Product Code: ICAL06_801

Experimental Verification of Multi-Physical Modelling of the Keyhole Laser Welding Process
Authors:
Benno Aalderink, University of Twente; Enschede Netherlands
D.F. de Lange, Netherlands Institute for Metals Research; Netherlands
J. Meijer, University of Twente; Netherlands
R.G.K.M. Aarts, University of Twente; Netherlands
Presented at ICALEO 2006

In the past many models for the keyhole laser welding process have been proposed. These models range from very complex and computationally intensive to strongly simplified models. The model presented in this paper includes the essential physics, yet is sufficiently simple to run on a normal PC. The coupled heat and flow equations are iteratively solved in 2D for the liquid and the solid phase using temperature dependent material properties. Also the latent heat of the solid-liquid phase transition is taken into account. To evaluate the model accuracy at various parameter settings, simulations of the laser welding process of AA5182 are compared to camera images of this welding process. The images are made using an advanced coaxial monitoring system, giving clear geometrical information about the welding process, even in the presence of intense process light. The comparison shows a good agreement between the keyhole and the melt pool edges predicted by the model and observed in the experiments. It is found that the temperature dependence of the material properties has a significant influence on the simulation results.