Advancing quantitative description of porosity in autogenous laser-welds of 304L stainless steel

Abstract

Porosity in linear autogenous laser welds of 304L stainless steel has been investigated using micro-computed tomography to reveal defect content in fifty-four welds made with varying delivered power, travel speed and focal lens. Trends associated with porosity size and frequencies are shown and interfacial measures are employed to provide quantitative descriptors of pore shape, directionality, interspacing and solid linear fraction. Lastly, the coefficient of variation associated with equivalent pore radii is reported toward a discussion of microstructural variability and the influence of process-parameters on such variability.