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An overview of the state of art in laser welding simulation
The laser welding is an increasing process in the whole inter- national industry , for micro-
welding as well as deep welding .As other welding processes (with fusion ) , the assembly of
two pieces is obtained by a local fusion and solidification, forming the “ welding joint ” or
“weld bead”. The particularity of laser welding is based on the way used to deposit the
thermal energy to the piece surface. If with other processes, the heat is transmitted to the piece
mainly by conduction and convection (in arc welding, for example).
Of course, the research in laser technologies remains more newsworthy than ever and lasers
are nowadays more and more efficient in terms of stability, spatial distribution, and energy
consumption.
Technologies used for welding applications were mainly CO2 lasers and solid-state lasers
like Nd:YAG or fiber laser. The CO2 technology was the first able to deliver a power higher
than 10 kW but its wavelength (10.6 μm) leads to the incapacity to be transported by classical
optical fibers, to be focused by lenses and tends to be absorbed by the keyhole plasma. Solid-
state lasers have a more useful wavelength (1.06 μm for Nd:YAG and 1.03 μm for Yb:YAG),
for which the silica fibers or lenses are nearly transparent. Nevertheless, a third category of
laser is now able to produce a sufficient power for welding applications (between 5 kW and
15 kW): the laser diodes, which also tend to have better optical properties.
The laser welding can be realized by two main ways: conduction type or keyhole type. The
first produces a weakly penetrated weld bead similar to other processes (arc, for instance).
The energy is deposited to the component surface and the beam distribution is shaped to
produce low power density only able to fuse the material. The second is obtained from a more
dense power distribution, which is sufficient to increase locally the material temperature
above to the vaporization one. Due to the recoil pressure (vaporization pressure) a narrow
keyhole is created. Depending on the laser wavelength, the beam is more or less well
deposited inside this cavity. Thus, the energy is distributed in the material thickness leading to
a deep weld penetration (several millimeters to centimeters).
Development of Laser Welding of Ni based Superalloys for

Aeronautic Engine Applications (Experimental Process and Obtained
Properties)
Aeronautic components demand reliable joining technologies. The laser welding of three
different superalloys have been performed and analyzed. Due to reduced extension of the heat
affected zone (HAZ), and high quality and ratio “depth/width” of welded seams, laser welding
has been a first joining technology candidate to new designs of components for new engines
Due to the materials used and the requirements in service for the components of the engine,
welding by high energy beams (laser and electron beam) have been the first option as joining
technologies.
These studied results include welding trials, metallographic characterization (welding seam
morphology and microstructures) by means of optical and electronic microscopy, hardness
profiles, and mechanical testing (including high temperature tests –tensile and LCF for alloy
718-). In this study, the laser welding of three different superalloys has been performed and
analysed (alloy 718 -“Inco 718”-, “René 41” and alloy –“Inco 625”-)
Experimental study information :
Two types of joints have been studied: butt joint and lap (“transparency”) joint (pictures of
figures 1a to 1d).The welding trials have been performed with two types of high-power lasers:
Nd:YAG and CO2 lasers. The study has been performed first on rectangular samples -300
mm x 150 mm- (Figure 2a); from these samples the different metallographic and mechanical
samples have been obtained. Two thicknesses have been used for the study: 2 mm and 5 mm.
Laboratory characterization has been performed by NDT, metallographic (Figure 2b) analysis
and mechanical testing (room temperature and 600 ºC). Finally, demonstrators have been
welded following the experimental parameters obtained in the samples and have been also
inspected and characterized.

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An overview of the state of art in laser welding simulation

Development of Laser Welding of Ni based Superalloys for

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