Interaction between Local Shielding Gas Supply and Laser Spot Size on Spatter Formation in Laser Beam Welding of AISI 304
Source abstract
Abstract
Background. Spatter formation at melt pool swellings at the keyhole rear wall is a major issue for laser deep penetration welding at speeds beyond 8 m/min. A gas nozzle directed towards the keyhole, that supplies shielding gas locally, is advantageous in reducing spatter formation due to its simple utilization. However, the relationship between local gas flow, laser spot size, and the resulting effects on spatter formation at high welding speeds up to 16 m/min are not yet fully understood. Methods. The high-alloy steel AISI 304 (1.4301/X5CrNi18-10) was welded with laser spot sizes of 300 μm and 600 μm while using a specially designed gas nozzle directed to the keyhole. Constant welding depth was ensured by Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT). Spatter formation was evaluated by precision weighing of samples. Subsequent processing of high-speed images was used to evaluate spatter quantity, size, and velocity. The keyhole oscillation was determined by Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) analysis. Tracking the formation of melt pool swellings at the keyhole rear wall provided information on the upward melt flow velocity. Results. The local gas flow enabled a significant reduction in the number of spatters and loss of mass for both laser spot sizes and indicated an effect on surface tension by shielding the processing zone from the ambient atmosphere. The laser spot size affected the upward melt flow velocity and spatter velocity.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Welding Techniques and Residual Stresses · Laser Material Processing Techniques · Advanced machining processes and optimization
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
Production Technology Group, Technische Universität Ilmenau, Gustav-Kirchhoff-Platz 2, 98693 Ilmenau, Germany
BIAS—Bremer Institut für Angewandte Strahltechnik GmbH, Klagenfurter Str. 5, 28359 Bremen, Germany
LMP + Group (Affiliated with ISF), TU Dortmund University, Baroper Str. 303, 44227 Dortmund, Germany
Funding
Research Association for Steel Application (FOSTA) and the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action
References (57)
Show source-provided references
1. Ghosh, K.S. (2022). Foundation of Welding Technology, PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd.
2. Esta Rohr GmbH (2023, August 28). Dimensions of Stainless Steel Tubes. Available online: https://esta-edelstahl.de/images/layout/Esta_Edelstahl_Dimensionen_Qualitaet.pdf.
3. IPG Laser GmbH (2023, August 28). Laser Welding Machine for Continuous Tube and Profile Manufacture. Available online: https://lasersystems.ipgphotonics.com/products/Turnkey-Integrated-Laser-Systems/TPS-6000.
4. Roll Forming Strategies for Welded Tubes10.1002/srin.200806314 ↗
5. Laser Focus World (2023, September 07). Laser Welding in Tube Production. Available online: https://www.laserfocusworld.com/industrial-laser-solutions/article/14215754/laser-welding-in-tube-production.
6. Dong, C., Xue, J., Zhang, Z., Jin, L., Hu, Y., and Wu, W. (2018). High-Speed Welding of Stainless Steel with Additional Compensatory Gas Jet Blow Molten Pool. Appl. Sci., 8.10.3390/app8112170 ↗
7. Effect of process parameters on bead geometry, tensile and microstructural properties of double-sided butt submerged arc welding of SS 304 austenitic stainless steel10.1007/s40430-020-02636-4 ↗
8. Katayama, S., Tsukamotot, S., and Fabbro, R. (2013). Handbook of Laser Welding Technologies, Woodhead Publishing.10.1533/9780857098771 ↗
9. Influence of ambient pressure on spattering and weld seam quality in laser beam welding with the solid-state laser
10. Hügel, H., and Graf, T. (2022). Materialbearbeitung mit Laser, Springer Vieweg.10.1007/978-3-658-37252-1 ↗
11. Weberpals, J. (2010). Nutzen und Grenzen Guter Fokussierbarkeit beim Laserschweißen. [Ph.D. Thesis, Universität Stuttgart].
12. Analysis of the various melt pool hydrodynamic regimes observed during cw Nd-YAG deep penetration laser welding
13. Fundamental understanding of spatter behavior at laser welding of steel
14. Melt pool and keyhole behaviour analysis for deep penetration laser welding10.1088/0022-3727/43/44/445501 ↗
15. Spritzerarmes Laserstrahlschweißen bei hohen Schweißgeschwindigkeiten unter Einsatz angepasster Intensitätsverteilungen
16. Rominger, V. (2017). Untersuchungen der Prozessvorgänge bei Einschweißungen in Baustahl mit Lasern Hoher Brillanz, Herbert Utz Verlag.
