ğ

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- Short C ommun icati on -
Inf luenc e of Oscilla ting Ma gneti c Field on the Ke y hole S tabi lit y in
Deep Pe netr ation Laser Bea m Welding
Ömer Üs tünda ğ a, *, Nasim Bakir a , Andrey Gumeny uk a,b , Mi chael Re thmeier c,a,b

a Bundes anst alt für Materialf ors chung u nd - prü fung, Ber lin, Ger many ;
b Fraunh ofer Ins titut e for Pr oducti on Sys tems a nd D esi gn Techn ology , Ber lin, G ermany ;
c Institu te of Machin e Tools and Fact ory Manageme nt, Tec hnische Univ ersit ät Berl in, Berlin, Germany

*Corres pondi ng author : Ömer Üstünd ağ, Ph one: +49 - 30 - 8104 - 315 0,
E- Mail: oem er .uestuen dag@bam . de, Address : Unter den Eich en 87, 122 05 Berli n, Germ an y

A bstract
The stability of the keyhole decreases f or deep penet rated high - power laser beam weldi ng .
The k ey hole tends to collapse with increasing laser power and e.g. keyhole induced porosity
can occur. Th is study de als with the o bse r vation o f t he keyhole during high - pow er laser beam
welding in partial penetration mode by means of a hig h - speed camera. A butt co nf ig u r ati o n of
25 mm thick structural st eel and transparent q uartz g lass w as used f or the ex per iments. An
oscillating m agnetic f ield w as applied perpendicul ar t o the welding direct ion on the roo t side o f
the steel plate. The k eyhole w as hig hlighted wi t h a coax ial diode laser. It w as asc ertained that
the stability o f the key hole and the w eld penetration depth w ere incr eased by applying an
oscillating magnetic field w ith an osc illating f requency o f 1.2 kHz and a magnetic flux density
of 5 0 mT .

Keywords: laser beam w e lding; keyhole stability; deep penetration wel ding ; magnetic field;
t hick - wal led st eel
1 Introduction
Recent developments in laser technology have b roug ht a new generation o f high - power laser
sys t em s in the power rang e betw een 10 kW to 100 k W to the market. Due to certain
technolog ical l imit ations their application for weldi ng of thick sec t ions i s still far f rom real
industrial scale and remains res t ricted to few cases most ly w here the thickness of the par ts
does not exceed 15 mm for f ull pene tr ated w eld s . W eldin g r esults wi t h a 100 k W fibre laser
indicates that a weld bead penetration depth in pa rt ial penetration mode in t he r ange of app r ox.
55 mm at w elding speeds below 1 m min -1 is possible [1]. S everal studies regarding high - power
laser bea m- based w elding proc ess show that in the laser pow er range up to 20 kW the

