Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Investigation on keyhole stability and surface quality in laser welding of TC4 titanium alloy with adjustable ring-mode (ARM) laser

  • ORIGINAL ARTICLE
  • Published:
The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The paper aims to contrastively study the keyhole stability, spatter and surface quality in laser welding of TC4 titanium alloy with different adjustable ring-modes. The high-speed camera and “sandwich” observational structure were used to monitor the dynamic changes of the molten pool and keyhole during the welding process. Spatter number, inlet area of keyhole and the geometric parameters of the longitudinal section of the keyhole were quantified by using image measurement and statistical software to analyze the stability of the keyhole and the weld seam surface quality in different modes. The experimental results show that the hollow and spatters of the weld formed in the pure center laser mode are caused by the fluctuations of keyhole, and the central bulge forms at the pure ring laser mode for the low central energy density, while at the dual-mode shapes the ideal welding surface quality. The keyhole entrance formed in the dual-mode welding is like the crescent shape, with the largest width and the most stable morphology in the three different welding modes with the same power of 2000 W. Effective coordination of the core laser and the outer ring laser in double mode, and the poor thermal conductivity of titanium alloy caused the temperature gradient and surface tension gradient to decline of the molten pool, which effectively suppressed the spatter of the welding process and ensured the surface quality of the weld seam.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Auwal ST, Ramesh S, Yusof F, Manladan SM (2018) A review on laser beam welding of titanium alloys. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 97:1071–1098

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Zhan X, Zhang J, Wang J, Wang L, Li X, Zhao Y (2022) Microstructure characteristics and mechanical properties of fiber-diode hybrid laser welded 304 austenitic stainless steel. Mater Sci Eng 854:143884

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Bu H, Li X, Li B, Li X, Zhan X (2023) Enhanced interfacial joining strength of laser wobble joined 6061–T6 Al alloy/CFRTP joint via interfacial bionic textures pre-construction. Compos B Eng 261:110787

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Xia HB, Li LQ, Tan CW, Yang J, Li HY, Song W, Zhang KP, Wang Q, Ma NS (2022) In situ SEM study on tensile fractured behavior of Al/steel laser weldingbrazing interface. Mater Des 224:111320

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Liu X, Li Z, Xu Z, Yan J (2022) Effect of ultrasonic power on the microstructure and mechanical properties of TC4 alloy ultrasonically brazed joint using Zn filler. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 119:4677–4691

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Singh P, Pungotra H, Kalsi NS (2017) On the characteristics of titanium alloys for the aircraft applications. Mater Today Proc 4(8):8971–8982

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Maawad E, Gan W, Hofmann M, Ventzke V, Riekehr S, Brokmeier HG, Kashaev N, Müller M (2016) Influence of crystallographic texture on the microstructure, tensile properties and residual stress state of laser-welded titanium joints. Mater Des 101:137–145

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Kumar C, Das M, Paul CP, Bindra KS (2018) Characteristics of fiber laser weldments of two phases (α+β) titanium alloy. J Manuf Process 35:351–359

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Kashaev N, Ventzke V, Fomichev V, Fomin F, Riekehr S (2016) Effect of Nd:YAG laser beam welding on weld morphology and mechanical properties of Ti-6Al-4V butt joints and T-joints. Opt Laser Eng 86:172–180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Fabbro R (2010) Melt pool and keyhole behaviour analysis for deep penetration laser welding. J Phys Appl Phys 43:445501

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Martin AA, Calta NP, Khairallah SA, Wang J, Depond PJ, Fong AY, Thampy V, Guss GM, Kiss AM, Stone KH, Tassone CJ, Weker JN, Toney MF, van Buuren T, Matthews MJ (2019) Dynamics of pore formation during laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing. Nat Commun 10:1987

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Zhang YX, Han SW, Cheon J, Na SJ, Gao XD (2017) Effects of joint gap on bead formation in laser butt welding of stainless steel. J Mater Process Technol 249:274–284

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Jiang M, Chen X, Chen Y, Tao W (2019) Increasing keyhole stability of fiber laser welding under reduced ambient pressure. J Mater Process Technol 268:213–222

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Huang Y, Fleming TG, Clark SJ, Marussi S, Fezzaa K, Thiyagalingam J, Leung CLA, Lee PD (2022) Keyhole fluctuation and pore formation mechanisms during laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing. Nat Commun 13:1170

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Martin JH, Yahata BD, Hundley JM, Mayer JA, Schaedler TA, Pollock TM (2017) 3D printing of high-strength aluminium alloys. Nature 549:365–369

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Tammas-Williams S, Withers PJ, Todd I, Prangnell PB (2017) The influence of porosity on fatigue crack initiation in additively manufactured titanium components. Sci Rep 7:7308

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Zhao C, Parab ND, Li X, Fezzaa K, Tan W, Rollett AD, Sun T (2020) Critical instability at moving keyhole tip generates porosity in laser melting. Science 370:1080–1086

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Huang L, Hua X, Wu D, Li F (2018) Numerical study of keyhole instability and porosity formation mechanism in laser welding or aluminum alloy and steel. J Mater Process Technol 252:421–431

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Xu J, Rong Y, Huang Y, Wang P, Wang C (2018) Keyhole-induced porosity formation during laser welding. J Mater Process Technol 252:720–727

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Roehling TT, Shi R, Khairallah SA, Roehling JD, Guss GM, McKeown JT, Matthews MJ (2020) Controlling grain nucleation and morphology by laser beam shaping in metal additive manufacturing. Mater Des 195:109071

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Haeusler A, Hollatz S, Olowinsky A, Gillner A, Poprawe R (2018) Quality improvement of the surface of laser micro welds by using a dual beam setup. J Laser Appl 30:032423

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Asano K, Tsukamoto M, Sechi Y, Sato Y, Masuno S, Higashino R, Hara T, Sengoku M, Yoshida M (2018) Laser metal deposition of pure copper on stainless steel with blue and IR diode lasers. Opt Laser Technol 107:291–296

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Glumann Chr, Rapp J, Dausinger F, Hügel H (1993) Welding with combination of two CO2-lasers-advantages in processing and quality. In: Int. Congr. Appl. Lasers Electro-Opt. Orlando, Florida, USA: Laser Institute of America pp 672–681

  24. Yang H, Tang X, Hu C, Liu S, Fan Y, Xiao Y, Lu G, Wang Q, Chen G, Xing P, Tan H, Guo Z, Niu Z (2021) Study on laser welding of copper material by hybrid light source of blue diode laser and fiber laser. J Laser Appl 33:032018

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Rasch M, Roider C, Kohl S, StrauB J, Maurer N, Nagulin KY, Schmidt M (2019) Shaped laser beam profiles for heat conduction welding of aluminum-copper alloys. Opt Lasers Eng 115:179–189

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Maina MR, Okamoto Y, Okada A, Narhi M, Kangastupa J, Vihinen J (2018) High surface quality welding of aluminum using adjustable ring-mode fiber laser. J Mater Process Technol 258:180–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Wang L, Mohammadpour M, Gao X, Lavoie J-P, Kleine K, Kong F, Kovacevic R (2021) Adjustable ring mode (ARM) laser welding of stainless steels. Opt Lasers Eng 137:106360

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Wang L, Gao X, Kong F (2022) Keyhole dynamic status and spatter behavior during welding of stainless steel with adjustable-ring mode laser beam. J Manuf Process 74:201–219

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Wang L, Yao M, Gao X, Kong F, Tang J, Kim M (2023) Keyhole stability and surface quality during novel adjustable-ring mode laser (ARM) welding of aluminum alloy. Opt Laser Technol 161:109202

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Wang H, Nakanishi M, Kawahito Y (2018) Dynamic balance of heat and mass in high power density laser welding. Opt Express 26:6392

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Zhao Y, Li X, Liu Z, Wang J, Li Y, Zhan X (2023) Stability enhancement of molten pool and keyhole for 2195 Al-Li alloy using fiber-diode laser hybrid welding. J Manuf Process 85:724–741

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

This work was financially supported by the Defense Industrial Technology Development Program (No. JCKY2021605B015).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Materials Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, 211106, China

    Weimin Xie, Jianfeng Wang, Feiyue Lyu, Xiang Li, Bing Xu, Pingze Zhang & Xiaohong Zhan

  2. College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266061, China

    Weimin Xie

  3. Application Process Laboratory, Wuxi Raycus Fiber Laser Technology Co., Ltd., Wuxi, 214174, China

    Xiang Li

Authors
  1. Weimin Xie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jianfeng Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Feiyue Lyu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Xiang Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Bing Xu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Pingze Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Xiaohong Zhan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Weimin Xie, Xiang Li, Feiyue Lyu, Bing Xu. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Weimin Xie. The manuscript was reviewed and edited by Xiaohong Zhan, Jianfeng Wang, Pingze Zhang. and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xiaohong Zhan.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Xie, W., Wang, J., Lyu, F. et al. Investigation on keyhole stability and surface quality in laser welding of TC4 titanium alloy with adjustable ring-mode (ARM) laser. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 130, 1307–1320 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-023-12746-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-023-12746-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation