IPE 341: Manufacturing Processes-II

Nonconventional Joining Processes:

Laser, Electron Beam and Submerged Arc Welding

Dr. M. Muhshin Aziz Khan

Professor
Department of IPE
Learning Objectives
 On completion of the lectures on ‘Nonconventional Joining
Processes’, you should be able to:
 Understand comparative  Evaluate the usefulness of
benefits of using high-energy various nonconventional
beam over the conventional joining processes;
heat sources  Explain the basic concept of
 Describe how various the laser and energy transition
nonconventional joining mechanism involved in light
processes such as submerged amplification.
arc welding, electron beam
welding, and laser beam
welding work;
 Differentiate a nonconventional
joining processes from others;
Nonconventional Joining Processes
 Relative power densities of different heat
sources
 Deeper weld penetration
 Higher welding speed
 Better weld quality
 Less damage to the workpiece

 Variation of heat input to workpiece with

power density of the heat source
 With the increase in power density of the
heat source heat input to workpiece
decreases resulting in
Nonconventional Joining Processes
 Submerged Arc Welding (SAW)  The arc is submerged and
 A process that melts and joins thus invisible.
metals by heating them with an
arc.
 Wire is fed continuously and
automatically from a spool
using a wire drive (wire feed
motor).
 Arc is generated between a
continuously fed filler wire
electrode and the metals.
 The arc is shielded by molten
slag and granular flux.
Nonconventional Joining Processes
 Submerged Arc Welding (SAW)  At very high welding currents
 A process that melts and joins (e.g., above 900A), AC is
metals by heating them with an preferred in order to minimize
arc. arc blow.
 The flux is supplied from a
hopper, which travels with the
torch.
 The molten metal is separated
from the air by the molten slag
and granular flux
 No shielding gas is needed.
 Most often, DCEP is used
Nonconventional Joining Processes
 Submerged Arc Welding (SAW)  The relatively large volumes of
 Advantages  molten slag
 High deposition rates.  metal pool
 Workpieces much thicker than that in  The relatively high heat input can reduce
GTAW and GMAW can be welded by the weld quality and increase distortions.
SAW.
 Automatic operation.  Applications
 No visible arc radiation.  The main applications are on thick
 Since the arc is submerged, spatter section
and heat losses to the surrounding air  plain carbon and
are eliminated.  low-alloy steels
 Flexible range of flux/wire combinations.  It has been used on
 The protecting and refining action of the  Power generation plant,
slag helps produce clean welds in SAW.  nuclear containment,
 heavy structural steelwork,
 Disadvantages  offshore structures
 SAW is limited to flat-position welding  shipbuilding.
Nonconventional Joining Processes
 Electron Beam Welding (EBW)  The stream of electrons then pass
through a hole in the anode and are
 A process that melts and joins
focused by an electromagnetic coil
metals by heating them with an
to a point at the workpiece to be
electron beam.
welded.
 The electron beam gun has a
 Electron beam comes out of the
negatively charged tungsten
gun and strikes the workpiece.
filament.
 When it is heated up to its
thermo-ionic temperature, the
filament emits electrons.
 These electrons are accelerated by
an electric field between a
negatively charged bias electrode
(located slightly below the
cathode) and the anode.
Nonconventional Joining Processes
 Electron Beam Welding (EBW)  The beam diameter decreases
 A process that melts and joins with decreasing ambient
metals by heating them with an pressure.
electron beam.  Electrons become scattered
 On striking the workpiece, the when they hit air molecules.
kinetic energy of the electron
is transferred into heat which,
in turn,
 vaporize the metal and
 form a vapor hole i.e. a
keyhole during welding.
 EBW is usually carried out in a
vacuum chamber.
Nonconventional Joining Processes
 Electron Beam Welding (EBW)  The total heat input per unit
 Advantages length of the weld is much lower
 The electron beam can be than that in arc welding, resulting
focused to diameters in the range in
of 0.3–0.8 mm and the resulting a very narrow heat-affected
power density can be as high as zone
1010 W/m2.  little distortion.
 With a very high power density in  Reactive and refractory metals
EBW, can be welded in vacuum where
 full-penetration keyhole welding there is no air to cause
is possible even in thick contamination.
workpieces.  Some dissimilar metals can also
 joints that require multiple-pass be welded.
for arc welding can be welded in
Nonconventional Joining Processes
 Electron Beam Welding (EBW)  The fine beam size requires
 Disadvantages precise
 the equipment cost for EBW is  fit-up of the joint and
very high.  alignment of the joint with the
 The requirement for high gun.
vacuum and x-ray shielding is  Residual and dissimilar metal
 inconvenient and magnetism can cause beam
 time consuming deflection.
Nonconventional Joining Processes
 Laser Beam Welding (LBW) Stimulated Absorption
 Laser Basics   An atom in a lower energy state
Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission  gets excited by absorbing a photon of
of Radiation frequency and
Laser is essentially an optical amplifier that  jumps to an upper (excited) energy
state.
 Generates and
 Amplifies Stimulated Emission   Absorption occur only when

