• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.282-292
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• 2007

The present paper describes the results of high speed photography, acoustic emission (AE) detection and plasma light emission (LE) measurement during $CO_2$ laser welding of 304 stainless steel in different processing conditions. Video images with high spatial and temporal resolution allowed to observe the melt dynamics and keyhole evolution. The existence of keyhole was confirmed by the slag motion on the weld pool. The characteristic frequencies of flow instability and keyhole fluctuations at different welding speed were measured and compared with the results of Fourier analyses of temporal AE and LE spectra. The experimental results were compared with the newly developed numerical model of keyhole dynamics. The model is based on the assumption that the propagation of front part of keyhole into material is due to the melt ejection driven by laser induced surface evaporation. The calculations predict that a high speed melt flow is induced at the front part of keyhole when the sample travel speed exceeds several 10 mm/s. The numerical analysis also shows the hump formation on the front keyhole wall surface. Experimentally observed melt behavior and transformation of the AE and LE spectra with variation of welding speed are qualitatively in good agreement with the model predictions.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.600-605
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• 2002

The keyhole formed by high energy density laser-material interaction periodically collapses due to surface tension of the molten metal in partial penetration welds. The collapse sometimes traps a void at the bottom of the keyhole, and it remains as welding defects. This phenomenon is seen as one cause of the instability of the keyhole during laser beam welding. Thus, it seems likely that improving the stability of the keyhole can reduce voids and uniform the penetration depth. The goal of this work is to develop techniques for controlling laser weld keyhole dynamics to reduce weld defects such as voids and inconsistent penetration. Statistical analysis of the penetration depth signals in glycerin determined that keyhole dynamics are chaotic. The chaotic nature of keyhole fluctuations and the ability of laser power modulation to control them have been demonstrated by high-speed video images of laser welds in glycerin. Additionally, an incident leading beam angle is applied to enhance the stability of the keyhole. The quasi-sinusoidal laser beam power of 400Hz frequency and 15$^{\circ}$ incident leading beam angle were determined to be the optimum parameters for the reduction of voids. Finally, chaos analyses of uncontrolled signals and controlled signals were done to show the effectiveness of modulation on the keyhole dynamics. Three-dimensional phase plots for uncontrolled system and controlled system are produced to demonstrate that the chaotic keyhole dynamics is converted to regular periodic behavior by control methods: power modulation and incident leading beam angle.

• Laser Solutions
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.13-19
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• 2001

When a high-power laser beam is irradiated on the surface of material, it is well known that a cavity, called a keyhole induced by the pressure action of the vapor plume, is generated in the molten material. This paper describes the interaction between a pulsed CO$_2$ laser beam and water. The laser-beam is used to generate and maintain a conical depression in the water surface similar to the keyhole created during laser penetration welding. Experimental results show that the depth of laser-beam penetration is limited by hydrodynamic instability. The instability of the surface cavity can be understood by the capillary instability of a hollow jet. Theoretical computation of the steady keyhole shape has been performed. modifying the model suggested by Andrews et al. (1976). The model predicts the qualitative behavior of the keyhole but significantly underestimates the average diameter.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.71-78
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• 2006

It has been reported that good quality weld beads are not easily obtained during the $CO_2$ CW laser welding of primer coated plate. However, by introducing a small gap clearance in the lap position, the zinc vapor can escape through it and sound weld beads can be acquired. Therefore, this study examines for keyhole behavior by observing the laser-induced plasma and investigates the relation between keyhole behavior and formation of weld defect. Laser-induced plasma has accompanied with the vaporizing pressure of zinc ejecting from keyhole to surface of primer coated plate. This dynamic behavior of plasma was very unstable and this instability was closely related to the unstable motion of keyhole during laser welding. As a result of observing the composition of porosity, much of Zn element was found from inner surface of porosity. But Zn was not found from the dimple structure fractured at the weld metal. By analyzing of vaporizing element in laser welding, a component ratio of Zn was decreased by introducing a small gap clearance. Therefore we can prove that the major cause of porosity is the vaporization of primer in lap position. Mechanism of porosity-formation is that the primer vaporized from the lap position accelerates dynamic behavior of the key hole and the bubble separated from the key hole is trapped in the solidification boundary and romaines as porosity.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.23-31
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• 1997

