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Laser welding of Haynes 188 alloy sheet:

Thermal stress analysis
ARTICLE in INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCED MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY SEPTEMBER 2011
Impact Factor: 1.78 DOI: 10.1007/s00170-011-3181-1

CITATIONS

Available from: Syed Sohail Akhtar

Retrieved on: 02 September 2015

Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2011) 56:115124

DOI 10.1007/s00170-011-3181-1

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Laser welding of Haynes 188 alloy sheet:

thermal stress analysis
Bekir Sami Yilbas & Sohail Akthar

Received: 11 May 2010 / Accepted: 17 January 2011 / Published online: 2 February 2011
# Springer-Verlag London Limited 2011

Abstract Laser welding of Haynes 188 alloy sheets is

carried out. Temperature and stress fields developed in the
welding section are predicted numerically incorporating the
finite element algorithm. The microstructural changes in the
welding region are examined using the optical and electron
scanning microscopes. The microhardness variation across
the weld zone is measured and associated with the residual
stress formed in this region. It is found that the microhardness
follows the residual stress distribution in the weld core. The
maximum residual stress is less than the elastic limit of the
substrate material.
Keywords Laser . Welding . Haynes 188 . Residual stress

1 Introduction
Haynes 188 alloy is a solid solution strengthened superalloy which has excellent high temperature and oxidation
resistance with good post-aging ductility. It is a cobaltbased alloy and finds application in power industry. Due to
the requirements of high temperatures and combustion
environment in gas turbine engines, materials used need to
have suitable mechanical properties and at the same time
should possess excellent weldability and fabricability. The
joining of the alloy through welding modifies the microstructure in the welding section and alters the mechanical
properties of the alloy because the residual stress formed in
the joining sections. Moreover, the convective, conduction,
and radiation heat transfer from the welding section causes
B. S. Yilbas (*) : S. Akthar
ME Department, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals,
Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
e-mail: bsyilbas@kfupm.edu.sa

fast cooling rate in the joining section. This, in turn,

causes the formation of high stress levels in the welding
section. Since the cooling is non-uniform because of
temperature variation within the melt zone, the thermal
stress levels varies across the welding section. The
conventional welding method of Haynes alloys, such as
arc welding, results in high stress levels in the welding
section, which limits the practical application of the
welded component [1]. The laser welding offers significant advantages over the other conventional welding
techniques. This is because of the local treatment,
precision of operation, and high processing speed. However, the model study pertinent to the laser heating and
thermal stress development in the heated region gives
insight into the physical processes influencing the residual
stress distribution in the welding region. Consequently,
investigation into heating and thermal stress development
in the weld zone becomes essential.
Extensive research has been carried out to examine the
laser welding process. The residual stress analysis in a
welded Haynes 25 cylinder was carried out by Larsson et al.
[1]. They used gas tungsten arc weld to join a hemispherical
end cap to a cylinder. They indicated that there were
regions in the weld where the average tensile residual
stresses reached the maximum value of 700 MPa. The
microstructure and the residual stress formation in
induction-assisted laser welding of the high alloy steel
were investigated by Pinto et al. [2]. They showed that
the induction-assisted laser welding resulted in the
reduction of hardness; however, the residual stress in the
welding section remained high. The laser welding of high
alloy steels in relation to tool manufacturing was examined by Miranda et al. [3]. They analyzed the influence of
the welding parameters on the weld microstructure and the
residual stress. The laser welding of low carbon steel and

116

thermal stress analysis was carried out by Yilbas et al.

