Control of the plume induced during high-power fiber laser welding with a transverse arc

Abstract

In this letter, the addition of the transverse arc into high-power fiber welding is proposed. The effects of the transverse arc on the laser-induced plume, the morphology of the weld, and the stability of the welding process are investigated. The experimental results indicate that, by introducing the transverse arc, the slender plume disappears, the temperature of the plasma plume increases then decreases with the rise in height, the weld width is reduced by around 42%, and the weld depth and the melting area are enhanced by about 28 and 12%, respectively. Moreover, the stability of the welding process is improved remarkably. As concluded from further analysis, the Mie scattering of the incident laser, induced by the particles in the plume, is responsible for the adverse effects induced by the plume. With the addition of the transverse arc, the particles in the plume are gasified and, thus, do not impact the energy transmission of the fiber laser. Consequently, the adverse effects induced by the plume can be significantly suppressed while the laser energy utilization efficiency and the stability of the welding process are improved.

Deflection of particles of a laser erosion plume under the action of a high-voltage electrostatic field during ablation processing of titanium

“…An effective method of combined action in the tasks of laser processing of materials is the use of an electric field [6][7][8]. The electric field can facilitate the removal of ablation products from the region of laser beam propagation [9][10][11][12][13][14] or for the formation of an electric arc stabilized by a laser-induced plasma channel (LIPC), which is formed when intense subpicosecond laser pulses pass through the medium in the caustic region of the laser beam [15,16] The use of combined exposure when performing various types of material processing, including the use of laser radiation, is a common practice [17,18]. Usually, laser radiation acts as the main physical impact, additional impacts greatly contribute to an increase in the processing efficiency.…”

Experimental and numerical study of spatter formation and composition change in fiber laser welding of aluminum alloy

“…Li et al investigated the molten pool behavior in the laser welding by the x-ray imaging system, and proposed that the molten pool behavior was the key factor that influenced the spatter formation [6]. Efficient methods had been proposed by researchers to suppress the spatter formation, such as using a side gas jet [7], forward welding [3], vacuum welding [8], oxygen addition [9], and the addition of transverse arc into high power fiber laser welding [10]. Currently, the spatter formation is mainly studied experimentally, but modeling investigations have not been well addressed due to their high complexity.…”