Porosity Decrease in Laser Welds of Stainless Steel Using Plasma Control

摘要

High-energy laser welding incorporating plasma control has been studied and reported by numerous investigators. These investigators demonstrated significant increases in laser weld penetration by use of plasma control. This report shows, in addition to variations in weld penetration, drastic decrease in porosity and variation in weld bead shapes resulting from laser welds incorporating plasma control. In particular, deep laser welds (greater than 6 mm) have been produced in 304L stainless steel that show no root porosity and only very few, if any, detectable micropores. (ERA citation 09:002706)