CHINESE JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Chen Yanbin Li Liqun Feng Xiaosong Fang Junfei

State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding Production Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China

A MODEL OF LASER-TIG HYBRID WELDING HEAT SOURCE

Abstract: The welding mechanism of laser-TIG hybrid welding process was analyzed. With

the variation of arc current, the welding process was divided into two patterns: deep-penetration welding and heat conductive welding. The heat flow model of hybrid welding was presented. As to deep-penetration welding, the heat source includes a surface heat flux and a volume heat flux. The heat source of heat conductive welding is composed of two Gaussian distribute surface heat sources. With this heat source model, a temperature field was calculated. The finite element code MARC was employed for this purpose. The calculation results show a good agreement with the experimental data.

INTRODUCTION

In laser-TIG hybrid welding, arc is attracted and compressed due to the keyhole effect induced by laser; the diameter of arc root is reduced. As a result, the current density increases and the welding penetration improves. The energy coupling between laser and arc has a strong influence on arc shape and welding quality. And it is the main physical principle of the hybrid welding. The energy transfer is realized by the keyhole mechanism in hybrid deep-penetration welding. In this regard, it is similar to laser welding. Due to its sophisticated thermal force interaction in keyhole and the addition of arc, it is difficult to establish the hybrid welding heat source model. As to heat transfer model of laser welding, Swift-Hook and Gick 1 presented the line heat source at first. In their model, laser beam was assumed as a uniform moving line source through the weldment. This model only adapts to penetration welding of the thin sheet. Based on the line heat source model, Steen and Dow den 2 developed the point-line heat source model. A point source close to the surface of the workpiece was added to the line source, which was assumed to be uniform in the thickness. Cline and An thony 3 proposed an exponential attenuation of the temperature in the thickness direction. Klemens 4 produced a more sophisticated model, in which the balance among vapor pressure within the keyhole, surface tension and hydrodynamic pressure in the molten region surrounding the keyhole was considered. Mazumder and Steen 5 developed a numerical model of laser welding. They took into account the attenuation of laser beam in the thickness direc tion. Andrews and Atthey 6 investigated three-dimensional con vective flow in the weld pool. Frank Rick, et al 7 developed a laser welding process model, in which a vector array describes the incident beam caustic, including different focus positions relative to the model surface, the vector length was used to express the energy density. All of these models indicate some principles of deep-penetration welding to a certain degree. In this article, the heat transfer mechanism in laser-TIG hybrid welding process was analyzed firstly. Then, on the basis of the analysis, the hybrid heat source model was presented and the reliability of the model was verified.

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melt pool. Due to the high energy intensity, the temperature of laser induced plasma is above 8000K. The plasma reduces the resistance of arc circuit so that the electricity conduction is easier. TIG arc is rooted to the point of impingement of laser beam on the material surface and a majority of arc current is forced to input into the workpiece through the keyhole. Therefore, arc energy can easily reach the deep of the workpiece, which advantage to increase the penetration. Because the dimension of arc column decreases greatly, the loss of arc energy reduces and the heat efficiency is improved. The depth-to-width ratio of the weld bead is great and the welding mode is deep-penetration welding. With the increase of arc current, the laser beam energy absorption in arc increases. At the same time, laser beam is defocused, because of the minus lens effect of the plasma. As a result, the diameter of laser spot is enlarged, which decreases the laser energy density. When the peak power density on the material surface is less than a certain threshold value, the keyhole disappears. Under this circumstance, arc can t be attracted and compressed, and the TIG arc column will expand. Therefore, when the keyhole disappears the penetration depth decreases greatly and the weld width increases. The welding mode converts into heat conductive welding.

