The effect of subsequent laser processing on the properties of welded joints made by pulsed laser welding*

ABSTRACT

Pulse laser welding provides welds in thin-walled and miniature structures without their significant deformation. However, the features of the weldment surface geometry are the foundation of the presence of corrosion and stress concentrators. To eliminate them and to decrease the weldment surface roughness pulse laser processing with surface melting is often used, however, the influence of this process on the weldment properties is not sufficiently studied yet. In this work it is shown that pulse laser processing with the weldment surface melting with the optimal regime parameters provides the decrease of the its roughness more than twice and the elimination of the corrosion and stress concentrators. The process can be carried out on the same equipment with the welding. Wherein, mechanical properties of the welds are practically unchanged, and no significant changes of the metal structure were founded. The tendency of the welds to corrosion cracking as a result of the applied processing, at least, does not increase.

KEYWORDS:

• Pulse laser welding
• pulse laser processing
• solid-state laser
• weldment surface
• weldment roughness