Study on hybrid heat source overlap welding of magnesium alloy AZ31B

The magnesium alloy AZ31 B was overlap welded by hybrid welding (laser-tungsten inert gas arc). According to the hybrid welding interaction principle, a new heat source model, hybrid welding heat source model, was developed with finite element analysis. At the same time, using a high-temperature metallo-graphical microscope, the macro-appearance and microstructure characteristics of the joint after hybrid overlap welding were studied. The results indicate that the hybrid welding was superior to the single tungsten inert gas welding or laser welding on the aspects of improving the utilized efficiency of the arc and enhancing the absorptivity of materials to laser energy. Due to the energy characteristics of hybrid overlap welding the macro-appearance of the joint was cup-shaped, the top weld showed the hybrid welding microstructure, while, the lower weld showed the typical laser welding microstructure. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.