Product Code: ICAL09_106

High Brightness Hybrid Welding of Steel
Authors:
Brian Victor, EWI; Columbus OH USA
Brad Nagy, EWI; Columbus OH USA
Stan Ream, EWI; Columbus OH USA
Dave Farson, Ohio State University; Columbus OH USA
Presented at ICALEO 2009

With the increasing power and performance of high-brightness solid-state lasers, laser-GMAW hybrid welding is becoming more practical for thick-section welding applications. This study evaluated hybrid welding of steel butt joints with a 10kW fiber laser. Welding trials were conducted to evaluate the effect that beam-to-wire distance and process orientation (arc-leading vs. laser-leading) had on the hybrid process. Both full and partial penetration welds were investigated. Welding trials were also conducted with modulated laser power synchronized to the pulse waveform of the GMAW power supply. High speed video was used to record the effects of modulation on the weld pool. A diode laser illumination and filtering system was developed to produce high-quality video images without interference from the GMAW welding arc.