Laser Welding of Ship Steel
Abstract
An expertimental laser welding investigation was conducted on ship steel. This program was directed toward evalution of practical aspects of laser welding in tine shipyard and represents a follow-on to previous flat-position laser welding tests conducted under optimum joint cleanliness and fitup conditions. In the current program, welds were formed between surfaces with nonperfect fitup, between plasma-cut surfaces, between surfaces deliberately mismatched to provide a varging joint gap and under out-of-position welding conditions. It was found that the maximum joint gap between 1/2-inch-thick pieces which could be effectively bridged by laser welding with filler addition was 1/16 inch. A satisfactory single-pass' weld bead was formed with such a gap at 15 kW and 35 ipm using 1.715 inch filler wire fed at 150 ipm. Acceptable welds were also formed between plasma arc surfaces which were initially machine-sanded to remove cut scale. Out-of-position weld tests were limited to tee joint configurations; a dual-pass weld procedure produced the best results. A 1-inch-thick tee joint was effectively- welded at 13 kW and 30 ipm in the horizontal position. Tee joints in 3/0-in.- thick material were formed in the vertical-up and vertical-down position. Welds formed under nominal 6 kW, 40 ipm conditions exhibited smooth bead profiles and relatively smooth fillets. Slight improvement in fillet profile was obtained by modest addition of filler material. No apparent difficulty was experienced with out-of-position welding provided that conditions leading to a relatively narrow weld bead were maintained.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1979
- Accession Number
- ADA451708
Entities
People
- C. M. Banas
- G. T. Peters
- W. C. Brayton