Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
  • Publication
    High-power laser beam welding for thick section steels - new perspectives using electromagnetic systems
    ( 2022)
    Rethmeier, M.
    ;
    Gumenyuk, A.
    ;
    Bachmann, M.
    In recent years, it was shown that the introduction of additional oscillating and permanent magnetic fields to laser beam and laser-arc hybrid welding can bring several beneficial effects. Examples are a contactless weld pool support for metals of high thickness suffering from severe drop-out when being welded conventionally or an enhanced stirring to improve the mixing of added filler material in the depth of the weld pool to guarantee homogeneous resulting mechanical properties of the weld. The latest research results show the applicability to various metal types over a wide range of thicknesses and welding conditions. The observations made were demonstrated in numerous experimental studies and a deep understanding of the interaction of the underlying physical mechanisms was extracted from numerical calculations.
  • Publication
    Numerical Analysis of the Partial Penetration High Power Laser Beam Welding of Thick Sheets at High Process Speeds
    ( 2021)
    Artinov, A.
    ;
    Meng, X.
    ;
    Bachmann, M.
    ;
    Rethmeier, M.
    The present work is devoted to the numerical analysis of the high-power laser beam welding of thick sheets at different welding speeds. A three-dimensional transient multi-physics numerical model is developed, allowing for the prediction of the keyhole geometry and the final penetration depth. Two ray tracing algorithms are implemented and compared, namely a standard ray tracing approach and an approach using a virtual mesh refinement for a more accurate calculation of the reflection point. Both algorithms are found to provide sufficient accuracy for the prediction of the keyhole depth during laser beam welding with process speeds of up to 1.5 m min-1. However, with the standard algorithm, the penetration depth is underestimated by the model for a process speed of 2.5 m min-1 due to a trapping effect of the laser energy in the top region. In contrast, the virtually refined ray tracing approach results in high accuracy results for process speeds of both 1.5 m min-1 and 2.5 m min-1. A detailed study on the trapping effect is provided, accompanied by a benchmark including a predefined keyhole geometry with typical characteristics for the high-power laser beam welding of thick plates at high process speed, such as deep keyhole, inclined front keyhole wall, and a hump.
  • Publication
    Shielded metal arc welding of 9%Ni steel using matching ferritic filler metal
    ( 2021)
    El-Batahgy, A.
    ;
    Saiyah, A.
    ;
    Khafagi, S.
    ;
    Gumenyuk, A.
    ;
    Gook, S.
    ;
    Rethmeier, M.
    Motivated by the tensile strength loss of 9%Ni steel arc welded joints made using Ni-based austenitic filler metals, the feasibility of maintaining the tensile strength using matching ferritic filler metal has been demonstrated. In comparison with shielded metal arc welded joint made using Ni-based austenitic electrode ENiCrMo-6, higher tensile strength comparable to that of the base metal was obtained using matching ferritic electrode. Besides, sufficient impact toughness energies with much lower mismatch were obtained for weld metal and heat-affected zone. Welded joint with a lower mechanical mismatching is of considerable importance for achieving acceptable combination of tensile strength and impact toughness. A better combination of these mechanical properties is ensured by applying a post weld heat treatment.
  • Publication
    The Effects of HLAW Parameters for One Side T-Joints in 15 mm Thickness Naval Steel
    ( 2021)
    Churiaque, C.
    ;
    Sánchez-Amaya, J.M.
    ;
    Porrúa-Lara, M.
    ;
    Gumenyuk, A.
    ;
    Rethmeier, M.
    The present contribution is the first research reporting full penetration HLAW joints in 15 mm thick EH36 steel butt T-welds with square grooves on 2F welding position by single-sided welding. The effects of welding parameters were investigated to increase the quality of the joints. Conditions leading to defect-free full penetration welds fulfilling naval regulations includes a laser power of 12.5 kW, a welding speed of 1.6 m/min and the vertical laser offset distance from the flange of 1 mm. Advanced characterization of selected welds included a microstructural identification by optical microscopy, SEM, and XRD, revealing the presence of acicular, polygonal and Widmanstätten ferrite, lath martensite, and some retained austenite at FZ. Hardness and microhardness mapping tests showed values of 155 HV at base metal and 200 to 380 HV at the fusion zone connecting the web to the flange.
