Evolution behavior of laser welding in hybrid structure between open-cell aluminum foam and solid aluminum shell

Hybrid structure between porous core and solid shell can combine lightweight open-cell structure of porous materials with good strength of solid shell. Laser welding is considered as an effective process to join porous metal with solid metallic shell. In this study, the evolution behavior of laser welding by a continuous wave (CW) disk laser welding between open-cell aluminum alloy (cast AC2A alloy) and aluminum sheet (wrought AA6063 alloy) was investigated. X-ray transmission system and a high-speed camera were performed during laser welding to investigate the dynamic keyhole, porosity formation, plasma plume, and spatter formation. Laser keyhole became unstable during entering and passing the vacancies of porous aluminum, which consequently resulted in bubble formation in the molten pool.

Automated summary

The study investigated the evolution behavior of laser welding between open-cell aluminum alloy and aluminum sheet, revealing that the laser keyhole became unstable when passing through the vacancies of porous aluminum, resulting in bubble formation in the molten pool.