• 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.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.464-471
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• 2002

Porosity formation in partial penetration welds by high power lasers is a serious problem in industry. There are two main causes that induce porosity formation. One form of porosity is due to gases (e.g. hydrogen, oxygen) dissolving into the weld pool because of the high temperature and then the rapid solidification traps gases as a bubble in the weld metal. The second problem is voids formed by the keyhole collapsing due to unstable keyhole fluid dynamics. The voids that form at the bottom of the keyhole are relatively large and irregular in shape compared to the gas bubbles; this void formation is the primary concern in this paper. The reduction of voids formed by keyhole collapse is achieved by improving the stability of keyhole. Two methods to improve keyhole stability are discussed in this paper: pulse modulation and beam incident angle. Pulse modulation of the laser beam was performed between 100 Hz and 500 Hz to find out the optimum frequency for the keyhole dynamics. The incident beam angle changed the impact angle of the laser beam to the work surface in a range of 0 to 25 degrees. Glycerin in a semi-solidified state is used as a medium for performing the welding because its transparency allows of visualization of the keyhole.

• 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.

• 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.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.1307-1311
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• 2007

Three-dimensional transient keyhole profile is numerically analyzed for the case of stationary laser keyhole welding. Volume of fluid (VOF) method is adopted to track the free surface of molten metal based on the three governing equations which are continuity, momentum and energy equations. Multiple reflections of laser beam at the keyhole walls are also included in analysis through a real-time ray tracing technique. In this simulation, especially, polarization of laser is considered as an energy absorption mechanism following the Fresnel reflection theory. Both cases of linearly and circularly polarized beam are simulated and compared. The results show that the theoretically generated keyhole is asymmetrically stretched along the direction of polarization which is already observed experimentally before.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 1996.05a
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• pp.79-81
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• 1996

No Abstract, See Full Text

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.13-22
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• 2017

In laser full penetration welding process, full penetration hole(FPH) is formed as a result of force balance between the vapor pressure and the surface tension of the surrounding molten metal. In this work, a three-dimensional numerical model based on a conserved-mass level-set method is developed to simulate the transport phenomena during laser full penetration welding process, including full penetration keyhole dynamics. Ray trancing model is applied to simulate multi-reflection phenomena in the keyhole wall. The ghost fluid method and continuum method are used to deal with liquid/vapor interface and solid/liquid interface. The effects of processing parameters including laser power and scanning speed on the resultant full penetration hole diameter, laser energy distribution and energy absorption efficiency are studied. The model is validated against experimental results. The diameter of full penetration hole calculated by the simulation model agrees well with the coaxial images captured during laser welding of thin stainless steel plates. Numerical simulation results show that increase of laser power and decrease of welding speed can enlarge the full penetration hole, which decreases laser energy efficiency.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.33-39
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• 2003

Wavelet transform analysis results show a spectrum energy distribution of CWT along scale factors distinguish the partial, full and over penetration in a electron beam welding by analyzing the curve of spectrum energy at small scale, middle and large scale range, respectively. Two types of signals collected by Ion collector and x-ray sensors and analyzed. The acquired signals from sensors are very complicated since these signals are very closely related the dynamics of keyhole which interact the very high density energy with materials during welding. The results show the wavelet transform is more effective to diagnosis than Fourier Transform, further for the general welding defects which are not a periodic based, but a transient, non-stationary and time-varying phenomena.