Optimisation of refractory coatings realised with cored wire addition using a high-power diode laser

Laser; Cladding; Refractory alloys; Factorial experiments; International audience; The objective or our research was to obtain refractory alloys using the high-power diode laser (HPDL) coating technique. After optimisation using factorial experiments, two different cladding regimes were clearly distinguished. It was also shown that a very narrow transition zone exists between the two regimes, and, inside this zone, clad layers having a satisfactory compromise between the response functions (surface aspect and cavity presence) were obtained. The main objective of our study, namely, the control of the operating parameters (geometrical and kinematical) to realise adequate coatings, without cav…

Hot cracking in Al–Mg–Si alloy laser welding – operating parameters and their effects

Abstract Hot cracking is a phenomenon that frequently occurs in the laser welding of some “special” alloys, such as the aluminium–magnesium–silicon type. Each occurrence of this phenomenon needs to be studied in itself, taking into account not only the individual, but also the interactive, influences of the various parameters. The advantage of using laser beams in welding processes lies in the speeds that can be reached. The disadvantage, however, is that, owing to the high cooling rates characteristic of the interaction between the laser beam and the material, the welding speed itself becomes a cause of hot cracking. The aim of this paper is to see how this disadvantage may be eliminated. …

Diode laser welding of ABS: Experiments and process modeling

International audience; The laser beam weldability of acrylonitrile/butadiene/styrene (ABS) plates is determined by combining both experimental and theoretical aspects. In modeling the process, an optical model is used to determine how the laser beam is attenuated by the first material and to obtain the laser beam profile at the interface. Using this information as the input data to a thermal model, the evolution of the temperature field within the two components can be estimated. The thermal model is based on the first principles of heat transfer and utilizes the temperature variation laws of material properties. Corroborating the numerical results with the experimental results, some impor…

The application of the random balance method in laser machining of metals

International audience; Features peculiar to laser technology offer some advantages over more traditional processes, but, like all processes, it has its limitations. This article studies the limitations of laser machining of metals, and quantifies, through an experimental design method, the influence of operating parameters on productivity and on the quality of the machined surface. Three study materials were used: an aluminium alloy, stainless steel and a titanium alloy. An initial reading of the results indicates that productivity depends mainly on the frequency of the laser pulse and that the aluminium alloy behaves differently from the other two. The quality of the machined surface, jud…

Numerical support for laser welding of zinc-coated sheets process development

Abstract A lap welding process for zinc-coated sheets has been developed with the help of numerical simulations. This process has been improved and is now compatible with industrial requirements. The zinc boiling point (1180 K) is lower than the steel melting point (1800 K). Consequently, a violent boiling of zinc in melted steel produces serious defects in the seam. To get round this difficulty, we choose to consider a two-spots process: the first spot vaporizes the zinc coating at the interface; the second one welds the sheets. Previously, we develop a numerical model that permits a process parameters choice and limits the plan of experimentations. The zinc ablation spotlight shape is cho…

A Thermo-Kinetic Study of Titanium Oxidation Assisted by a Nd-YAG Pulsed Laser

MoSi2 laser cladding—A new experimental procedure: double-sided injection of MoSi2 and ZrO2

International audience; In the last decade, development of low density advanced material systems for service at temperatures up to 1300 °C was one of the goals of many researches. This kind of material should mainly have moderate fracture toughness and should exhibit oxidation resistant behaviour at low and intermediate temperature. One of the most studied materials continues to be the intermetallic compound MoSi2. The molybdenum disilicide has been considered as an attractive candidate due to its melting point (2030 °C) and excellent oxidation resistance at high temperatures. The main problem associated with the MoSi2 layer synthesized using laser beam is the layer fragility. To avoid this…

Grooving by Nd:YAG laser treatment

Abstract The properties of the laser beam have been used to produce deep and thin grooves in metals, melted material being removed with the assistance of a high velocity gas. Preliminary experiments show that the geometry and the location of the gas inlet tube are the main parameters governing the evacuation of the scoria. The influence of the nature of the materials on the depth of the grooves is discussed from examination of the grooves realized on various metals (copper, aluminum, titanium,…). Finally, a statistical study is performed to indicate the parameters that have to be controlled to secure regular grooves. It appears that the groove width is not too much affected by parameter var…

MoSi2 laser cladding—a comparison between two experimental procedures: Mo–Si online combination and direct use of MoSi2

International audience; There are very strong interests in developing low density advanced material systems for service at temperatures up to 1300°C. These materials should mainly have moderate fracture toughness at low and intermediate temperatures and should exhibit oxidation resistant behaviour. The intermetallic compound, MoSi2 has been considered to be an attractive candidate due to its melting point (2030°C) and excellent oxidation resistance at high temperatures. In this paper, we compare the results obtained with two different techniques for laser cladding, one using an online combination between Mo and Si powders, the second using direct injection of the MoSi2 powder.

Numerical Study of Zinc Coated Car Body Laser Welding

Study and evaluation of fretting critical slip conditions by applying the design of experiments method

Tribological systems are complex systems that require a multi-disciplinary (mechanical, material, physico-chemical) approach where numerous influence factors can be involved. To characterize a contact couple, the intrinsic parameters of the materials as well as the parameters related to the contact loading and the surrounding environment need to be taken into account. Fretting analysis, by means of running condition-fretting maps (RCFM), allows the behavior of the contact couple to be taken into account and to predict the boundary between partial slip and gross slip conditions. This article presents the study of a steel/polycarbonate couple during fretting tests. The study was carried out b…

The simulation of morphology of dissimilar copper–steel electron beam welds using level set method

Abstract In present work, the simulation of morphology and velocity field in dissimilar electron beam welds formed between the metals with limited solubility is described by the example of copper–stainless steel couple. Finite element software COMSOL Multiphysics 3.5 has been employed due to its flexibility in solving of coupled multiphysical problems. The domination of horizontal flows allows reducing the model to two dimensions. Level set method has been used to determine the position of the interface between immiscible components basing on coupled heat transfer and fluid flow pseudo-stationary solution. The evolution of the shape, fluid flow and mixing pattern in function of operational …

The formation of intermetallics in dissimilar Ti6Al4V/copper/AISI 316 L electron beam and Nd:YAG laser joints

Abstract The welds of titanium alloys with steels suffer from the brittleness of resulting intermetallic compounds. In present study, we report the feasibility of Ti6Al4V to stainless steel AISI 316L welding through pure copper interlayer carried out by electron beam and pulsed Nd:YAG laser. The nature and the localization of intermetallic phases in these welds have been studied by SEM, EDS, XRD and microhardness measurements. The simplified scenario of weld formation has been proposed in order to understand the mechanism of weld formation and to explain the way local phase content determines the mechanical properties. It can be concluded that the insertion of 500 μm pure copper interlayer …

Dépôts par projection de poudre dans un faisceau laser Nd:YAG : cas des faibles puissances

Ce travail fait suite a celui de F. Lemoine [1]. Il concerne la modelisation des depots realises par projection d'une poudre metallique dans un faisceau laser Nd:YAG. Son originalite concerne notamment l'utilisation de faibles puissances laser (P < 800 W). Dans ce domaine, nous avons montre l'existence, en fonction de la puissance laser, de deux seuils associes a la masse des revetements realises. L'etude theorique est fondee sur le calcul de la fluence (J/cm- 2 ) fournie au substrat et l'utilisation d'un modele de transfert de chaleur a l'interieur de celui-ci. Les hypotheses emises et verifiees sont que: i) le premier seuil correspond a la puissance laser minimale a mettre en oeuvre afin …

Erratum to “Using Infrared thermography in order to compare laser and hybrid (laser+MIG) welding processes” [Optics &amp; Laser Technology 41 (2009) 665–670]

