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Influencing mechanism of high speed on the droplet transfer and process stability during high-power laser-arc hybrid welding

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Abstract

Laser-arc hybrid welding technology (LAHW), being a promising joining method, has paid close attention to the shipbuilding manufacturing with high quality. The behavior of droplet transfer exerts enormous influence on the weld appearance and dynamic process stability. However, there has been controversy whether high speed (v > 3 m/min) promotes or hinders the droplet transfer under high laser power. In this study, the influencing mechanism of the high speed (3~5 m/min) on the droplet transfer behavior based on a new droplet force theory was systematically investigated. Firstly, the welding speed affects the energy density, and the welding speed is inversely proportional to the amount of metal vapor. Metal vapor reaction force would decrease with the increasing of welding speed. In addition, the deviation of droplet was determined by the competition between metal vapor and surrounding gas. The exposure time between metal vapor and surrounding gas would be reduced as welding speed increased, which decreased the impact of metal vapor reaction force. Similarly, the droplet transfer frequency is related to the droplet force analysis. The droplet transfer period was shortened to 3.2 ms as welding speed increased to 5 m/min, and the transfer frequency was 312 Hz. This study can provide guidance on the process mechanism of high-power LAHW with high-speed, which will enhance process stability and improve weld quality.

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Funding

This research was supported by Foundation of Natural Science Foundation of China (52075317), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation under Grant 2022T150400, and Class III Peak Discipline of Shanghai—Materials Science and Engineering (High-Energy Beam Intelligent Processing and Green Manufacturing).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai, 201620, China

    Qingyong Liu, Di Wu, Peilei Zhang, Hua Yan, Mingliang Yan, Jie Zeng, Zhenyu Liu & Junbo Feng

  2. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China

    Di Wu

  3. SANY Heavy Industry Co., Ltd., Shanghai, 201306, China

    Qingzhao Wang

  4. Jiangsu New Yangzi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., Jingjiang, 214532, China

    Peilei Zhang

  5. Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG), University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK

    Tianzhu Sun

  6. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, 212003, China

    Ruifeng Li

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  1. Qingyong Liu
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  2. Di Wu
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  8. Jie Zeng
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  11. Ruifeng Li
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Contributions

Conceptualization: Q.L.; methodology: Q.L., J.F., and J.Z.; investigation: Q.L., D.W., P.Z., Q.W., and H.Y.; formal analysis: Q.L. and Z.L.; writing—original draft: Q.L.; data curation: D.W. and M.Y.; supervision: D.W.; writing—review and editing: D.W., R.L., and P.Z.; visualization: P.Z. and T.S.; validation: P.Z.; funding acquisition: P.Z. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Di Wu or Peilei Zhang.

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Liu, Q., Wu, D., Wang, Q. et al. Influencing mechanism of high speed on the droplet transfer and process stability during high-power laser-arc hybrid welding. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 128, 4427–4442 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-023-12217-z

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