Laser micro-welding of aluminum alloys: experimental studies and numerical modeling

Experimental and numerical studies were conducted on the effects of the laser beam pulse shaping in the time domain on the quality of the welding seam in laser micro-welded AlMg3 with a thickness of 0.2 mm and 1 mm thick AlMg4.5 Mg foils, respectively. The pulse shaping was realized by a time sequence of three different rectangular pulses with different duration and power level. The first pulse was used to pre-heat the sample, welding occurred with the second pulse and the third pulse controlled the melt pool behavior. The power level and the duration of the single pulses were varied systematically and the resulting microstructure was analyzed by scanning electron microscope. The experiments were accompanied by numerical simulations based on a finite volume model which considers the transient heat flow, melt convection and the evolution of a gas capillary during the deep penetration welding process.