Erratum to ‘‘Using Infrared thermography in order to compare laser and hybrid (laser+MIG) welding processes’’ [Optics & Laser Technology 41 (2009) 665–670] Simone Mattei a, , Dominique Grevey , Alexandre Mathieu , Laetitia Kirchner b a Institut Carnot de Bourgogne,UMR5209 CNRS-Universite0 de Bourgogne, IUT Le Creusot, 12 rue de la Fonderie, 71200 Le Creusot, France b EADS France, 12 rue Pasteur, 91 152 Suresnes Cedex, France

Subsurface treatment of a contact subjected to a hertz pressure

Abstract The study proposes an approach allowing the favorable modification of the stresses field of a structure subjected to a Hertzian contact. It is based on the study of a classic Hertzian contact in the presence of subsurface circular defects. The idea is to limit the field of tangential stresses without large increasing of the global stress (Von Mises) of the system. The location of the defects is made according to the mechanical parameters of the contact (Fn, has, z). The results of the numerical calculations (FEM) are compared with photoelastic measurements and highlight an excellent correlation. The location of the defect on the symmetry axis (x=0) is the dominating parameter for t…

Using infrared thermography in order to compare laser and hybrid (laser plus MIG) welding processes

International audience; In order to deepen the understanding of the differences between laser and laser-arc hybrid welding, comparisons were undertaken using thermography. The experiments were carried out for a T assembly of aluminium alloy plates. Modelling, based on the finite element method approach, was realized using IR temperature measurements and seam geometry. For a value of the power supply, depicted as a surface source in the hybrid case, agreement was found between simulated and measured temperatures. The arc power supply efficiency value is similar to the usually used value.

MoSi2 laser cladding—elaboration, characterisation and addition of non-stabilized ZrO2 powder particles

International audience; The cladding process using laser beam radiation comprises different operational regimes, depending on the involved lasers (usually CO2 or Nd:YAG) and materials. A series of experiments has been carried out to investigate Nd:YAG laser cladding using MoSi2 powder. Procedures and operating parameters for producing clad layers has been developed and their properties evaluated. The feasibility of the laser cladding technique, using a high power Nd:YAG laser, by projecting MoSi2 powder on steel substrate was demonstrated. The results indicate a low density of cracks, elevated powder catchment efficiency (between 65 and 90%) and hardness values around 1200–1300 HV. Our goal…

Optimisation of TA6V alloy surface laser texturing using an experimental design approach

International audience; Active surfaces of plastic injection moulds are nowadays textured using classical techniques (chemical etching or EDM). Replacement of these technologies by a laser technology introduces a big flexibility: absence of mechanical contact with the tool, decrease of the effluent's volume and a big machining precision, even in the case of the complex forms as injection moulds for example. This paper reports the experimental study of the surface laser texturing of TA6V alloy. The influence of the operating factors on the laser texturing process has been studied using two experimental approaches: Taguchi methodology and response surface methodology (RSM). Empirical models h…

Growth of titanium oxynitride layers by short pulsed Nd:YAG laser treatment of Ti plates: Influence of the cumulated laser fluence.

International audience; Titanium oxynitride layerswere formed by surface laser treatment of Ti plates in air using a Nd:YAG laser source of short pulse duration about 5 ns. The cumulated laser fluence was varied in the 100–1200 J cm2 range and its influence on the composition and the structure of the formed layers was studied by different characterization techniques providing physico-chemical and structural information. It was shown that the laser treatment induces the insertion of light elements as O, N and C in the formed layer with the amount increasing with the laser fluence. The in-depth composition of the layers and the co-existence of different phases were also studied. The way in wh…

Magnesium alloys laser (Nd:YAG) cladding and alloying with side injection of aluminium powder

