IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE, VOL. 40, NO.

8, AUGUST 2012

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Effect of Electric Field on Interaction Between Laser and Arc Plasma in LaserArc Hybrid Welding
Minghua Chen, Xueyuan Li, and Liming Liu
AbstractIn this paper, the interaction between laser and arc plasma is investigated on the viewpoint of the effect of an electric eld. An additional electric eld (AEF) is brought into the laserarc welding system to discover the interaction between laser and arc plasma. Results indicate that the AEF hardly inuences the single-arc-welding process; the AEF can increase the laser welding penetrability by speeding the charged particles in keyhole plasma; in the laserarc hybrid welding, whether the AEF affects the welding process depends on the welding parameters. Based on the experimental results and physical theories, it is conrmed that, when the laser-induced plasma becomes part of arc plasma, the effect of AEF disappears. Therefore, it is deduced that, in laserarc hybrid welding with proper parameters, the electric eld of the arc plasma can inuence the laser-induced plasma as the AEF. It is possible for the free electrons to gain some extra energy from the original electric eld of the arc plasma, which is benecial for increasing the welding penetration depth. Index TermsArc plasma, charged particles, electric eld, laser, laser and arc interaction, laserarc welding.

and dispersion of laser-induced plasma on laser power transmission, and increases the utilization ratio of laser energy [13]; low-power laser induces discharge during the negative wave of alternating-current arc welding [14]. However, in the domain of laserarc hybrid welding, the reports about the interaction mechanism of electric eld (including additional electric eld (AEF) and arc electric eld) on laser and its inuence on hybrid welded prole are few. In this paper, the interaction between the laser and arc plasma in laserarc hybrid welding is investigated. The effect of the electric eld of the arc plasma on the laser-induced plasma is concerned. An AEF is brought into the welding system. By comparably investigating the effect of AEF on the single laser welding, single arc welding, and laserarc hybrid welding, the interaction between the AEF and laser-induced plasma is analyzed. Based on the experimental results and physics theories, a model exhibiting the interactions between laser and arc plasma is established on the viewpoint of the effect of electric eld.

I. I NTRODUCTION ASERARC HYBRID welding not only makes full use of the advantages of normal laser welding and arc welding but also maintains a deeper welding penetration depth, higher welding speed, higher welding efciency, wider gap tolerance, etc. [1][4]. Therefore, hybrid welding can achieve the welding effect of 1 + 1 > 2. In recent years, hybrid welding investigations have mainly focused on weldability and applied feasibility of high-power laserarc hybrid welding [5][9], but the research on the mechanisms of hybrid welding is relatively less. Until now, the research studies on the mechanism of laserarc welding are mainly focused on the following aspects: Laser attracts and constricts the arc, stabilizes the spot of the arc, and increases the utilization ratio of arc energy [1], [2], [10]; the arc preheats materials, increasing the absorptivity of materials to laser [11], [12]; the arc dilutes laser-induced plasma density, reduces the effect of reection, absorbability,

II. E XPERIMENTAL S ETUP The schematic view of low-power pulsed laserarc hybrid welding, single pulsed laser welding, and single arc welding is shown in Fig. 1. The bead-on-plate welding under the AEF was carried out with the uses of a low-power pulsed neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) laser, a tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding machine, and a direct current (dc) voltage-stabilizing power supply. A high-speed camera with the sampling frequency of 1072 frames/s was placed perpendicularly to weld bead to monitor the behavior of plasma. The AZ31B magnesium alloy plate with the dimensions of 300 120 5 (or 2) mm3 was employed as the workpiece. A Hannover arc analyzer was used to monitor the voltage and current of the arc plasma with a high temporal resolution. Argon was used as the shielding gas. Welding parameters are shown in Table I. After welding, the welded specimens were cut along the middle line of the welding seam using an electrical discharge machine and then etched in the acid solution for the observation of melted zone proles. Penetration depth was determined by taking the average data of the bead longitudinal sections. The dc voltage-stabilizing power supply, in which the output voltage can be continuously adjusted, was used to apply an AEF between the two additional copper electrodes arranged at both sides of the specimen. The copper electrodes were linked to the dc power supply, as shown in Fig. 1(c). As shown in Fig. 1(d), the front-side and back-side copper electrodes were placed

Manuscript received December 26, 2011; revised March 24, 2012; accepted May 9, 2012. Date of publication June 1, 2012; date of current version August 7, 2012. This work was supported in part by the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University under Grant IRT1008 and in part by the National Natural Science Funds for Distinguished Young Scholars under Grant 51025520. The authors are with the Key Laboratory of Liaoning Advanced Welding and Joining Technology, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China (e-mail: cmh@mail.dlut.edu.cn; maicle@163.com; liulm@dlut.edu.cn). Color versions of one or more of the gures in this paper are available online at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org. Digital Object Identier 10.1109/TPS.2012.2199768

