Laser welding of lotus-type porous iron

A lotus-type porous iron (AISI 1018) that is fabricated by unidirectional solidification using the continuous zone melting technique in a nitrogen atmosphere under a pressure of 2.5 MPa, was welded by a Nd: YAG laser. The melting property of lotustype porous iron was investigated to evaluate its melting characteristics at different laser powers and welding speeds. The weld bead surface of the lotus-type porous iron was rough with pits and dents irrespective of the pore growth direction. The remarkable effect of the pore growth direction on the penetration depth of the weld bead was not observed. This was due to the unstable weld bead formation caused by the relatively large-sized pores and the blowing of the remaining gas from the closed pores as well as the smaller anisotropy of the thermal diffusivity as compared to the copper and magnesium cases.