International audience; The development of the high purity magnesium alloys (such as WE43) incites the designers to reconsider them, and the car industry appears, these days, the most interested to use this kind of alloy. However, due to their ignitability and tendency to oxidation, magnesium alloys require surface treatments. A series of experiments was carried out in order to improve the corrosion resistance of two types of magnesium alloys, WE43 and ZE41. In most cases, the substrate surface was treated before laser interaction. Side injection of aluminium powder under a 3 kW cw Nd:YAG laser was employed. The deposited layers present very good bond properties. The resulting microstructur…

Characterisation of cw Nd : YAG laser keyhole dynamics

Abstract The paper concerns laser–matter interaction characterisation. In this work, we use a rapid CCD camera located coaxially to the laser beam and we compare recorded images with those obtained by numerical modelling. Because images are difficult to understand, we compute thermal radiation emitted by a keyhole of fixed geometry and we adjust it trying to approach the camera record. The modelling treats radiative heat transfer within the keyhole and determines the sensor illumination map. By adjusting the geometrical characteristics of the hole, we seek to obtain the image that corresponds as well as possible to the realised experiment. Results are compared with other experimental method…

Magnesium alloys (WE43 and ZE41) characterisation for laser applications

International audience; One of the most important parameters in laser treatment is the quantity of beam energy absorbed by the substrate. Despite its important role played in laser processes, this factor is rarely available for the laser sources wavelengths and at high temperatures reached during such treatments. A series of experiments were carried out in order to characterise, from this point of view, two types of magnesium alloys, WE43 and ZE41, often used in laser applications (cladding, alloying, welding, etc.). The results represent an important step in order to understand Mg-alloys behaviour under laser beam action.

Numerical investigation of laser beam shaping for heat transfer control in laser processing

This article presents a thermal finite volume model adapted to investigate laser processes. It is specially developed to treat moving heat sources with phase changes, melting and vapourisation. Heat transfer control in laser processing is particularly useful when processes must respect prescribed temperatures, or more generally, prescribed constraints. These processes involve generally several laser sources, or non-conventional power distribution. Hence, they have numerous parameters to set. Experimental optimisation is difficult and may be expansive. The numerical model is a useful and cheaper tool for development of those complex processes. For example in this article, two special laser p…

Dissimilar laser welding of AISI 316L stainless steel to Ti6–Al4–6V alloy via pure vanadium interlayer

Abstract Successful continuous laser joining of AISI 316L stainless steel with Ti6Al4V titanium alloy through pure vanadium interlayer has been performed. Three welding configurations were tested: one-pass welding involving all three materials and two pass and double spot welding involving creation of two melted zones separated by remaining solid vanadium. For the most relevant welds, the investigation of microstructure, phase content and mechanical properties has been carried out. In case of formation of a single melted zone, the insertion of steel elements into V-based solid solution embrittles the weld. In case of creation of two separated melted zones, the mechanical resistance of the j…

Heat transfer in semi-transparent materials during laser interaction

Abstract A model of energy exchange, based on the finite element method is specially developed to determine the thermal field for semi-transparent polymers irradiated by laser. Our model, which uses the finite element method, allows to define the laser and specific structure characteristics in terms of density of power, speed and shape of the spotlight, material coefficient absorption, etc. The model has been experimentally validated by measuring the thermal response induced by the laser source. The experimental part of the study has been performed using a semiconductor laser diode source and an infrared thermography camera.

Gas protection optimization during Nd:YAG laser welding

International audience; Many laser processes, such as welding or surface treatments are associated with an undesired phenomenon, which is oxidation. The solution commonly employed to solve this problem approaches the shielding gas and/or the shielding gas device. What we propose in this paper is a methodology with the goal to optimize the protection gas device design as well as the gas flow in the case of laser welding and surface treatments. The pressure created by the gas flow on the sample surface is recorded and analysed together with the operating parameters influence in order to reach the objectives. The nozzle system designed and presented below assures the protection against materia…