penetration is approx. 1 mm per 1 kW . F r om 20 kW to 100 k W there is a l oss of penetration to
approx. 0.5 mm per 1 kW laser beam power [2].
One of the limiting factors and a possible reason for the loss of penetration is t he incr eas e of
the process instability w ith t he growing laser pow er applied for the wel ding process. The
process instability in de ep penetrat ion w elds is favoured m ainly by k eyhole collapses. The
cavity is formed due t o t he evaporat ion o f the mater ial at a hig h pow er density o f the laser
beam above 10 6 W cm -2 and a multiple inter nal re f lection of the beam w ithi n the keyhole. The
generated keyhole makes the beam r each its bottom and the abso r ption o f the laser beam
in tensit y into t he mat eri al for a deeper weld penetration depth is increased. T he cav it y is
maintained through the equilibrium between opening forces and closing forces. Forces caused
by the sur f ace tension, t he hy dros tatic pressure an d hydrodynamic pressure of the mol t en pool
act to close the keyhole, w hereas t he opening forces arising f rom the material ablation and the
recoil pressure [3 - 5]. W ith an i m balance of t he ac ting forces, the keyhole p eriodicall y oscillates
through the welding process and the shape and size of the k eyhole fluctuates dur ing welding.
The higher closing forces can cause a constriction of the k eyhole at the b ot tom, whi ch f inally
can be separated f rom t he r est o f t he k eyhole a nd solidif ies as a pore, espec ially at partial
penetration. Since the l aser beam w elding process is k nown for its high welding speed and
resulting solidificat ion r ate, the de g assing possi bility is limited. Several experimental and
numerical analyses were performed, w here a collapse of the keyhole w as det ected as a ca u s e
to keyhole induced porosity [6 - 8]. During the collapse of the key hole a part of t he laser bea m
power is lost for the m aintaining of t he k eyhole, which can also caus e a lo ss of penetration.
Another influencing factor on the key hole stability and penetration depth is the angle of
incidence of the k eyhole fr ont. It could be de monstrat ed that t he Fre snel absor ptivi t y is
dependent on the wav ele ngth of the laser and the ang le of incidence. For s ol id - stat e laser w it h
a wavelength of 1064 n m, t he Fresnel ab sor ptiv i ty reach its maximum of appr ox. 40 % a t an
angle of incidence between 6° to 10 ° [9 ]. W it h a further increase of the keyhole front angle the
absorptivity decreases. The absorption depends o n the angle of incidence o f the beam [ 10].
To increase the stability of the key hole during hig h - pow er laser beam weldi ng diff erent
strategies were used in recent studies. O ne o f these is the appl icat ion o f a reduced ambient
pressur e o r vacuum during laser beam w elding. It could be shown that the penetration depth
of the k eyhole w as increas ed w it h reduced a m bient pressure. T he reducti on of the ambient
pressur e leads to a m odification o f t he evaporation pressure inside the keyhole. The w eld
surfac e quality a nd penetration depth were impr ov ed wi t h decreasing ambi ent pressure and
the stability o f the k eyhol e was improved [11 - 14]. Due t o pro ces s - specific features and
challenges such as the necessity o f a vacuum chamber for laser beam w e lding in vacuum,
alternat i ve solutions nee d t o be dev eloped, especially f or w elding of large st r uctures.

W ith an addition o f oxy g en to helium shielding gas the stability of the k eyhole w as incr eased
and the porosity f ormation w as suppres sed. The decrease of the sur f ace tension by addi t ion
of oxygen w as not the reason f or a stable keyhole, since the experiments could not be
reproduced for a sulphur addition, w hich is also a surf ace ac t ive el em ent and reduces the
surfac e ten sion. The ma in r eason for the s tabilization of the keyhole w as a tt r ib u t ed t o t he
formation of C O in the keyhole. The increase in static CO partial pr essure l eads to a reduc t ion
of f luctuations and st abiliz ing t he keyhole [15].
As the state o f the art show s, the keyhol e behaviour is dependent on many w elding parame t e r s
and needs to be investigated further, to understa nd t he pheno mena inside the keyhole. T he
dynamics of the k eyhole has to be in f luenced to g et a st able keyhole and welding process.
First approaches to improve the k eyhole stability by exter nal static ma gn etic f ield in f ull
penetration laser beam welding of 316L steel was demonstr ated in [16], successfully . In
previous studies dealing with laser beam based welding by use o f an oscillating magnetic field,
it could be show n t hat the melt f low dy namic c ould be in f luenced positive to e.g. reduce th e
porosity of laser bea m welded aluminum die casti ng [ 17] or to improve the tr ansport o f the f iller
wire elements at hy brid laser arc welding through f ormation of a v ortex within the mel t pool
[18]. T his study deals with the in f luence of an ex t ernal oscillating magnetic f ield during high -
power laser beam w elding on the keyhole stability and on the laser beam incident angle.
2 Exp erimenta l Setup
The high - pow er Yb:YAG thin disk laser Tr uDis k 16002 w ith a max imum output power o f 16 k W
was used as the laser beam source. The emission wavelength and beam parameter product
were 1030 nm and 8 mm x mrad, r espectivel y. T he laser radiation w as transmitted through an
optical fibre with a core diameter of 200 µm. A laser - processing head Y W 52 has been select ed,
which provides a magnification of 2.1 so that t he l aser beam can be focused i nt o a spot w ith a
diameter of 420 µm. T o detect the k eyhole during high - power laser beam w elding a spec ial
setup was nec essary . A butt conf i g uration of 25 mm t hick s tr uctural steel pl at e (S355J2) and
quartz glass w as conducted . This ex perim ental se t up has also used fr om s everal researchers
to st udy the k eyhole behavi or dur ing the laser welding s uc h as i n [ 19 ]. A diode lase r wi t h a
wavelength of 808 nm and a max. output power o f 100 W was mounted o nto the optical head
of the laser and introduced coaxi all y to t he beam ax is of the w elding laser to ill um inate the
keyhole. T he beam o f the diode laser propa g ates inside the keyhole and il lum inates it. Si de
views of the keyhole were taken w ith help of a highspeed ca mer a Fas t cam 1024PCI and
interf erence band - pass filter at 808 nm and band width of 20 nm. T he frame rate w as 3600
fps . An oscillating magnetic f ield gener ated by an AC el ectr oma g net was appli ed t o the root
side of the weld specimen, where the m agnetic f ield was perpendicular and induced electric
current parallel or antiparallel to the w elding dir ection. The schematic representation of the
experimental setup is show n in Figur e 1.

