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Abstract
Experimental observation and numerical modelling were employed to investigate the solidification cracking behaviour during fibre laser welding of 6013 aluminium alloy. The solidification cracking initiation location and propagation path were studied using a high speed camera system and via metallurgical analysis. A three-dimensional thermomechanical finite element model of fibre laser welding of aluminium alloys was developed, which considered cylindrical volumetric heat source, temperature dependent material properties, solidification shrinkage and stress relaxation in the weld molten pool. The transient evolution and distribution of mechanical strain in the brittle temperature range (BTR) were analysed in detail to find the factors which drove the crack initiation and propagation. The results showed that the solidification cracking initiated near the fusion line and then propagated along the centreline of the weld, which was the result of the strain distribution characteristic in BTR.
Acknowledgements
This work was carried out in the framework of the project ‘Investigation on laser welding of aluminium alloys through process simulation’ sponsored by General Motors Global Research & Development. The authors also gratefully acknowledge the financial support by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51204109) and State Key Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51035004).