[4] and Bayraktar et al. [5]. They showed that the residual
stress was high in the weld region and the maximum
residual stress was less than the elastic limit of the
workpiece material. The laser welding of H13 tool steel
in line with the repair applications was carried out by
Borrego et al. [6]. They indicated that fatigue crack
initiation reduced and the fatigue life was enhanced for
the laser welded workpieces. The characteristics of laser
welded joints of HDT 580X steel were studied by St.
Weglowslaw et al. [7]. They showed that the heat-affected
zone was composed of ferrite, bainite, and martensite, and
the tensile strength of the welded joints was as the same
level as that of the base material. The susceptibility of hot
cracking and weldment heat treatment of Haynes 230
superalloy were investigated by Cheng et al. [8]. They
indicated that the number of thermal cycles did not affect
the susceptibility of Haynes 230 superalloy to hot
cracking. In addition, it did not increase the strain. The
welding characteristics of superalloys due to Nd:YAG
laser irradiation were investigated by Kim et al. [9]. They
measured the depth of penetration, hardness, and tensile
properties of the welded samples. They indicated that the
laser welding resulted in improved mechanical characteristics of the welding as compared to its counterpart
obtained from the electron beam welding. The weldability
and applications of Haynes 25, 230, 556, and MULTIMET
alloys were investigated by Rowe et al. [10]. They
indicated that many alloys were available that excel in
one property or another but might fall short in attributes
such as weldability or thermal stability. However, Haynes
230 and 188 had promising properties in terms of good
weldability and fabricability. The microstructure and the
mechanical properties of laser welded DP600 steel joints
were examined by Farabi et al. [11]. They indicated that
the ductility decreased, the yielding strength increased,
and ultimate tensile strength remained unchanged after the
laser welding process.
In the present study, laser welding of Haynes 188
alloy sheet is carried out. Temperature and stress fields in
the welding region are predicted using the ABAQUS
code. The microstructural and morphological changes
within the welded section were examined incorporating
scanning electron microscope (SEM) and optical microscope.

Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2011) 56:115124

transfer equation for the laser heating process can be

written as:
r

DE
rkrT S o
Dt

where E is the energy gain of the substrate material, k is the

thermal conductivity, and So is the heat source term
resembling the laser beam, i.e.,

x2 y2

So Io edz 1  rf e a2
2
Io is laser power peak density at the workpiece surface, a is
the Gaussian parameter, rf is the surface reflectivity, is the
density, and x and y are the axes while the laser beam scans
the surface along the x-axis. The penetration depth of the
laser beam after
 the
 key-hole formation () is estimated
using d L1 ln IILo , where L is the thickness of the
workpiece and IL is the depth below the surface where the
laser power intensity reduces 1/e value. The laser beam axis
is the z-axis (Fig. 1). It should be noted that the laser beam
intensity distribution is assumed to be Gaussian at the
irradiated surface.
In the case of a moving heat source along the x-axis with
a constant velocity U, energy gain of the substrate material
yields:
r

DE
@E
@E
r
rU
Dt
@t
@x

or
r

DE
@ CpT
@ CpT
r
rU
Dt
@t
@x

Combining Eqs. 1 and 4 yields:

r

@ CpT
@ CpT
rkrT rU
So
@t
@x

Equation 5 is solved numerically with the appropriate

boundary conditions to predict the temperature field in the
substrate material. However, to analyze the phase change
problem, the enthalpy method is used [12]. The specific

2 Heating and thermal stress analysis

In the analysis, the solid body heat conduction with
temperature-dependent conductivity, internal energy (including latent heat effects), and convection and radiation
boundary conditions are considered. The Fourier heat

Fig. 1 A schematic view of the laser welding and coordinate system.

Half of the weld section is shown to demonstrate the heating situation

Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2011) 56:115124

heat capacity is associated with the internal energy gain of

@E
the substrate material, i.e., CpT @T
. However, the
internal energy gain during the phase change is associated
with the latent heat of fusion, which is given separately in
terms of solidus and liquidus temperatures (the lower and
upper temperature bounds of the phase change range) and
the total internal energy associated with the phase change,
called the latent heat [12].
The elastic strain increment vector, {el}, is related to
the stress increment vector, {}, by Hooks law:


6
fsg D eel
where [D] contains the elastic constants related to
temperature-dependent elastic modulus, E, and Poissons
ratio, . The total strain vector, {}, may be expressed as
follows:




eg eel g eth g epl g
7
where {el} is the elastic strain increment vector, {th}
is the thermal strain increment vector, and {pl} is the
plastic strain increment vector. The incremental thermal
strain vector, {th}, arises from the volume changes that
accompany the temperature increment, T, which is
calculated by the thermal analysis. It is normally accounted
for in stress analyses through a temperature-dependent
differential thermal expansion coefficient, (T). In ABAQUS/
Standard analysis, a spatially varying thermal expansion, can
be defined for homogeneous solid continuum elements by
using a distribution, which includes the tabulated values for
the thermal expansion [12]. ABAQUS uses an implicit
backward-difference scheme for time integration of both
temperature and displacements at every material integration
point [12]. The properties used in the simulations are given in
Table 1.

