Transport phenomena and keyhole evolution process in laser welding of stainless steel

Knowledge of transport phenomena and keyhole evolution is important for controlling laser welding process. However, it is still not well understood by far due to the complex phenomena occurring in a wide temperature range. A transient 3D model including heat transfer, fluid flow and tracking of free surface is built in this study. The transport phenomena are investigated by calculating the temperature and velocity fields. The 3D dynamic keyhole evolution process is revealed through tracking free surface using volume-of-fluid method. The results show that the keyhole deepening speed decreases with laser welding process before the quasi-steady state is reached. The plasma can greatly affect the keyhole depth through absorbing a great amount of laser energy and thus lowering the recoil pressure. Moreover, the relationship between keyhole depth and weld penetration is also discussed. This paper can help to better understand the dynamics in molten pool and then improve laser welding process.