The effect of welding direction in CO2 LASER - MIG hybrid welding of mild steel plates

Abstract

In this paper, hybrid laser-arc welding process has been studied based on the relative position of the laser and the arc (i.e. laser-leading and arc-leading arrangement) and, the effects of welding parameters, such as the laser power, arc current, arc voltage and the welding speed on the weld bead were investigated. The study indicates that the welding direction has a significant effect on the weld bead and weld pool behaviour. The result shows that laserleading configuration shows better bead characteristics when compared to arc-leading configuration. This is because in the laser-leading case molten metal flow is inward, while in the arc-leading case the metal flow is outward leading to variation in solidification front resulting in lack of synergic effects of both processes.