On Laser Welding of Thin Steel Sheets

Abstract

This paper presents a process-structure-property relationship study of laser welds as a continuous consolidation method for joining thin monophased steel foils, thereby providing a more effective, less costly method to construct automotive catalytic converters. A body centred cubic (bcc) iron-chromium-aluminium alloy doped with Mischmetal was utilised in this study. Both pulsed and continuous wave modes were used to establish the limit welding diagrams for lap joint configuration. Actual laser welding parameters were selected using several testing conditions. The laser welds behaved substantially different from the base material under creep and high temperature oxidation. The difference was mainly attributed to the changes in grain morphology, precipitation of aluminium nitrides and carbides, and relocalisation of the reactive elements during liquid metal flow upon keyhole formation, solidification and cooling.

Department(s)

Materials Science and Engineering

Research Center/Lab(s)

Peaslee Steel Manufacturing Research Center

Keywords and Phrases

Automotive catalytic converters; Base material; Body-centred cubic; Consolidation methods; Continuous wave modes; Grain morphologies; Lap joint; Laser welding parameters; Laser welds; Liquid metal flows; Misch metal; Monophased; Process-structure-property relationship; Reactive elements; Steel foils; Tensile; Testing conditions; Aluminum; Aluminum nitride; Carbides; Catalytic converters; Chromium; Creep; Liquid metals; Nitrides; Scanning electron microscopy; Steel; Thermooxidation; Welds; Laser beam welding; High temperature oxidation; SEM

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

1362-1718; 1362-1718

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2012 Maney Publishing, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jun 2012

Link to Full Text

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