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Numerical analysis of weld pool oscillation in laser welding

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Abstract

Volume of fluid (VOF) numerical simulation was used to investigate melt flow and volumetric oscillation of conduction-mode pulsed laser weld pools. The result is compared to high speed video stream of titanium laser spot welding experiment. The total simulation time is 10ms with the first 5 ms being heating and melting under constant laser irradiation and the remaining 5 ms corresponding to re-solidification of the weld pool. During the melting process, the liquid pool did not exhibit periodic oscillation but was continually depressed by the evaporation recoil pressure. After the laser pulse, the weld pool was excited into volumetric oscillation by the release of pressure on its surface and oscillation of the weld pool surface was analyzed. The simulation model suggested adjusting thermal diffusivity to match cooling rate and puddle diameter during solidification which is distinguishable from previous weld pool simulation. The frequency continuously increased from several thousand cycles per second to tens of thousands of cycles per second as the weld pool solidified and its diameter decreased. The result is the first trial of investigation of small weld pool oscillation in laser welding although there have been several reports about arc welding.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical Engineering, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, 362-763, Korea

    Jungho Cho

  2. IWSE, The Ohio State University, 1248 Arthur E Adams Drive, Columbus, OH, 34221, USA

    Dave F. Farson

  3. Los Alamos National Laboratory, PO Box 1663, MS G770, Los Alamos, NM, 87545, USA

    Kendall J. Hollis & John O. Milewski

Authors
  1. Jungho Cho
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  2. Dave F. Farson
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  3. Kendall J. Hollis
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  4. John O. Milewski
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Correspondence to Jungho Cho.

Additional information

Recommended by Associate Editor Young Whan Park

Jungho Cho received his Ph.D. at KAIST in 2007 and now he is a faculty of Chungbuk National University after working at Hyundai Motors for several years. His major is development of welding and joining techniques, welding physics and thermo-dynamical analysis of weld pool.

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Cho, J., Farson, D.F., Hollis, K.J. et al. Numerical analysis of weld pool oscillation in laser welding. J Mech Sci Technol 29, 1715–1722 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-015-0344-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-015-0344-2

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