Deformation Behaviour of Thin Aluminium Alloy Plates During Laser Welding

摘要

This study investigates the distortion history of thin Al-alloy plates by the digital image correlation technique during the laser welding process. The in situ three-dimensional (3-D) displacement and 3-D deflection contours are reconstructed. The welding deformation behaviour of a 1 mm thick Al-alloy plate during laser welding is studied by extracting the displacements of points, lines and surface over time. Analysis of the displacement progress of the points reveals four stages of deformation. The results show that the deformation of the thin plate structure on two sides of the weld is asymmetric during the welding process, even though the final deformation is symmetrical. Further, the influence of different welding parameters on the final deformation is evaluated by the orthogonal analysis method, which reveals that the welding speed has the largest impact on the transverse distortion of the thin plates and the welding power has the largest impact on the longitudinal and out-of plane distortions.