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So far, we know that there are two welding patterns in laser-TIG hybrid welding and the patterns can transit with the increase of arc current. In order to simulate this physical process, two kinds of heat source models were proposed to describe the hybrid welding process. 2.1 Heat source model of deep-penetration welding In hybrid deep-penetration welding process, arc is attracted by the keyhole, and a majority of arc energy inputs into the workpiece through the keyhole, the remains which surrounds the keyhole inputs into the workpiece by means of heat conduction. Arc and laser energy in the keyhole is described as volume heat source with a Gaussian distribution in the radial direction. Arc energy around the keyhole is described as surface heat source. Therefore, for hybrid deep-penetration welding, the heat source model is the combination of a volume heat source model and a surface heat source model. Arc energy, which inputs into the workpiece, can be divided into two parts.

MECHANISM OF HEAT TRANSFER IN LASER-TIG HYBRID WELDING

In hybrid welding process, if laser energy density is high enough to make the material evaporate, a keyhole will form in the
Received October 14, 2003; received in revised form February 30, 2004

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MATHEMATICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE HEAT SOURCE IN LASER-TIG HYBRID WELDING

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Key words: Laser-TIG hybrid welding Deep-penetration welding Heat conductive welding source model Temperature field

Heat

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Chen Yanbin, et al: A model of laser-TIG hybrid welding heat source (1) following equation
6 3 11.2 15 10 (1 1 .5 10 T)

Pa Pva Psa I ma exp( 3r 2 / ra2 )2 d r r aUI

where, Pa Total arc power that inputs into the material PvaArc power in the keyhole PsaArc power surrounding the keyhole ImaPeak power density of arc ra Arc radius aHeat efficiency of the arc Pva and Psa can be calculated with the following equations.

(8)

T is the surface temperature of the workpiece. When the material is melting, is assumed to be 0.9. When the surface temperature exceeds the evaporation temperature, it is assumed that 100% laser power is absorbed. As a result, the equation of Imb can be written as follows.

Pva I ma exp( 3r 2 / ra2 )2 d r r

0

r0

(2) (3)

2P 1 1 I mb b 2 b rb 1 e x p (2 r0 2 / rb2 )1 e x p ( b h0 ) kb 1 1 exp( b h0 )

(9)

Psa I ma exp( 3r 2 / ra2 )2 d r r

r0

Pva I mva exp( 3r 2 / ra2 ) exp( r r h a h)2 dd

H R

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where, r (vt x ) 2 y 2 , which is the distance to the center of the volume heat source at a certain depth in the thickness direction, v is the welding velocity, t is the time, R is the range of the volume heat source in the radial direction, 0~r0, which is related to the radius of the keyhole, and can be adjusted according to the practical welding process, H is the range of the volume heat source depth, 0~h0. The equation of Imva can be written as follows

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where, ImvaPeak power density of arc volume heat source Imb Peak power density of laser beam in the keyhole aAttenuation coefficient of arc energy bAttenuation coefficient of laser power h0 Depth of the keyhole Ic Threshold power density Imva can be calculated with the following equation.

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(5)

UI where, I 3 a 2 , is the maximal arc power density in arc ma ra heated area. The surface heat flux density of laser heat source can be calculated with following equation

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3 P 1 1 I mva a 2va ra 1 exp( 3r0 2 / ra2 ) 1 exp( a h0 ) I mva ka 1 . 1 exp( a h0 )

2 2 b

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where, I mb (6)

source. Therefore, in heat conductive welding process, the heat source is composed of two parts.

Imb can be calculated with the following equation.

qs qsa qsb
(7)

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(13) qsb I mb exp( 2r 2 / rb2 ) P , is the peak power density of laser heat 2 b
rb2

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where, r0 is the radius of volume heat source, which relates to the radius of the keyhole. Because the keyhole is filled with plasma, invert Bremsstrahlung absorption of laser energy is considered. Consequently, laser power density is exponential attenuation along the thickness direction. Arc power density in the thickness direction is assumed to be exponential attenuation, too. The volume heat source distribution is related to the depth of the keyhole, h0. It can be calculated with a threshold power density Ic when the welding velocity is constant. It is assumed that when the peak power density is less than the threshold value, the material can t evaporate and the keyhole can t extend to the deeper in the material. So, the power density at the bottom of the keyhole is the threshold value, Ic. Therefore, the peak hybrid power density at a depth in thickness direction can be calculated as follows. (4) I mva exp( I mb exp( a h0 ) b h0 ) I c

Therefore, h0, Imva and Imb can be calculated with Eqs. (4), (6) and (9). The volume heat flux density in hybrid deep-penetration welding can be written as follows.