0093-3813/$31.00 2012 IEEE

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Fig. 1. Schematic view of experimental device. (a) Hybrid welding. (b) Single laser welding. (c) Single TIG welding. (d) Arrangement of additional electrodes. TABLE I W ELDING PARAMETERS

10 mm above the top surface and 1 mm below the back surface of the specimen, respectively. A hole was made in the frontside electrode plate for the laser beam to pass through. By this method, there will be an electric eld generating in the space between the specimen and front-side copper electrode, since the specimen could be considered as the anode. By adjusting the voltage between the two copper electrodes, the intensity of the electric eld could be changed. Assuming, for the simplication of the analysis, that the electric eld intensity between the two copper electrodes is uniform, according to the electromagnetic theory, the AEF intensity is directly proportional to the voltage between the two copper electrodes.

Fig. 2. Sections of single-TIG-welding seam with and without AEF. Parameters: Arc current of 80 A and AEF voltage of 200 V.

III. E XPERIMENT R ESULTS AND T HEORETICAL A NALYSIS A. Effect of the AEF on TIG Welding Penetration Depth In this part, the effect of the electric eld on TIG welding was studied. The DLA was set to be 1 mm to ensure that the whole arc column was always in the range of the AEF when the arc current was changed. A comparison of the penetration depths of TIG welding with and without AEF was made, and the results are shown in Fig. 2. From the longitudinal and cross-sectional images of the joint in Fig. 2, it can be seen that the penetration depth of (80-A) TIG welding with AEF (voltage = 200 V) hardly changes compared with the single (80-A)-TIG-welding case. Fig. 3 shows the investigation of the effect of electric eld intensity on the TIG welding with the currents of 80 and 140 A. It is obviously shown in Fig. 3 that, with the increase in electric

Fig. 3. Relationship between electric eld and single-TIG-welding penetration depth.

eld voltage, the penetration depths of 80- and 140-A TIG welding remain constant, meaning that the electric eld hardly strengthens or depresses the electric arc.

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Fig. 4. Sections of single-laser-welding seam with and without AEF. Parameters: Laser power of 200 W and AEF voltage of 200 V.

Fig. 6. Sections of hybrid laserTIG welding seam with and without AEF. Parameters: Laser power of 350 W, arc current of 100 A, DLA of 4 mm, and AEF voltage of 200 V.

As shown in Fig. 7, the strengthening effect of AEF on the welding penetration depth varies with the DLA value; the strengthening effect appears when the DLA matches the proper electric arc current intensity; when there is strengthening effect, the strengthening effect grows with the intensity of AEF. From Fig. 7(a), it is found that, when DLA = 1 mm and arc current = 80 A, the AEF hardly inuences the penetration depth, while the situation changes when DLA is set to be 4 mm. Results are dissimilar when arc current = 140 A [see Fig. 7(b)]. The strengthening effect appears and grows with the intensity of the AEF at DLA = 1 mm. D. Analysis and Discussion When the charged particles (including electron and positive ion) are moving in the electric and the magnetic elds, according to standard plasma physics equation, the force of charged particle is given as [11] F =m dV dt = e[ E + V B ] (1)

Fig.5. Relationship between electric eld and single-laser-welding penetration depth.

B. Effect of the Electric Field on Single-Laser-Welding Penetration Depth The longitudinal and cross sections of single pulsed YAG laser welding under the AEF compared with that of the normal pulsed YAG laser welding are shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 4 shows that, at the laser power of 200 W and AEF voltage of 200 V, the welding penetration depth under the AEF is much greater than the single-laser-welding case. It is also found that the penetration depth slightly uctuates, exhibiting the pulsedlaser-welding feature. For further investigation of the inuence of AEF on the laser welding with lasers at different power levels, the AEF voltage was gradually increased for two laser power levels, and results are shown in Fig. 5. From Fig. 5, it is found that, as expected, the increase in laser power led to an increase in penetration depth and that there is an increase in penetration depth as the AEF voltage is raised, which is more pronounced for a 400-W laser beam. C. Effect of the Electric Field on LaserTIG Hybrid Welding Penetration Depth AEF was added to the laserTIG hybrid welding process, and Fig. 6 showed the morphologies of the longitudinal and cross sections of the welding seam. As shown in Fig. 6, the penetration depth is improved under the effect of AEF compared with the case without the AEF. Meanwhile, it is noted from the longitudinal section morphology that the bottom line of the fusion zone uctuates, exhibiting laser welding features. As one of the most important factors that directly inuence the properties of the heat source, DLA was varied for further characterization of the effect of AEF on the laserTIG hybrid welding process, and the results are shown in Fig. 7.