The results of high speed photography, acoustic emission detection and plasma UV radiation intensity measurement during CO2 laser welding of stainless steel 304 are presented. Video images with high spatial and temporal resolution allowed to observe the melt dynamics and keyhole evolution. The existence of a high speed melt flow which originated from the part of weld pool and flowed along the sides wall of keyhole was confirmed by the slag motion on the weld pool. the characteristic frequencies of flow instability and keyhole fluctuations at different welding speed were measured and compared with the results of Fourier analyses of temporal acoustic emission (AE) and light emission (LE) spectra. The experimental results were compared with the newly developed numerical model of keyhole dynamics. (The model is based on the assumption that the propagation of front part of keyhole into material is due to the melt ejection driven by laser induced surface evaporation.) The calculations predict that a high speed melt flow is induced at the front part of keyhole when the sample travel speed exceeds several 10mm/s. The numerical analysis also shows the hump formation on the front keyhole wall surface. Experimentally observed melt behavior and transformation of the AE and LE spectra with variation of welding speed are qualitatively in good agreement with the model predictions.

• Laser Solutions
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.11-24
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• 2004

In automotive industry, light weight vehicle is one of issues because of the air pollution and the protection of environment. Therefore, automotive manufacturers have tried to apply light materials such as aluminum to car body. Aluminum welding using laser has some advantages high energy density and high productivity. It is very important to understand behavior of plasma and keyhole in order to improve weld quality and monitor the weld state. In this study, spectral analysis was carried out to verify the spectrum for plasma which is generated in laser welding of A 6000 aluminum alloy. Two photodiodes which cover the range of plasma wavelength was used to measure light emission during laser welding according to assist gas flow rate and welding speed. Analysis of relationship between sensor signals of welding variables and formation of keyhole and plasma is performed. To determine the level of significance, analysis of variation (ANOVA) was carried out.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Machine Tool Engineers
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.98-105
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• 2008

In this paper, the system for monitoring process of aluminum laser welding was developed using the light signal emitted from the plasma which comes from interaction between material and laser. Photodiode for monitoring system was selected based on the spectrum analysis of light from plasma and keyhole. Behavior of plasma and keyhole was analyzed through the sensor signals. Value of sensor signal represented the light intensity and fluctuation of signal indicated the stability of plasma and keyhole. For the relation between welding condition and sensor signals, the input power and weld geometry greatly effected on the average of each sensor signals. Using the feature values of signals, estimation model for tensile strength of weld was formulated with neural network algorithm. Performance of this model was verified through coefficient of determination and average error rate.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.814-823
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• 2012

Fluctuation of light intensity from the keyhole becomes more significant in full penetration welding than partial penetration welding, since the plasma produced in the keyhole can escape from the rear side of the keyhole. The plasma optical radiation emitted during Nd:YAG laser welding of S45C steel samples has been detected with a Photodiode and analyzed under different process conditions. As the results, the BOP was performed for welding, behavior of plasma, spatter or plume was monitored to determine the reference signal. Then, random combination was made for comparison with the reference signal, which aimed at verifying reliability of the welding monitoring system that this study intended to develop.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.24-30
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• 2012

Laser welding by fiber laser accompanied by a lot of spatter and humping bead. This is because the deep and narrow keyhole usually form due to high beam quality. So the weld bead is formed defects, because the plasma jet with a high vapor pressure make the molten pool on keyhole wall scattered. For such a reason, unstable behavior of keyhole is difficult to monitor laser welding by using the laser induced plasma. Mostly, fiber laser welding of thick plates most be influenced by this effect. Therefore, fiber laser welding has been difficult to apply the sole. Thus, laser welding monitoring based on plasma measurements have much difficulty in measurements and analysis of signal. In this study, influence of the plasma emission signal according to welding speed and laser power in fiber laser welding analysed by using RMS and FFT analysis. We can verify that RMS value of the plasma emission signal changes with welding parameters in fiber laser welding, and aspect ratio greater than 1, the peak of FFT frequency had been moved in accordance with welding parameter.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.1294-1298
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• 2007

Welding process monitoring is advantageous for maintaining weld quality and numerous sensing techniques have been developed for laser welding. Coaxial image monitoring enables direct monitoring of the weld pool shape and keyhole behavior, but requires the complex optical system and the image processing technique. In this study, we coaxially acquired the weld pool images during laser lap welding by using the camera and special illumination. The welding characteristics - pool width and length, keyhole shape, etc - were extracted by using image processing and the relationship between these characteristics and the penetration depth were investigated.