Abstract
In order to investigate the mechanism of stability for the wire feed laser welding process, systematic experiments are carried out in this study for 5A06 aluminum alloy. By using high speed camera, the melting dynamics of filler wires with different feed positions and feed rates are studied. The results indicate that these two factors mainly influence the characteristics of the filler wire melting dynamics and determine the stability of the welding process. The melting dynamics of filler wire can be generally characterized by three different forms: explosion, big droplet and molten metal bridge. When the filler wire melts and transits to the molten pool in the forms of explosion or big droplet, the stability of the welding process is strongly disturbed, resulting in an undesirable weld quality. In contrast, when it is in molten metal bridge form, the welding process is more stable and a uniform weld bead is achieved.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
A. S. Salminen., V. P. Kujanpaeaa and T. J. I. Moisio, Interactions between laser beam and filler metals, Welding Journal, 75(1) (1996) 9S–13S.
A. Salminen, The filler wire - laser beam interaction during laser welding with low alloyed steel filler wire, Mechnanika, 4(84) (2010) 67–74.
U. Dilthey, M. Hendricks, A. Huwer, L. Jacobskotter and J. Schneegans, Laser beam welding with variable joint gap widths and adapted wire-feeding, Proc. 3rd Int. Conf. on’ Beam Technology’, Karlsruhe, DVS, Dusseldorf, Germany (1991) 71–74.
F. Coste, R. Fabbro and L. Sabatier, Increase of operating tolerances using beam-oscillation and filler-wire, Application of vision to laser welding, Section C-ICALEO (1997) 21–29.
A. S Salminen and V. P. Kujanpaa, Effect of wire feed position on laser welding with filler wire, Journal of Laser Applications, 15(1) (2003) 2–10.
U. Dilthey and J. Schneegans, Studies into laser beam welding with filler wire addition of unalloyed and low alloyed steels, Weld and Cut, 46(3) (1994) E40–E42.
K. Takahashi, S. Katayama and A. Matsunawa, Observation of Filler Wire Melting Dynamics during CO2 Laser Welding of Aluminum Alloys and Evaluation of Weldability, Ronbunshu/Quarterly Journal of the Japan Welding Society, 20(2) (2002) 220–227.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Recommended by Associate Editor Young Whan Park
Yangchun Yu received his Ph.D degree in Material Processing Engineering from Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), China, in 2010. He is currently working in Nanchang Institute of from 2011. His research interests are in laser materials processing and welding materials.
Chun-ming Wang is an Associate Professor at the School of Materials Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), China. His research interest is laser materials processing. He is the author of 20 published papers.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yu, Y., Huang, W., Wang, G. et al. Investigation of melting dynamics of filler wire during wire feed laser welding. J Mech Sci Technol 27, 1097–1108 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-013-0218-4
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-013-0218-4