variations of bead width and depths could be due
only to external factors rather than to the controlled
parameters. Regarding bead width a similar conclusion
can be drawn, in fact data shown in Table 2, confirm the same
results obtained for bead penetration. The above-mentioned
considerations underline that, in hybrid Laser CO2–GMAW Fig. 6. Graph of bead penetration depths behaviour exploiting a 60% He gas
welding, the shielding gas plays an important role on the mixture.
feasibility of the process since a minimum helium percentage
– equal to 30% – is needed to obtain a suitable welding In terms of process fine tuning easiness a low helium content
environment. On the other hand, the experiments demon- environment does not affect the stability of the pulsed-arc metal
strate that higher helium content mixtures as well as high depositions; this allows to exploit factory default synergic
flow rates yield to progressively unstable GMAW arcs and, in curves on the GMAW source instead having to implement
particular, they do not affect significantly bead geometry and customized ones.
bead depths. This experimental outcome is rather positive in
terms of process cheapness since helium is an expensive Table 1
component. Analysis of variance of bead penetration depth results
Source DF SS MS F P
Composition 2 0.0481 0.0240500 1.41 0.294
Flow 2 0.1447 0.0723500 4.23 0.051
Interaction 4 0.1450 0.0362500 2.12 0.161
Error 9 0.1540 0.0171111
Total 17 0.4918

Table 2
Analysis of variance of bead width results
Source DF SS MS F P
Composition 2 0.44924 0.224622 4.43 0.046
Flow 2 0.12314 0.061572 1.21 0.341
Interaction 4 0.06272 0.015681 0.31 0.865
Error 9 0.45625 0.050694
Fig. 4. Graph of bead penetration depths behaviour exploiting a 30% He gas Total 17 1.09136
mixture.
 G. Tani et al. / Applied Surface Science 253 (2007) 8050–8053
5. Conclusions
Hybrid CO2 LASER–GMAW welding process yields a great
industrial interest thanks to its large applicability and
versatility. In order to obtain a stable and efficient process,
the role of the shielding gas must be taken into consideration:
 A minimum helium content, equal to 30%, must be exploited
to limit plasma formation and consequently a low laser power
absorption.
 A 30 up to 40% helium content gas mixture allows to exploit
factory default synergic curves in the GMAW sources and it
grants a good process feasibility.
 Helium content above 40% yields to unstable arc conditions
and does not lead to a significant increase of bead penetration
depth.
 A shielding gas flow between 10 and 30 l/min is enough to
grant a suitable cost-effective welding environment.
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