► To explain the process of light  Wavelength of the photon must be

amplification requires an understanding of
the energy transition phenomena in the  𝝀 = 𝒉 𝒄
𝜟𝜠
atoms of its active medium.
► These energy transition phenomena E2
include:
 Stimulated Absorption EPhoton= hν
 Spontaneous Emission
 Stimulated Emission
E1
Nonconventional Joining Processes
Spontaneous Emission
  Atoms in their active medium are in
excited energy state
 Atoms
 return (decay) spontaneously to
lower energy state (i.e. ground state),
and
 emit photons of frequency, .
 In this transition,
 No external interference or outside
intervention is present.
 The photons emitted have random
direction and phase.
 Photons emitted are incoherrent

E2
 During downward transition,
 energy released in the form of
photon:

 wavelength of the photon emitted:

  𝒉𝒄
E1 𝝀=
𝜟𝜠
Nonconventional Joining Processes
Stimulated Emission
  Atoms in their active medium are in  Direction of propagation
excited energy state.  First few spontantenously emitted
 Stimulating photon of an appropriate photons () trigger stimulated
frequency interact with excited atoms emission of others.
and generate a second stimulated  Applied stimulating radiation gains
photon of exactly the same energy as it interacts and hence, is
 Phase amplified.
 Frequency  Since all the (stimulating and
 Polarization and stimulated) photons are in the
E2 same phase and move in the same
 Amplification is phase-preserving
direction.
 Stimulated emission is completely indistiguishable
from stimulating radiation field.
 Photons thus emitted have extremely high degree
E1 of coherence
Nonconventional Joining Processes
Laser Components
 Lasing Medium
 Provides appropriate transition
 Determines the wavelength (it must be in a
metastable state)
 Pump
 Provides energy necessary for population
inversion
 Optical Cavity
 Provides opportunity for amplification
 Produces a directional beam (with defined
length and transparency)
Properties of Laser
 Coherent (synchronized phase of light)
 Collimated (parallel nature of the beam)
 Monochromatic (single wavelength)
 High intensity (~1014W/m2)
Nonconventional Joining Processes
 Laser Basics: Beam Quality and Its Effects
Beam Quality Effects of Beam Quality

 A measure of Lasers’ capability to be

 propagated with low divergence and
 focused to a small spot by a lens or mirror
 Beam Quality is measured by M2 or BPP
 Ratio of divergence of actual beam to a
theoretical diffraction limited beam with
same waist diameter
 M2 = 1; Ideal Gaussian Beam, perfectly
diffraction limited.
 Value of M2 tends to increase with
increasing laser power.  Smaller focus at constant aperture and
 A higher power density by a smaller focal length
spot size with the same optics.  Longer working distance at constant
aperture and spot diameter
or
 Smaller aperture (‘slim optics’) at
 The same power density at lower laser
constant focal diameter and working
power.
distance
Nonconventional Joining Processes
 Why do we need laser for welding?
Laser beam welding  No filler metal is required (autogenous
 High energy density input process weld)

 Parallel-sided fusion zone  Reduction in welding cost

 High aspect ratio for fusion zone  Increase in weld quality

 Narrow heat affected zone

 High scanning speed
 Precisely controllable (close  Wide range of dissimilar material
tolerence: ± 0.002 in.)  Wide range of part geometries/sizes
 Low heat input produces low  Does not require a vacuum (welds at
distortion atmospheric pressure)
 Very easy to automate  No X-rays generates and no beam
Dissimilar metals can be miss wanders in magnetic field.
jointed due beam deflection
Nonconventional Joining Processes
 Laser Beam Welding (LBW)
 Welding Modes
Conduction Welding Keyhole Welding
Description Description
 Heating the workpiece above  Heating the workpiece above
the melting temperature the vaporization temperature
without vaporizing and forming of a keyhole.
 Heat is transferred into the  Laser beam energy is
material by thermal transferred deep into the
conduction. material through a cavity filled
with metal vapor.
Characteristics  Hole becomes stable due to the
pressure from vapor generated.
 Low welding depth
Characteristics
 Small aspect ratio
 High welding depth
 Low coupling efficiency
 High aspect ratio (depth to
 Very smooth, highly aesthetic
width ratio can be up to 10:1)
weld bead
 High coupling efficiency
Nonconventional Joining Processes
 Laser Beam Welding (LBW): Working  reflective focusing elements or
Principle  lenses.
 A process that melts and joins metals by  This high intensity beam produces the
heating them with a laser beam. metal vapor with a surrounding molten
 The laser beam used in welding metal pool.
processes can be  the recoil pressure of this evaporated
 a solid-state laser, e.g. Nd:YAG, Ruby metal opens the keyhole, and
Beam Delivery
laser.  gravity (a.k.a.
Unit hydrostatic forces) and
Laser
 a gaseous laser e.g. CO2 laser. metal surface tension tend to
 The laser beam is first delivered to the collapse it.
welding area using either Processing
Optics
 articulated arm consisted of flat
optical elements, such as mirrors
 Optical fiber with a coupling lens
 Beam is then focused to a small spot
(for high power density) at the Workpiece
workpiece to be welded using either Positioning Unit