Modeling of Transport Phenomena in Laser Welding of Steels

A. Métais [1], S. Matteï [2], I. Tomashchuk [2], S. Gaied [1]
[1] ArcelorMittal, Montataire, France
[2] Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire Carnot de Bourgogne, Université Bourgogne Franche Comté, France
Published in 2015

Laser Welded Blank solutions enable to reduce vehicles weight and to optimize their crash performances by means of simultaneous tuning of different grades and thicknesses. The present work aims to characterize numerically and experimentally materials mixing during laser welding. For better understanding of materials mixing based on convection-diffusion process in case of full penetrated laser welding, a 3D simulation of fluid flow, heat transfer and mass transfer has been performed to provide fusion zone shape and elements distribution map. In parallel, a number of experiments using pure Ni foils as tracers have been performed to obtain mapping (SEM-EDX) of Ni distribution in the melted zone.