INVESTIGATION OF FLUID FLOW AND HEAT TRANSFER IN 3-D DUAL-BEAM LASER KEYHOLE WELDING

Dual-beam laser welding has become an emerging joining technique. Studies have demonstrated that it can provide benefits over conventional single-beam laser welding, such as increasing keyhole stability, slowing down cooling rate and delaying the humping onset to a higher welding speed. It is also reported to be able to improve weld quality significantly. However, due to its complexity the development of this promising technique has been limited to the trial-and-error procedure. In this study, mathematical models are developed to investigate the heat transfer, melt flow, and solidification process in three-dimensional dual-beam laser keyhole welding. Effects of key parameters, such as laser-beam configuration on melt flow, weld shape, and keyhole dynamics are studied. Some experimentally observed phenomena, such as the changes of the weld pool shape from oval to circle and from circle to oval during the welding process are analyzed in current study.