Laser cooling arc plasma effect in laser-arc hybrid welding of 316L stainless steel

Current laser-plasma interaction theory supports that the plasma energy e.g. electron temperature would increase by the effect of inverse bremsstrahlung (IB) absorption, when a laser beam passed through the plasma. However, in this paper, we found an interesting laser cooling arc plasma effect (LCAPE) during kilo-Watt fiber laser-TIG hybrid welding. Based on theoretical modelling and experiments, we observed that a temperature decrease of more than 5000 K at the tail of the argon plasma occurred under different process parameters during hybrid welding of 316L stainless steel. We proposed the LCAPE is caused by the laser-induced metal vapor. The mechanism mainly includes the convection cooling and enhanced radiation of the arc plasma by the metal vapor. Our findings could broaden the theory of laser-plasma interaction and provide a theoretical reference to the modulation and control of plasma in industries. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.