Effect of electromagnetic stirring on the element distribution in laser beam welding of aluminium with filler wire

Abstract

Additional external electromagnetic fields are used in laser beam welding of aluminium with silicon containing filler wire to manipulate the flow of the liquid metal due to induced volume forces and hence to modify the element distribution. Aiming for a better understanding of the fluid-dynamic processes inside the meld pool, a CFD model has been implemented to simulate the melt flow. In this paper, simulation results on the resulting element distribution of filler wire material under a coaxial magnetic field with different frequencies is compared to experimental results for the same parameters. It is shown that in both cases the concentration of alloying elements of the filler material has a spatial periodicity. From the CFD model it can be concluded that the change of the distribution of the filler material results from a modulation of the melt flow due to the periodic induced electromagnetic volume forces. © 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd.