Effects of laser welding conditions on toughness of dissimilar welded components

Welding dissimilar materials become inevitable in engineering industries. There are many issues/problems associated with the welding of dissimilar materials, related to the welding process and its parameters. The current work investigates the effect of laser welding conditions on the toughness of dissimilar welded components. In this study, CO2 laser welding has been successfully applied for joining 316 stainless steel with low carbon steel (F/A). Design of experiment techniques has been used for different effective welding parameters (laser power, welding speed, and focus position) to optimize the dissimilar F/A joints in terms of its mechanical properties. Taguchi approach was applied to optimize the welding parameters. Three factors with five levels each (L-25) were employed in these models. Impact strength was measured at room temperature by using the universal pendulum impact tester. The results were compared with the impact strength of the base material. The results were analysed using ANOVA and S/N ratio for optimal parameters combination. It is evident that Taguchi approach has decreased the number of experiments without negative effects on the result.