T. A. Palmer

This report provides an overview of a series of developmental welding studies performed on a 2.2 kW Rofin Sinar DY-022 Diode Pumped Continuous Wave (CW) Nd:YAG welder at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Several materials systems, ranging from refractory metals, such as commercially pure tantalum and vanadium, to austenitic stainless steels, including both 304L and 21-6-9 grades, are examined. Power input and travel speed are systematically varied during the welding of each materials system, and the width, depth, and cross sectional area of the resulting weld fusion zones are measured. These individual studies are undertaken in order to characterize the response of the welder to changes in these welding parameters for a range of materials and to determine the maximum depth of penetration of which this welder is capable in each materials system. The maximum weld depths, which are on the order of 5.4 mm, are observed in the 21-6-9 austenitic stainless steel at the maximum laser power setting (2200 W) and a slow travel speed (6.4 mm/sec). The next highest weld depth is observed in the 304L stainless steel, followed by that observed in the vanadium and, finally, in the tantalum. Porosity, which is attributed to the collapse ofmore » the keyhole during welding, is also observed in the welds produced in tantalum, vanadium, and 304L stainless steel. Only the 21-6-9 austenitic stainless steel welds displayed little or no porosity over the range of welding parameters. Comparisons with similar laser welding systems are also made for several of these same materials systems. When compared with the welds produced by these other systems, the LLNL system typically produces welds of an equivalent or slightly higher depth.« less

A series of laser welds were performed using a high-power diode-pumped continuous-wave Nd:YAG laser welder. In a previous study, the experimental results of those welds were examined, and the effects that changes in incident power and various welding parameters had on weld geometry were investigated. In this report, the fusion zones of the laser welds are compared with those predicted from a laser keyhole weld simulation model for stainless steels (304L and 21-6-9), vanadium, and tantalum. The calculated keyhole depths for the vanadium and 304L stainless steel samples fit the experimental data to within acceptable error, demonstrating the predictive power of numerical simulation for welds in these two materials. Calculations for the tantalum and 21-6-9 stainless steel were a poorer match to the experimental values. Accuracy in materials properties proved extremely important in predicting weld behavior, as minor changes in certain properties had a significant effect on calculated keyhole depth. For each of the materials tested, the correlation between simulated and experimental keyhole depths deviated as the laser power was increased. Using the model as a simulation tool, we conclude that the optical absorptivity of the material is the most influential factor in determining the keyhole depth. Future work willmore » be performed to further investigate these effects and to develop a better match between the model and the experimental results for 21-6-9 stainless steel and tantalum.« less

A series of laser welds have been made on several materials using a Rofin-Sinar DY-033, 3.3 kW, Diode-Pumped Continuous Wave (CW) Nd:YAG laser system, located at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Materials welded in these experiments include 21-6-9 stainless steel, 304L stainless steel, vanadium, and tantalum. The effects of changes in the power input at a constant travel speed on the depth, width, aspect ratio, and total melted area of the welds have been analyzed. Increases in the measured weld pool dimensions as a function of power input are compared for each of the base metals investigated. These results provide a basis for further examining the characteristics of diode pumped CW Nd:YAG laser systems in welding applications.