where F is the force, m is the charged-particle mass, V is the velocity of the charged particle, t is the time, e is the element charge, E is the electric eld intensity, and B is the magnetic eld strength. Therefore, according to (1), the charged particles are accelerated under the electric and the magnetic elds, and the velocity of charged particles increases with the increase of eld intensity. At the side of the anode, the oating electrons move forward to the anode quickly and nally strike at the surface of the anode violently under the effect of electric eld. Therefore, an impact force of oating electrons is generated on the surface of the anode. When the AEF is added to a single TIG arc, there is a superposed electric eld (the AEF adds to the original arc electric eld) in arc space. The intensity of superposed electric eld is strengthened, and it allows the particles to move faster than before, leading to the intensive increase of arc current theoretically. However, the increase in arc current cannot last for long, and the arc current level will fall back to the preset value within the response time of the welding machine control system, because preventing the arc current from uctuating is the base function of the TIG welding machine. This analysis is strongly veried by real-timely monitoring the arc voltage and current. The results in Fig. 8(a) show that the arc voltage decreased while the arc current remained constant when the AEF was applied. Therefore, there is hardly a welding depth difference between the single TIG arc welding with and without AEF.

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Fig. 7. Relationship between electric eld and hybrid welding penetration depth at different DLA s. Laser power of 400 W. (a) Arc current of 80 A. (b) Arc current of 140 A.

Fig. 8. Variations of voltage and current. (a) Voltage and current of TIG arc in single arc welding with and without AEF. (b) Voltage and current between the AEF electrodes when breakdown occurs during laser welding.

Fig. 9. Schematic sketch of the effect of electric eld on laser plasma. (a) Without AEF. (b) With AEF.

In the situation of single laser welding with AEF, a large number of charged particles (electrons and Mg ions) in the keyhole plasma make the directional movement [compare Fig. 9(a) with Fig. 9(b)]. As shown in Fig. 9(b), when the specimen is set as the anode, the speeded oating electrons move toward the keyhole bottom and at last intensively strike at the keyhole bottom. In this process, the transformation of electric eld energy to heat energy is achieved by acceleration, collision, combination, and ionization, which enables the laser beam with AEF to form a deeper penetration depth compared with the case without AEF.

According to (1), the acceleration of electron in the electric and the magnetic elds increases with the increment of eld intensities. Under the effect of laser radiation, the lighter electrons are accelerated to the electron thermal velocity as [15] u= eTe m (2)

where u is the electron thermal velocity, m is the electron mass, e is the electron charge, and Te is the electron temperature. The electrons randomly collide with the heavy ions and neutral

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Fig. 11. Shielding effect of electric arc on keyhole plasma. Fig. 10. Behaviors of laser-induced plasma under the effect of AEF. Intensities of AEF: (a) 30, (b) 70, and (c) 120 V/cm.

particles. Therefore, the collision frequency is given by the following equation [11]: f = nn u (3)

where f is the collision frequency, nn is the density of the target particles, is the cross-sectional area for the interaction, and u is the relative velocity before collision. According to (3), the collision frequency increases with the increase in the electron velocity. As known, the collision process consists of elastic and inelastic collisions, but the inelastic collisions will lead to excitation and ionization processes. Furthermore, the absorption of the incoming laser beam energy by the plasma is calculated by the following equation [16]: AP =
2 ne me vosc (2e )

(4)

where AP is the rate of plasma absorption, ne is the electron density, me is the electron mass, vosc is the electron oscillation velocity in the electromagnetic elds of the laser beam, and e is the electron collision time. According to (4), the absorption rate of the incoming laser beam energy by the plasma increases with the increase in the collision frequency (f = 1/e ). Therefore, when the intensity of AEF is high enough, the electrons induced by laser beam radiation are accelerated sharply under the electric eld. The quick increase of electron thermal velocity leads to the increase of collision frequency between electron and other particles, and hence, the ionization degree of plasma increases. The greater the ionization degree of plasma is, the higher the electron density is. Therefore, the increases of electron thermal velocity and electron density make the collision frequency increase, and the absorption of laser beam energy by the plasma is increased nally. The circular process mentioned earlier will lead to the gas breakdown between the specimen and copper electrode under the effect of high AEF intensity. When gas breakdown happens, there is a newly generated arc burning between the two electrodes of AEF as shown in Fig. 10(c), and the acceleration of the electrons in AEF mainly depends on the voltage drop of anode sheath. Meanwhile, the laser power will inuence the gas breakdown due to its direct effect on the electron density in laser-induced plasma.

