Analysis and possible estimation of keyhole depths evolution, using laser operating parameters and material properties

The authors propose an analysis of the effect of various operating parameters on the keyhole depth during laser welding. The authors have developed a model that uses the analysis of the thermal field obtained in 2D geometry, which is mainly defined by the characteristic Peclet number. This allows us to show that the dependence of the aspect ratio R of the keyhole with the operating parameters of the process is a function of two parameters: a normalized aspect ratio R0, controlled by the incident laser power and the spot diameter, and a characteristic speed V0 related to the process of heat diffusion. The resulting general law R = f (R0, V/V0) appears to be very well verified by different experimental data and allows to define mean thermophysical parameters of the used materials. These data can then be used for keyhole depths prediction for any subsequent operating parameters of the same material. This model also allows us to define precisely a criterion for a keyhole threshold generation. The authors will apply the derived procedure to successfully analyze experiments on materials with very different thermophysical properties (such as steel alloys and copper), with various focal spots, incident laser powers, and welding speeds.