Investigation into spatter behavior during selective laser melting of AISI 316L stainless steel powder

Laser welding, as a highly efficient processing technology, has been widely applied to manufacturing industry. This paper makes an overview on real time monitoring of laser welding. It begins with a detailed introduction to six typical sensors (photodiode, visual, spectrometer, acoustical sensor, pyrometer, plasma charge sensor) in laser welding detection. Then it makes a review on multi-sensor fusion technology in both laser welding monitoring and adaptive control. Last, subjects for future research concerning welding monitoring and control have been proposed. The paper concludes that the real-time monitoring of laser welding can provide a great amount of valid information about welding status to help effectively identify weld defects and realize adaptive control.

Review of laser welding monitoring

Laser-induced plasma temperature

Laser welding of metals involves with formation of a melt-pool and subsequent rapid solidification, resulting in alteration of properties and the microstructure of the welded metal. Understanding and predicting relationships between laser welding process parameters, such as laser speed and welding power, and melt-pool characteristics have been the subjects of many studies in literature because this knowledge is critical to controlling and improving laser welding. Recent advances in metal additive manufacturing processes have renewed interest in the melt-pool studies because in many of these processes, part fabrication involves small moving melt-pools. The present work is a critical review of the literature on experimental and modeling studies on laser welding, with the focus being on the influence of process parameters on geometry, thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, microstructure, and porosity characteristics of the melt-pool. These data may inform future experimental laser welding studies and may be used for verification and validation of results obtained in future melt-pool modeling studies.

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A Review on Melt-Pool Characteristics in Laser Welding of Metals

Size and shape of a melt pool play a critical role in determining the microstructure in additively manufactured metals. However, it is very challenging to directly characterize the size and shape of the melt pool beneath the surface of the melt pool during the additive manufacturing process. Here, we report the direct observation and quantification of melt pool variation during the laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) additive manufacturing process under constant input energy density by in-situ high-speed high-energy x-ray imaging. We show that the melt pool can undergo different melting regimes and both the melt pool dimension and melt pool volume can have orders-of-magnitude change under a constant input energy density. Our analysis shows that the significant melt pool variation cannot be solely explained by the energy dissipation rate. We found that energy absorption changes significantly under a constant input energy density, which is another important cause of melt pool variation. Our further analysis reveals that the significant change in energy absorption originates from the separate roles of laser power and scan speed in depression zone development. The results reported here are important for understanding the laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing process and guiding the development of better metrics for processing parameter design.

In-situ characterization and quantification of melt pool variation under constant input energy density in laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing process

Keyhole formation is a prerequisite for deep penetration laser welding. Understanding of the keyhole dynamics is essential to improve the stability of the keyhole. Direct observation of the keyhole during deep penetration laser welding of a modified "sandwich" specimen with a 10 kW fiber laser is presented. A distinct keyhole wall and liquid motion along the wall are observed directly for the first time. The moving liquid "shelf" on the front keyhole wall and the accompanying hydrodynamic and vapor phenomena are observed simultaneously. Micro-droplets torn off the keyhole wall and the resultant bursts of vapor are also visualized. The hydrodynamics on the keyhole wall has a dominant effect on the weld defects. The emission spectrum inside the keyhole is captured accurately using a spectrometer to calculate the characteristics of the keyhole plasma plume.

Direct observation of keyhole characteristics in deep penetration laser welding with a 10 kW fiber laser

Direct observation and simulation of keyhole dynamics is the key to the study of laser drilling. In this study, the author used a piece of transparent material GG17 glass to perform a direct observation of the dynamics in laser drilling. This technique enabled us to analyze the developmental process of elongated keyhole formation and the flow characteristics of the vapor and molten materials in the keyhole. Subsequently, the various features associated with laser drilling velocity and depth and the influence of laser power and defocus distance on the drilling velocity were investigated in experiments. In addition, to simulate the process of material vaporization removal during laser drilling process, a finite element model was established for laser drilling with Gaussian heating. To compensate for the multiple reflection of the laser on the keyhole wall and the energy loss during the drilling process, a convergence function, a coordination function and a factor function were introduced at the same time to model the changes of the laser energy and its intensity distribution as it reached the keyhole bottom.

Experimental observation and simulation of keyhole dynamics during laser drilling

Laser-induced plasma in deep penetration laser welding is located inside or outside the keyhole, namely, keyhole plasma or plasma plume, respectively. The emergence of laser-induced plasma in laser welding reveals important information of the welding technological process. Generally, electron temperature and electron density are two important characteristic parameters of plasma. In this paper, spectroscopic measurements of electron temperature and electron density of the keyhole plasma and plasma plume in deep penetration laser welding conditions were carried out. To receive spectra from several points separately and simultaneously, an Optical Multi-channel Analyser (OMA) was developed. On the assumption that the plasma was in local thermal equilibrium, the temperature was calculated with the spectral relative intensity method. The spectra collected were processed with Abel inversion method to obtain the temperature fields of keyhole plasma and plasma plume.

Measurements of laser-induced plasma temperature field in deep penetration laser welding

In the laser welding process, weld defects are often caused by many factors, such as variations in the laser power, welding speed and gaps between two workpieces. In an auto-welding system, the on-line monitoring of the welding quality is very important in avoiding weld defects. In this paper, an on-line coaxial monitoring system with an auxiliary illuminant was built for the fibre laser welding of galvanised steel; images of the weld pool were taken during the welding process. Profiles of the weld pool and the keyhole were obtained by processing the images using the region-growing algorithm and the Canny algorithm. In this research, we used the on-line monitored weld pool width to monitor the weld surface width. The weld penetration status was divided into the three categories of incompletely penetrated, moderately penetrated and over-penetrated using the value of d (diameter at the bottom of the keyhole)/D (diameter at the top of the keyhole). Thus, the weld width and weld penetration status of fibre laser welding can be monitored on-line.

Coaxial monitoring of the fibre laser lap welding of Zn-coated steel sheets using an auxiliary illuminant

An actual keyhole is captured by a high-speed camera during deep penetration laser welding of aluminum alloy 6016. With the help of spectrograph, plasma spectra are acquired, and then after Abel transformation, electron temperature is calculated. Through Lorenz nonlinear fitting, the FWHM of Stark broadening lines is obtained to compute electron density. To know more about the mechanism of deep penetration laser welding, both the effect of Fresnel absorption and inverse bremsstrahlung absorption of plasma on the laser power distribution is considered. Results indicate that electron temperature is very unstable in the keyhole which has a declining tendency in the radius direction, electron density increases in the depth direction while it does not change too much along radius. Laser intensity absorbed on the keyhole wall through Fresnel absorption is hardly uniform and distributes mainly on the front wall and the bottom of keyhole wall, and inverse bremsstrahlung absorption of keyhole plasma plays a dominant role in absorbing laser power compared with Fresnel absorption.

Shichun Li

Papers

Direct observation of keyhole characteristics in deep penetration laser welding with a 10 kW fiber laser

Experimental observation and simulation of keyhole dynamics during laser drilling

Measurements of laser-induced plasma temperature field in deep penetration laser welding

Coaxial monitoring of the fibre laser lap welding of Zn-coated steel sheets using an auxiliary illuminant

Fresnel absorption and inverse bremsstrahlung absorption in an actual 3D keyhole during deep penetration CO2 laser welding of aluminum 6016