Alcock, J.A. and Baufeld, B. (2016) Diode laser welding of stainless steel 304L. Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 240. pp. 138-144. ISSN 0924-0136
Abstract
The feasibility to achieve deep penetration welding of stainless steel utilising a 15 kW laserline® diode laser has been studied. This was approached by first characterising the properties of melt run welds on stainless steel 304L plates and then transferring the gained knowledge to perform the butt welds.
The results from the melt run analysis indicated that there was an increase in penetration and weld width with heat input, i. e. with either increasing the laser power (9–15 kW) or decreasing the welding velocity (3 m/min–1 m/min). Melt run penetrations up to 12 mm were achieved. The increased welding velocity was shown to reduce the solidification grain and subgrain size. Cracks along the weld centreline were observed at the higher heat inputs and sinking at the crowns at the lower. Good melt run welds were obtained at laser powers of 9–13 kW and a welding velocity of 1.5 m/min.
Butt welding of 10 mm thick plates was successfully achieved with full penetration along the length of the weld at a laser power of 12 kW and a welding velocity of 1.5 m/min. The weld properties were comparable to the corresponding melt run welds using a similar parameter set of laser power and welding velocity. No detrimental subsurface defects were recorded with only the presence of a negligible amount of porosity. Oxidisation on the surface of the cap and sinking towards the end of the weld run was observed.
It was demonstrated that high powered diode lasers are capable of deep penetration welding. Keyhole mode welding was achieved and the weld properties are comparable to that of other high energy density welding processes. For welding of plates in the 10 mm thickness range, the results suggested that the more economic high power diode lasers may become a competitor to different laser beam systems which may be more expensive in both procurement and operation.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2016 Elsevier This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Journal of Materials Processing Technology. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. Article available under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-ND licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) |
Keywords: | Diode laser; Laser welding; Stainless steel 304L; Laser beam analysis; Key hole welding |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Advanced Manufacturing Institute (Sheffield) > Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 23 Feb 2017 10:15 |
Last Modified: | 24 Sep 2018 00:39 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2016.09.019 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2016.09.019 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:112682 |
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