3 Experimental
The CO2 laser (LC-ALPHAIII) delivering the maximum
output power of 2 kW at pulse mode with different
frequencies is used to irradiate the workpiece surface
(Amada Aeroport Cedex, France). The nominal focal length
of the focusing lens is 127 mm. The laser beam diameter
focused at the workpiece surface is 0.3 mm. Nitrogen
assisting gas emerging from the conical nozzle and coaxially with the laser beam is used. The laser welding
parameters are given in Table 2.
The workpiece material used is alloy steel (Haynes 188)
in a sheet form with 1 mm thickness. JEOL JDX-3530
SEM is used to obtain photomicrographs of the cross
section and surface of the workpieces after the tests.
Microphotonics digital microhardness tester (MP-100TC)

117

was used to obtain microhardness at the surface of the

nitride layer. The standard test method for Vickers
indentation hardness of advanced ceramics (ASTM
C1327-99) was adopted. Microhardness was measured at
the workpiece surface after the laser treatment process. The
measurements were repeated three times at each location
for the consistency of the results.

4 Results and discussion

Laser welding of Haynes 188 sheet is carried out.
Temperature and stress fields are predicted numerically
using the ABAQUS code. Metallurgical and morphological
changes in the welding section are examined using SEM
and optical microscope.
Figure 2 shows temperature distribution along the x-axis
for different cooling times while Fig. 3 shows temperature
contours in the welding section. The cooling period initiates
at t=0.05 s from the welding starts. The laser transverses
the workpiece along the x-axis at a constant scanning speed
of 10 cm/s during welding. Consequently, the laser power
ceases at x-axis location x=0.005 m. At the point of cooling
initiation, temperature in the in the irradiated surface
remains high, which is well above the melting temperature
of the substrate material. In this case, superheating of the
liquid phase takes place at the irradiated spot center. The
decay of temperature is sharp in the region x>0.005 m, i.e.,
in front of the irradiated spot. The sharp decay of
temperature is associated with the temperature difference
between the irradiated spot edge, which is well above the
melting temperature, and the base material temperature,
which is at 300 K. However, temperature decays gradually
in the region 0x0.005 m, which corresponds to the
initially welded region. This is attributed to the initial
heating of this region during the welding process. Consequently, conduction, convection, and radiation heat transfer
reduces temperature gradually in this region. The presence
of almost flat temperature region behind the irradiated spot
(0.0038 mx0.0045 m) attributes to the phase change in
this region. Since the solidus and liquidus temperature
difference is small (Table 1), the phase change takes place
not at constant temperature but across the solidus and
liquidus temperature. As the cooling period progresses,
temperature decays rapidly along the x-axis; in which case,
the maximum temperature reduces to 850 K at 0.07 s in the
cooling period.
Figure 4 shows temperature variation along the y-axis for
different cooling periods. The x-axis location is x=0.005 m,
and the z-axis location is at the surface (z=0). It should be
noted that y = 0 corresponds to the laser beam axis.
Temperature decay along the y-axis follows almost the
laser intensity distribution at the surface, which is Gaussian.

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Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2011) 56:115124

Table 1 Properties of the substrate material used in the simulations (www.hightempmetals.com/techdata/hitempHaynes188data.php)

Specific heat capacity with temperature
T (K)
300
373
Cp (J/kg K)
403
423
Thermal conductivity with temperature
T (K)
311
477
k (W/mK)
10.8
14.4