The welding experiments were performed using 16 k W laser beam pow er at a welding speed
of 1 m min - 1 . T he focal p osit ion of the laser bea m was set to - 5 mm relat ive to t he wor k piece
surfac e. The magnet w as positioned 2 m m below the weld specimen an d oper ated with an
oscillating frequency of 1 150 Hz, an AC power of 770 W and a m agnetic f lux density o f 50 m T.
T his ma g net parameters w er e chosen from previous study for welding the same materials
thicknesses [20 ] . T he oscil lat ing frequency has an influence on t he skin lay er depth . A s t he
frequenc y increases, t he current f low moves to the surface, resulting in less skin depth. The
calculation of the skin lay er depth is as follows [21] :
𝛿𝛿 = � 1
𝜋𝜋𝜋𝜋𝜋𝜋 𝜇𝜇

where δ is the skin l ayer depth, f is the oscillating frequency, σ is the electrical conduc t ivity and
μ is the permeability . T he electromagnetic pressure ( p EM ) w hich is act ing upw ards is inf luenced
by the magnetic flux densit y ( B ) and can be calculated as follows [2 2 ]:

𝑝𝑝 𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸 = 𝐵𝐵 2
2 𝜇𝜇 0

The impact of the magnet parameters such as t he f requency and the magnet pow er ar e not a
part of the study therefore w ere k ept constant for all experiments. The aim i s t o investigate the
influence of the magnetic f lied during deep pene t ration w elding on the k eyhole stability.

Figure 1. (a ) Schematic r epr esentation of the ex per imental setup and ( b) e xperiment al setup
3 Result s and discussion
Thanks to the addi t ional laser beam inserted int o t he main laser beam pa t h, and t he application
of the appropriate i nt erference f ilter in fr ont o f the camera lens, the recorded v ideos represents
only the keyhole surfaces throu g h the quartz glass as a result o f the multiple laser beam
reflect ions on its surface. Two diff erent k eyhole ty pes can be ident ified based on the high -
speed recordings. Figure 2 show s f our sequences f or the lon g itudinal profile of the keyhole
with application of the magnetic field (a) and without it (b). Two signi f icant diff erences can be
clearly identified, firstly the keyhole shape and secondly the keyhole depth. I n the case where
the magnet is appl ied, t he keyhole profiles take conical shape , is m uch deeper and has a

p ointed end in contras t t o t he case where the magnet ic f ield is not appl ied , where the k eyhole
showed rounded root and al m ost ta k e a cyl indr ical f orm.