I mva exp( 3r 2 / ra2 ) exp( a h) I mb exp( 2 r / r ) exp( b h)

2 2 b

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qv qva qvb

(10)

The surface heat flux density can be defined by equation (11).

qs qa I ma exp( 3r 2 / ra2 )

(11)

2.2

Heat source model of heat conductive welding When the hybrid welding mechanism transits from deep-penetration welding to heat conductive welding, laser beam and arc are both described as surface heat source. In order to realize this transition in calculation, it is assumed that when the peak power density inputted into the workpiece is more than the threshold value, the hybrid heat source can make the material evaporate and the keyhole forms. Under this condition, the welding pattern is deep-penetration welding and the keyhole has a certain depth. When the TIG arc current is more than a threshold value, the peak power density of hybrid heat source begins to decrease, and the depth of the keyhole decreases correspondingly. When the keyhole disappears, the welding pattern transits from deep-penetration welding to heat conductive welding. In heat conductive welding, the surface heat flux of arc heat source is defined by (12) qsa I ma exp( 3r 2 / ra2 )

where,

r Limit of integration, its range is: r0 ~ .

Pb I mb exp( 2r / r ) exp( r r h b h)2 dd

H R

I ma exp( 3r 2 / ra2 ) I mb exp( 2r 2 / rb2 )

(14)

where, Pb P , which is the total laser power inputted into b the workpiece. P is laser power, is the efficiency of laser b beam, and is the material surface absorption coefficient to laser beam, rb is the radius of laser spot. When CO2 laser irradiates alloyed steel on its surface, the surface absorption coefficient, , can be calculated with the

FINITE ELEMENT MODEL OF THE TEMPERATURE FIELD IN HYBRID WELDING

In this article, temperature fields were calculated with finite element method and the heat source presented above is employed for the calculation. User-defined subroutines were compiled to couple in the finite element code MARC for this purpose. The following assumptions were made in the finite element model.

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CHINESE JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

(1) The material welded with hybrid heat source is isotropy and continuous. (2) The hybrid welding process is a quasi-stable state. (3) The latent heat of evaporation is neglected and the mass removing is not considered. A half-model is employed in calculation because of the symmetry of the workpiece, and the symmetrical plane is considered to be adiabatic. And all the thermophysical properties are considered to be temperature dependent. Fig.1 shows a portion of mesh used in the model. The welding velocity direction is x-direction, y-direction is vertical to the welding velocity and z-direction is the thickness direction. Because of sharp temperature gradients near the weld bead, fine mesh grids are necessary. The finite element code MARC has the capability to perform adaptive mesh refinement to improve the accuracy of the solution and a one-level adaptive mesh refinement is employed in the region of the volume heat source.

(c) I=190 A Fig.2 Temperature distribution on top surface of workpiece at different current in laser-TIG welding processing (laser power P=1000 W, welding velocity v=1 m/min)

SIMULATION RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

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The above heat source model and FEM model are employed for the temperature field calculation in hybrid welding, and the calculation results are compared with the experimental data. In experiments, the bead-on-plate welds were made on 4 mm thick AISI321 stainless steel specimens with different TIG arc current. Three-dimension temperature fields of hybrid welding with 50 A, 130 A and 190 A current are shown in Fig.2.