  • Publication
    Avoidance of liquid metal embrittlement during resistance spot welding by heat input dependent hold time adaption
    ( 2020)
    Böhne, C.
    ;
    Meschut, G.
    ;
    Biegler, M.
    ;
    Rethmeier, M.
    Liquid metal embrittlement (LME) cracking can occur during resistance spot welding (RSW) in zinc-coated advanced high-strength steels (AHSS) for automotive production. In this study, a methodological variation of hold time is performed to investigate the process-related crack influence factors. A combination of numerical and experimental investigations confirms, that the extent of heat dissipation and re-heating of the sheet surface can be influenced and thus the degree of crack formation can be controlled in a targeted manner by the parameterisation of the hold time. The temperature and stress history of crack-free and crack-afflicted spot welds are analysed and a conclusion on the borders defining the LME active region is derived.
  • Publication
    Quantifying mechanical properties of automotive steels with deep learning based computer vision algorithms
    ( 2020)
    Javaheri, E.
    ;
    Kumala, V.
    ;
    Javaheri, A.
    ;
    Rawassizadeh, R.
    ;
    Lubritz, J.
    ;
    Graf, B.
    ;
    Rethmeier, M.
    This paper demonstrates that the instrumented indentation test (IIT), together with a trained artificial neural network (ANN), has the capability to characterize the mechanical properties of the local parts of a welded steel structure such as a weld nugget or heat affected zone. Aside from force-indentation depth curves generated from the IIT, the profile of the indented surface deformed after the indentation test also has a strong correlation with the materials' plastic behavior. The profile of the indented surface was used as the training dataset to design an ANN to determine the material parameters of the welded zones. The deformation of the indented surface in three dimensions shown in images were analyzed with the computer vision algorithms and the obtained data were employed to train the ANN for the characterization of the mechanical properties. Moreover, this method was applied to the images taken with a simple light microscope from the surface of a specimen. Therefore, it is possible to quantify the mechanical properties of the automotive steels with the four independent methods: (1) force-indentation depth curve; (2) profile of the indented surface; (3) analyzing of the 3D-measurement image; and (4) evaluation of the images taken by a simple light microscope. The results show that there is a very good agreement between the material parameters obtained from the trained ANN and the experimental uniaxial tensile test. The results present that the mechanical properties of an unknown steel can be determined by only analyzing the images taken from its surface after pushing a simple indenter into its surface.
  • Publication
    Mechanical Properties Characterization of Welded Automotive Steels
    ( 2020)
    Javaheri, E.
    ;
    Lubritz, J.
    ;
    Graf, B.
    ;
    Rethmeier, M.
    Among the various welding technologies, resistance spot welding (RSW) and laser beam welding (LBW) play a significant role as joining methods for the automobile industry. The application of RSW and LBW for the automotive body alters the microstructure in the welded areas. It is necessary to identify the mechanical properties of the welded material to be able to make a reliable statement about the material behavior and the strength of welded components. This study develops a method by which to determine the mechanical properties for the weldment of RSW and LBW for two dual phase (DP) steels, DP600 and DP1000, which are commonly used for the automotive bodies. The mechanical properties of the resistance spot weldment were obtained by performing tensile tests on the notched tensile specimen to cause an elongation of the notched and welded area in order to investigate its properties. In order to determine the mechanical properties of the laser beam weldment, indentation tests were performed on the welded material to calculate its force-penetration depth-curve. Inverse numerical simulation was used to simulate the indentation tests to determine and verify the parameters of a nonlinear isotropic material model for the weldment of LBW. Furthermore, using this method, the parameters for the material model of RSW were verified. The material parameters and microstructure of the weldment of RSW and LBW are compared and discussed. The results show that the novel method introduced in this work is a valid approach to determine the mechanical properties of welded high-strength steel structures. In addition, it can be seen that LBW and RSW lead to a reduction in ductility and an increase in the amount of yield and tensile strength of both DP600 and DP1000.