Figure 2. ( a) O bserved l ong itudinal profile of t he keyhole durin g the w elding under
electrom agnetic field ( EM F) f or four seq uences ; ( b) without EM F

For a better ev aluat ion of t he key hole prof ile and t he weld penetration, the im age processing
techniq ue (ed g e detection) using a M at lab r outine f or f inding the boundaries of t he k eyhole for
all vi deo seq uences w as employed. Additionally, tw o cros s - sections were t ak en in t w o places
to d et er m in e the welding depth. Figure 3 (a) and (b) show the comparison between the cross -
sections, the high - speed imag es and the estimat ed k eyhole pro f iles with and w ithout apply ing
the EM F , respectively . Ver y good ma t ching can b e f or t his comparison noted.

Figure 3. Comparison betw een t he estimated k eyhole and the corresponding cross - section (a)
with EM F and ( b) w ithout EM F

Figure 4 ( a) shows side - by - side plotted long itudinal pro f ile of t he k eyhole ov er the tim e. T he
red dashed line r epresents the time o f shutting dow n of t he EM F . Figure 4 (b) shows the fused
material traces on the quartz glass w elding and Figure 4 (c) t he ov erlapping of the esti m ated
longitudinal welding pr ofile on the glass. Very good concordance can be e st ablished between
the experiments and the estim ation technique. T he di ff erence in welding depth can be clearly
recognized. At the beginni ng , almost continuous k eyhole throu g h the spe cimen thickness can
be detected and a f ter turning off the EM F the keyhole depth decr eases an d f luctuates between
18 mm and 15 mm in a w eld leng th of approx . 50 mm. After that time the penetration depth is
constant at 15 mm.

Figure 4. (a) Side - by - sid e plotted longitudinal profile o f the keyhole over the specimen len gth,
(b) side v ie w o f the quartz g lass a ft er the welding, (c) the es tim ated k eyhole prof iles overlapped
on t he glass

Another phenomenon was also observed. The incidence angle α between the k eyhole f r ont
and laser beam axis, is significantly higher in the case w it hout EMF, as show n in Fig ure 5. The
incidence angle has a m aj or impact on the absor ption coefficient [ 23 ]. T his, together w it h other
fact ors, plays an importa nt role on the welding depth. T he incidence angle w as measur ed on
differ ent high - speed images. In the case of EM F and without EMF the inclination ang le was
8.2° ± 1.6° and 16.4° ± 1.1° respectively . The reduction of the incidence angle has already
been observe d by [16] . By the application of an external magnetic f ield, th e incidence a ng le
was reduced and thus t he de g ree o f absorption of laser bea m increased.

a)

b)

Figure 5. Comparison of t he incidence an g le α o f t he k eyhole f ront bet ween (a) under EMF
and (b) without EM F

It c an be assu med that the magnetic for ces ac t ing on the melted mat er ial have a di r ect
influence on the flows in the keyhole surrounding, w hich helps t o keep the k eyhole open.
The keyhole hav ing a cy l indrical shape in the first approximation does not experience any
resistanc e i n the flow o f a surrounding liquid due to boundary conditions a ssociat ed w ith the
sliding of the liquid along the interphase boundary, similar to the case of a solid sphere
surrounded by a flow o f an ideal li q uid in contr ast to the ca se of a solid sphere surrounded by
a flow of a viscous liquid, w here t he viscous boundary lay er f orm s in the n ear of the solid body
surfac e. In the latt er cas e, the drag force can be calculated using the k now n St okes f ormula :
𝐹𝐹 𝑆𝑆 = 6 𝜋𝜋 𝜌𝜌𝜌𝜌 𝑟𝑟 𝑢𝑢

where ν is t he k inem atic viscosit y, r is t he radius o f t he sphere, u is the veloci t y and ρ is the
mass density of the f luid.
Under t he condit ions of the act ion o f an electromagnetic f ield and, in particular, the flow o f a n
induced electric current, there is an additional resistance f orce associated w ith the action o f
the rot ary component of electr omagnetic forces .