To verify the gas breakdown mechanism analyzed earlier, the workpiece was electrically connected to the anode (1-mm separation in Fig. 1(d) was removed), and the behaviors of laser-induced plasma during one laser pulse under different AEF intensities were observed and are shown in Fig. 10. It is noted that, with the increase in AEF intensity, the plasma plume becomes brighter. When the intensity reaches a threshold level, gas breakdown happens, and a new arc is generated [Fig. 10(c)]. At the same time, the voltage and current of the new arc at different laser power levels were measured and are shown in Fig. 8(b). It is found that, with a constant AEF intensity larger than the threshold value, an increased laser power will result in larger current and lower voltage of the new arc. In laserTIG hybrid welding, the root of arc plasma on the specimen can be attracted by the laser keyhole and restrained in the area near the keyhole under certain conditions, of which the mechanism can be found in our previous research [13], [17]. Consequently, there are two cases occurring. One case is that the root of electric arc connects with the keyhole plasma during laser pulse action, and the other case is that the keyhole plasma becomes a part of electric arc as shown in Fig. 11(a). Fig. 11(b) and (c) shows the other cases that the arc plasma and the keyhole plasma are mutually independent. According to the earlier analysis of AEF on single laser welding and TIG welding, it can be deduced that the interaction occurring between the keyhole plasma and arc plasma is the key factor that inuences the effect of AEF on the welding penetration depth. As shown in Fig. 11(a), when the keyhole plasma takes part in the electric conduction in the arc circuit, the AEF can hardly change the state of keyhole plasma due to the automatic adjustment of the welding machine, meaning that the electric arc shields the keyhole plasma. Meanwhile, things change when the keyhole plasma is independent of the electric arc, and the AEF can constrain the movements of charges and hence improve the welding depth. This can be a reasonable explanation for the results shown in Fig. 7. For example, according to the investigations on the interaction between laser and arc plasma in laserarc hybrid welding [17], in hybrid welding at arc current = 80 A and DLA = 1 mm, the case shown in Fig. 7(a) is likely to happen, and the effect of electric eld is always neglectable at the variation of eld intensity. Similar results are gained at arc current = 140 A and DLA = 4 mm. When the parameters are changed to 4-mm DLA at 80-A arc current or 1-mm DLA at 140-A arc current to lead to the cases in Fig. 11(b) and (c) happening,

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respectively, the AEF acts on the keyhole plasma just like the situation of single laser welding, and the strengthening effect grows with the increase in intensity of the AEF. The former mechanism investigations of laserarc hybrid welding consider that arc preheats materials; then, the absorption rate of laser energy by materials is increased [11], [12]. That mechanism focuses on the thermal effect of the arc but pays little attention to the effects of the arc electric eld and arc magnetic eld on laser. Therefore, based on the results and analysis presented earlier, a deduction may be made that, in normal laserarc hybrid welding without AEF, the original electric eld can act as the AEF [as shown in Fig. 11(a)] and strengthens the welding penetration depth at proper parameters. Making full use of the charged particles in the laser keyhole is one of effective methods for further increasing the welding depth. When the situation, as shown in Fig. 11(a), happens, the electrons belonging to the original keyhole plasma gain extra energy from the arc electric eld and deliver this part of extra energy to the workpiece, which is benecial for the increase of welding penetration depth and, hence, the welding efciency. IV. C ONCLUSION The experimental results and the analysis earlier can lead to the following conclusions. 1) The AEF hardly affects the single-TIG-welding process. There is a strengthening effect of the AEF on the welding penetration depth of single laser welding, and the strengthening effect grows with laser power and the intensity of AEF. In laserTIG hybrid welding, the strengthening effect of the AEF appears only at proper welding parameters. 2) The AEF can hardly vary the motions of charged particles in TIG arc due to the self-regulation of the arc power supply. The increases of welding penetration depth in the laser welding process and laserarc hybrid welding under AEF are beneted from the increases of the impact force of oating charged particles to the workpiece. The impact force improves when the intensity of AEF increases. However, whether the AEF can increase the welding penetration depth of laserTIG hybrid welding is decided strictly by the interaction state of laser keyhole plasma and TIG arc plasma (controlled by the given welding parameters). 3) According to the experimental results and analysis, in normal laserTIG hybrid welding process without AEF,

by optimizing the parameters, the charged particles (ions and electrons) can gain extra energy from the original electric eld in the arc plasma, which is benecial for the increase of welding penetration depth and, hence, the welding efciency. R EFERENCES
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