473
444

573
465

673
486

773
502

873
523

973
540

1,073
557

589
16.1

700
18

811
19.9

922
21.9

1,033
24.1

1,173
25.5

1,273
27.6

873
184
0.3

973
176
0.3

922
1.55

1,033
1.62

Elastic modulus and Poissons ratio with temperature

T (K)
300
373
473
573
673
773
E (GPa)
232
225
217
209
201
193

0.3
0.3
0.3
0.3
0.3
0.3
Thermal expansion coefficient with temperature
T (K)
311
366
477
589
700
811
(1/K)x105
1.16
1.19
1.26
1.33
1.40
1.48
Yield strength with temperature
T (K)
300
813
923
1,033
1,143
1,253
y (MPa)
465
290
275
270
250
130
Density, latent heat of melting, solidus, and liquidus temperatures
Density (kg/m3)
Latent heat of melting (J/kg)
Solidus temperature (K)
8,980
400,000
1,583

In this case, temperature decays gradually in the vicinity of

the irradiated spot center where the superheating of liquid
phase takes place. Temperature decay becomes sharp as the
distance from the irradiated spot edge increases along the
y-axis, which is more pronounced at the cooling initiation
(t=0.05 s). However, the constant temperature region
around the irradiated edge is not observed. This indicates
that the size of the mushy zone formed during the phase
change is significantly small, which may not be observed
clearly from the figure. As the cooling period reduces, the
peak temperature reduces considerably because of the heat
transfer taking place from the irradiated spot. However,
the presence of high-temperature region in the vicinity of
the irradiated spot center influences temperature decay in
the neighborhood; in which case, temperature remains
high (T855 K) in the region of the irradiated spot center
at t=0.07 s.
Figure 5 shows temperature distribution along the z-axis
for different cooling periods. It should be noted that the z-axis
is the laser beam axis. Since the workpiece thickness is
1 mm, temperature profiles terminate at z=0.001 m below the
surface, and it reduces as the depth below the surface
increases toward the bottom surface. Temperature remains
high along the thickness of the workpiece; in which case,
Table 2 Laser welding
parameters

Feed rate
(m/s)

0.1

Power
(W)

2,000

Duty
cycle

0.60

1,173
573

1,144
1.69

1,368
640
Liquidus temperature (K)
1,688

superheating of liquid phase takes place. This is more

pronounced in the region of the top surface of the workpiece.
Moreover, temperature remains above the liquidus temperature of the substrate material at the bottom surface of the
workpiece. Temperature decay in the mid-section of the
workpiece (0.00025 m x 0.00075 m) is slightly sharper
than that corresponding to top surface of the workpiece. This
is attributed to the internal energy gain from the irradiated
field, which is high in the surface region because of the
exponential decay of the absorbed laser energy with
increasing depth below the surface. Consequently, temperature difference between the mid-section and the bottom
surface of the workpiece results in sharp decay of temperature
in the mid-section of the workpiece.
Figure 6 shows von Mises stress distribution along the
x-axis for different cooling periods as similar to those shown in
Fig. 2 while Fig. 7 shows von Mises stress contours in the
welding region. von Mises stress reduces in the region of the
laser-irradiated spot at the initiation of the cooling period.
This occurs because of the attainment of the low elastic
modulus at high temperatures (Table 1). However, in the
region next to the laser-irradiated spot edge (x>0.005 m),
von Mises stress attains high values in the early cooling
period (t=0.05 s). This is attributed to the attainment of

Frequency
(Hz)

100

Nozzle gap
(mm)

1.5

Nozzle
diameter
(mm)
1.5

Focus
diameter
(mm)

N2
pressure
(kPa)

0.3

400

Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2011) 56:115124

119

2700
t = 0.05 s

y=0m&z=0m

t = 0.07 s
t = 0.17 s
t = 2.05 s

TEMPERATURE (K)

2220

1740

1260

780

300
0

0.001

0.002

0.003

0.004

0.005

0.006

DISTANCE ALONG X-AXIS (m)

Fig. 2 Temperature variation along the x-axis for different cooling

periods. The cooling cycle is initiated once the laser power is switched
off at t=0.05 s

