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Abstract
A feasibility study of laser welding of high hardness steel (HHS) armours has been carried out at SMC DERA. The main issues investigated were weldability using different fillers and various combinations of beam power and travel speed; heat affected zone (HAZ) size and hardness; Charpy toughness; and ballistic behaviour. The best results in terms of a combination of cracking resistance and toughness were obtained in the autogenous weld, the filler wires tested clearly not being ideally suited to laser welding. A relationship emerged between the weld hardness profiles, in respect of both weld metal hardness and variable HAZ width and softening with beam travel speed, and their ballistic performance.