Due to the fact, that the keyhole is a vapor filled capillary and the electrical conduc tivity is very
low, the course of the el ect ric cu r rent is redir ected and conc entrated at the k eyhole side wall.
The Lorentz f orce, w hich is alw a ys perpendicular to the ma g netic f ield lines and to the di r ection
of the m ovement of the electr i c ch a rg e ( ri g ht - hand rule) consists o f t wo com ponent s a po t ential
and a rota t ory compone nt (as rot F L = r ot [ B x j ] ≠0 due to t he inhomogeneous course of the
electric current, which b ecom es not o rt hogonal t o t he magnet ic f ield line s) . A sc heme o f the
magnetic and electric f ield during l aser beam weldi ng of steel/ q uartz glass configuration w ith
EMF is show n in Figure 6. T he o r der o f ma g nitude of t he resistance f orce can be calculated
according to t he formulas given in the work [ 2 4 ] with an accuracy to co rrect ing coefficients i n
case of nonconductive sphere :
𝐹𝐹 𝑡𝑡 = 𝐹𝐹 𝑆𝑆 + 𝐹𝐹 𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸 = 6 𝜋𝜋𝜌𝜌𝜌𝜌 𝑟𝑟𝑢𝑢 � 1 + 𝑟𝑟𝑢𝑢
8 𝜌𝜌 � 3 + 𝜇𝜇 0 𝑗𝑗 2 𝑟𝑟 2
𝜌𝜌𝑢𝑢 2 � �
where μ 0 is the ma g netic permeability in a classical vacuum and j is the el ectr ic cur r ent density.
Based on characteristic val ues f or laser bea m welding w it h parallel influence of induced
electrom agnetic fields, it can be hundreds of times higher than t he resist anc e f orces calculated
on the basis of the Stokes formula for body movement in a flow o f visc ous f luid. T he rotary
component is similar to a f riction force and leads to significant slowi ng down the flow veloci t y
in the vicinity of k eyhole surface. Due to the action of the viscous electromagnetic f orces, the
decrease of the hy dr odynamic p r essure, which is proportional to t he square of t he local melt
velocity at the keyhole s urf ace, takes place. This contr ibutes to achiev ing a force balance a t
the k eyhole surface corresponding to t he lower evaporation temperature and ther efore much
lower vapor recoil pr essure. According to [25] the magnetic flux density and the generated
Lorentz force cause a reduction of the melt displacement within the molten pool, suggesting
that the homogeneity of the heat distribution in the thickness direction increased and the
utilization of the laser energy w as improved by the magnetic field.
In other w or ds, the EMF could hav e an important inf luence on the stabiliz a tion of the k eyhole
during the deep laser beam w elding process, like the case of laser beam w elding under
reduced pr e s sur e .
Th is of course helps the laser beam to melt more material in the k eyhole r oot instead of usin g
laser power to open t he k eyhole a g ain in t he case o f a f luc t u at ing k eyhole. T h at is probably
the main reason for the d if ference between the weldi ng depths with and w it hout using magnet
technolog y.

Figure 6. Scheme of the magnetic and electric field during laser beam welding of steel/quartz
glass configuration with EM F
4 Conclus ion
In this short communication paper, the aut hors would like to d raw t h e attention to a ver y
interest ing observations of keyhole behaviour by using the EM F and its in f luence on the
welding depth. A high - speed camera was employed to record the keyhole profile longitudinally
through a quartz g lass prepared in bu t t configuration w ith a steel plate. Significant differences
were found by appl ying the EM F compar ed to the case w ithout t he EM F . Firstly, the keyhole
was deeper in the case of applyi ng the EM F . Secondly, the k eyhole profiles in the case wi t hout
EM F , show higher inc idence ang l e s between the k eyhole f ront and laser beam ax is
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