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(b) I=130 A (c) I=190 A
Simulated results Experimental results 2.2 2.0 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

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Fig.3 Experimental and simulated results of cross sections at different current (laser power P=1000 W, welding velocity v=1 m/min)

(a) I=50 A

Penetration depth d/mm

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Current I/A

(b) I=130 A

m
(a) Penetration depth

Fig.1 Mesh of the FEM model

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(a) I=50 A

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5.5 5.0 4.5

4.0 3.5 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 20 40

Chen Yanbin, et al: A model of laser-TIG hybrid welding heat source (2) As to different welding modes, two heat source models Simulated results are developed: the heat source of the deep-penetration welding Experimental results includes a surface heat flux and a volume heat flux, whose depth is decided by the threshold power density; the heat source of the heat conductive welding mode is composed of two Gaussian distribute surface heat fluxes. (3) The temperature fields of stainless steel bead weld are calculated with the presented heat source model. The simulated results show a good agreement with the experimental data. It indicates that the hybrid heat source model can sufficiently describe the actual heat transfer process of laser-TIG arc hybrid welding.
60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

Weld width d/mm

Current I/A

References
1 Swif-Hook D T Gick A E F. Penetration welding with lasersanalytical study indicates that present laser beam welding capabilities may be extended tenfold. Weld. J. Res. Suppl., 1973, (52): 492~499 2 Steen M, Dowden J, Davis M, Kapadia P. A point and line source model of laser keyhole welding. J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys., 1998, (21): 1 255-1 260 3 Cline H E, Anthony T R. Heat treating and melting material with a scanning laser or electron beam. J. Appl. Phys., 1977, 48(9): 3 895-3 900 4 Klemens P G. Heat balance and flow conditions for electro beam and laser welding. J. Appl. Phys., 1976, 47(5): 2 165~2 174 5 Mazumder J, Steen W M. Heat transfer model for CW laser material processing. J. Appl. Phys., 1980, 51(2): 941~947 6 Andrews J G, Atthey D R. Hydrodynamic limit to penetration of a material by a high-power beam. J. Appl. Phys., 1976, 9(12): 2 181~2 194 7 Frank Rick, Gunther Reinhart, Hermann Lindl. Simulation techniques as a tool for laser oriented product design. In: Rapid Prototyping Meeting, Besancon, France, 1996, (2 787): 43~52 Biographical notes: Chen Yanbin is currently a professor in Harbin Institute of Technology, China. He has been working on laser materials processing, laser welding process control and laser-arc hybrid welding since 1990. Tel: 86-451-86418645; E-mail: chenyb@hit.edu.cn Li Liqun is currently an associate professor in Harbin Institute of Technology, China. She works in the field of laser forming and numerical simulation of laser welding process. Tel: 86-451-86415374; E-mail: liliqun@hit.edu.cn Feng Xiaosong is a Ph.D student of Harbin Institute of Technology. He works in the field of numerical simulation of laser welding process. Tel: 86-451-86415374

(b) Weld width Fig.4 Comparing of experimental and simulated pool dimensions at different current (laser power P=1000 W, welding velocity v=1 m/min)

5 CONCLUSIIONS

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(1) Laser-TIG arc hybrid welding process can be divided into two welding modes: deep-penetration welding and heat conductive welding.

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Fig.3 shows the cross sections comparison between the simulated results and the experimental results. The dimensions of the weld bead are compared between the experimental results and simulated results in Fig.4. It can be seen that the simulated results agree well with the experimental data. In the figures, we can find that with the increase of arc current, the penetration depth increases when the arc current is not very high. However, the penetration depth decreases greatly when the arc current is higher than a certain value because the keyhole disappears. The addition of arc can enhance the power density of the hybrid heat source when the arc current is not high, and the power density decreases because the laser energy absorbed by arc increases and the radius of laser spot is enlarged. Therefore, when the arc current is higher than a certain value the keyhole disappears and the welding mode is heat conductive welding and the penetration decreases greatly. This mechanism is explained in the part 1.

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