17. Spatter in laser welding10.2351/1.3597830 ↗
18. Fundamental Study for the Relationship between Melt Flow and Spatter in High-Power Laser Welding of Pure Titanium
19. Keyhole stability during laser welding—Part I: Modeling and evaluation10.1007/s11740-016-0694-3 ↗
20. Lahdenoja, O., Säntti, T., Poikonen, J., Laiho, M., and Paasio, A. (2013, January 17–20). Characterizing Spatters in Laser Welding of Thick Steel Using Motion Flow Analysis. Proceedings of the Image Analysis: 18th Scandinavian Conference, SCIA 2013, Espoo, Finland.10.1007/978-3-642-38886-6_63 ↗
21. Effects of two superimposed laser beams on spatter formation during laser welding of high alloyed steel10.2351/1.5040572 ↗
22. Material ejection attempts during laser keyhole welding10.1016/j.jmapro.2021.04.052 ↗
23. Arkin, W.T. (2006). Trends in Lasers and Electro-Optics Research, Nova Science Publishers.
24. A novel spatter detection algorithm based on typical cellular neural network operations for laser beam welding processes10.1088/0957-0233/23/1/015401 ↗
25. Visual-based spatter detection during high-power disk laser welding10.1016/j.optlaseng.2013.09.010 ↗
26. Reduction of spatter formation by superposition of two laser intensities
27. Understanding the influence of the focal position in laser welding on spatter reduction
28. Spatter Formation in Laser Welding with Beam Oscillation10.1016/j.phpro.2013.03.047 ↗
29. The role of assist gas in CO2 laser welding
30. Prevention of welding defect by side gas flow and its monitoring method in continuous wave Nd:YAG laser welding10.2351/1.1493766 ↗
31. Experimental study of the dynamical coupling between the induced vapour plume and the melt pool for Nd–Yag CW laser welding10.1088/0022-3727/39/2/023 ↗
32. Schmidt, L., Schricker, K., Bergmann, J.P., and Hickethier, S. (2019, January 24–27). Effect of gas flow on spatter formation in deep penetration welding at high welding speeds. Proceedings of the Lasers in Manufacturing Conference, Munich, Germany.
33. Schmidt, L., Hickethier, S., Schricker, K., and Bergmann, J.P. (2019, January 2–7). Low-spatter high speed welding by use of local shielding gas flows. Proceedings of the SPIE LASE Conference, San Francisco, CA, USA.10.1117/12.2507024 ↗
34. Evaluation of the effect of local gas flows on keyhole geometry by means of a half-section setup10.1016/j.procir.2022.08.172 ↗
35. Laser welding with side-gas application and its impact on spatter formation and weld seam shape10.1016/j.procir.2020.09.101 ↗
36. Beck, M. (1996). Modellierung des Lasertiefschweißens, Teubner.
37. Towards a self-consistent model of the keyhole in penetration laser beam welding10.1088/0022-3727/26/3/021 ↗
38. Schmidt, L., Schricker, K., Bergmann, J.P., and Junger, C. (2020). Effect of Local Gas Flow in Full Penetration Laser Beam Welding with High Welding Speeds. Appl. Sci., 10.10.3390/app10051867 ↗
39. Effect of local pressure distribution on spatter formation for welding high alloy steel at high welding speeds10.1016/j.procir.2022.08.173 ↗
40. Iida, T., and Guthrie, R.I. (1988). The Physical Properties of Liquid Metals, Clarendon Press.
41. Measurements of thermophysical properties in high temperature melts10.1016/0921-5093(94)90522-3 ↗
42. Review of data for the surface tension of pure metals10.1179/imr.1993.38.4.157 ↗
43. Effect of oxygen in ambient atmosphere on penetration characteristics in single yttrium–aluminum–garnet laser and hybrid welding10.2351/1.2164484 ↗
44. Investigation of high-power fiber laser welding phenomena of stainless steel
45. Katayama, S. (2020). Fundamentals and Details of Laser Welding, Springer.10.1007/978-981-15-7933-2 ↗
46. Volpp, J. (2017). Dynamik und Stabilität der Dampfkapillare Beim Laserstrahltiefschweißen. [Ph.D. Thesis, Universität Bremen].
47. Dynamic behaviour of the keyhole in laser welding10.1088/0022-3727/26/3/022 ↗
48. A three-dimensional sharp interface model for self-consistent keyhole and weld pool dynamics in deep penetration laser welding10.1088/0022-3727/44/2/025301 ↗
49. An Algorithm for the Machine Calculation of Complex Fourier Series10.1090/S0025-5718-1965-0178586-1 ↗
50. High-power laser welding of contaminated steel sheets10.1007/s11740-008-0109-1 ↗
51. Effects of reduced ambient pressure on the OCT-based weld depth measurement signal in laser welding of aluminum and steel10.1016/j.procir.2022.08.087 ↗
52. Novel approach for weld depth determination using optical coherence tomography measurement in laser deep penetration welding of aluminum and steel10.2351/1.5082263 ↗
53. Statistical evaluation method to determine the laser welding depth by optical coherence tomography10.1016/j.optlaseng.2019.03.014 ↗
54. (2014). DIN-Normenausschuss Eisen und Stahl (FES), Nichtrostende Stähle—Teil 3: Technische Lieferbedingungen für Halbzeug, Stäbe, Walzdraht, Gezogenen Draht, Profile und Blankstahlerzeugnisse aus Korrosionsbeständigen Stählen für Allgemeine Verwendung (Standard No. Deutsche Norm EN 10088-3:2014).
55. Mills, K.C. (2002). Recommended Values of Thermophysical Properties for Selected Commercial Alloys, Woodhead Publishing.10.1533/9781845690144 ↗
56. Influence of inclination angle on spatter behavior at welding with lasers of strong focusability
57. Kaplan, A. (1994). Modellrechnung und Numerische Simulation von Absorption, Wärmeleitung und Strömung des Laser-Tiefschweißens. [Ph.D. Thesis, TU Wien].