Fig. 3 Temperature contours

inside the workpiece for two
cooling periods

the high-temperature gradients in this region. Consequently,

high-temperature gradient results in high thermal strain in the
welding region. Moreover, in the region where temperature
decay is gradual (0x0.05 m), von Mises stress attains
low values for the cooling periods t0.07 s. This occurs
because of (a) temperature is reasonably high lowering the
elastic modulus in this region and (b) thermal strain
developed along the x-axis due to the temperature
gradient is not significantly high. However, as the
cooling period progresses further, temperature reduces
to almost initial temperature of the workpiece. von Mises
stress becomes the residual stress in the welding section.
It is evident that the residual stress attains high values
and remains almost the same along the x-axis, except
toward x0.005 m where the residual stress increases
slightly.
Figure 8 shows von Mises stress distribution along
the y-axis for different cooling periods. The x-axis
location is x =0.005 m and z-axis location is at the surface
(z =0). von Mises stress attains low values in the region of

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Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2011) 56:115124

6.0E+08

2500

1950

y=0m&z=0m

t = 0.05 s
t = 0.07 s
t = 0.17 s
t = 2.05 s

vON MISES STRESS (Pa)

TEMPERATURE (K)

x = 0.005 m & z = 0 m

1400

850

t = 0.05 s

t = 0.07 s

t = 0.17 s

t = 2.05 s

4.8E+08

3.6E+08

2.4E+08

1.2E+08

300
0

0.000375

0.00075

0.001125

0.0015

3.0E+02
0

DISTANCE ALONG Y-AXIS (m)

0.001

0.002

0.003

0.004

0.005

DISTANCE ALONG X-AXIS (m)

Fig. 4 Temperature distribution along the y-axis for different cooling

periods. The cooling cycle is initiated once the laser power is switched
off at t=0.05 s

the irradiated spot center (0 m y 0.0005 m). This is

particularly true at the cooling period initiation. The
occurrence of low von Mises stress is attributed to the low
elastic modulus at elevated temperatures. However, as the
cooling period progresses further, von Mises stress
becomes the residual stress; in which case, the residual
stress attains higher values than those corresponding to
the early cooling periods. Moreover, the residual stress
remains low in the region of the irradiated spot,
particularly at the irradiated spot center. This is because
of the low cooling rate at the irradiated spot center, since
the conduction heat transfer from the irradiated spot
center toward its neighborhood is low because of the low
temperature gradient developed in this region. It should
be noted that the heat conduction enhances as the
temperature gradient increases or vice versa. The high
value of the residual stress starts at y =0.0005 m and
remains almost the same along the y-axis.

2800
t = 0.07 s
t = 0.17 s
t = 2.05 s
t = 0.05 s

TEMPERATURE (K)

x = 0.005 m & y = 0 m

2175

1550

925

300
0

0.00025

0.0005

0.00075

0.001

DISTANCE ALONG Z-AXIS (m)

Fig. 5 Temperature distribution along the z-axis for different cooling

periods. The cooling cycle is initiated once the laser power is switched
off at t=0.05 s

Fig. 6 von Mises stress variation along the x-axis for different cooling
periods. The cooling cycle is initiated once the laser power is switched
off at t=0.05 s

Figure 9 shows von Mises stress distribution along the

z-axis for different cooling periods as similar to those
shown in Fig. 5. von Mises stress attains high values in the
top and bottom surfaces of the melted section during the
long cooling periods (t0.17 s); however, it remains low
during the early cooling period because of the attainment
of low elastic modulus at high temperatures. The residual
stress reduces in the mid-section of the workpiece, which
is associated with the low cooling rate. The heat
conduction along the z-axis is less resulting in slow
cooling rate in the mid-section of the workpiece. The
low heat conduction is because of the small temperature
difference between the laser beam axis and its neighborhood inside the workpiece. The slow cooling rate results
in stress relaxation in the mid-section of the workpiece.
The maximum residual stress is in the order of 380 MPa,
which occurs in the region of the top and the bottom
surfaces of the workpiece. However, it is reported that the
maximum residual stress measured in the weld section for
Haynes 25 is about 700 MPa [1], which is much higher
than the current prediction due to laser welding. It should
be noted that the difference is because of the (a) different
mechanical properties of both alloys and (b) the arc
welding method is adopted in the previous study [1].
Figure 10 shows optical micrographs of the top surface
of the weld section while Fig. 11 shows temperature
contours and the top surface of the weld section with the
same scale for the comparison reason. The width of melted
region along the y-axis is limited with the liquidus
temperature of the alloy (1,688 K), which is marked in
the figure as w while the width of the re-solidified region
along the y-axis is also marked. The width of the resolidified region is almost 1.2 times of the width of the
melted region predicted. The difference in the both widths
is because of the assumptions made in the simulations, such

Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2011) 56:115124

121

Fig. 7 von Mises stress

contours inside the workpiece
for two cooling periods after
switching of the laser power at
t=0.05 s

as uniform properties, constant reflectivity of the surface,

and perfect Gaussian distribution of the laser beam intensity
at the surface. Figure 12 shows SEM micrographs of the
weld cross section. The presence of small cavity at the top

surface of the melt section is evident. In addition, some

small molten material accumulates at the weld bottom
surfaces. The small cavity formation at the top surface and
the presence of some out flow of molten metal at the
bottom surface of the weld section are because of the

6.0E+08
t = 0.05 s

t = 0.07 s

t = 0.17 s

t = 2.05 s

5.00E+08
t = 0.17 s: x = 0.005 m

4.8E+08

vON MISES STRESS (Pa)

vON MISES STRESS (Pa)

x = 0.005 m & z = 0 m

3.6E+08

2.4E+08

1.2E+08

3.0E+02

t = 0.05 s

t = 0.07 s

t = 0.17 s

t = 2.05 s

4.02E+08

3.04E+08

2.06E+08

1.08E+08

1.00E+07

0.0005

0.001

0.0015

0.002

DISTANCE ALONG Y-AXIS (m)

Fig. 8 von Mises stress variation along the y-axis for different cooling
periods. The cooling cycle is initiated once the laser power is switched
off at t=0.05 s

0.00025

0.0005

0.00075

0.001

DISTANCE ALONG Z-AXIS (m)

Fig. 9 von Mises stress variation along the z-axis for different cooling
periods. The cooling cycle is initiated once the laser power is switched
off at t=0.05 s

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Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2011) 56:115124

Fig. 10 Optical photographs of

top and bottom surfaces of the
laser welding sections

Top surface

Bottom Surface

300 m

attainment of high temperature in the welding section. In

this case, superheating in the liquid phase alters the surface
tension gradient (d/dT, is the surface tension) across the
heated section while modifying the surface tension force on
the melt surface. This causes the convex melt profile at the
surface, which appears as a shallow cavity upon solidification on the surface of the weld. Moreover, increasing
viscosity at elevated temperature reduces the shear stress in the
molten flow, which results in the out flow of the molten metal
from the bottom surface of the weld. The close view of the
SEM micrographs reveals that dense structures are formed in
the welding core region. The solidification cracking in this
Fig. 11 Comparison of the melt
width (w) predicted and
measured at the top surface of
the weld section

region is not observed. This is associated with the relatively

slow cooling rates along the laser beam axis (Fig. 5). It should
be noted that when solidification strains exceed the ductility
of the solidifying weld material due to the formation of low
melting-point liquid film along the solidification grain
boundaries, solidification cracking occurs. This is known as
the hot cracking. In addition, the presence of silicon in the
alloy contributes positively to the formation of the hot
cracking in the weld core region. Moreover, the presence of
carbon in the alloy reduces the degree of fusion zone cracking
[13]. In the fusion zone, very fine grains, as well as scattered
small dendrites, are evident, where the crystallization takes

Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2011) 56:115124

123

Fig. 12 SEM micrographs of

weld cross section

place. The laterally formed dendrites extending from fusion

boundary to heat-affected zone are visible. However, there is
no clear transition zone in between the fusion and heataffected zones which is observed as opposing to that reported
in the previous study [14]. The grain size coarsening is
evident in the HAZ due to the slow cooling rates in this
region. SEM micrograph also reveals that the heat-affected
zone is narrow and dendrites are formed in the region next to
1.4
von Mises Stress
Hardness

1.3

1.3

1.2

1.2

1.1

1.1

1
0

0.00015

0.0003

0.00045

HARDNESS RATIO

vON MISES STRESS RATIO

1.4

the weld core, which is associated with the high cooling rates
in this region. Moreover, no secondary dendrites are observed
from the micrographs.
Figure 13 shows microhardness and the residual stress
distributions across the weld zone along the y-axis. The
microhardness is measured at mid-thickness of the workpiece. It is evident that microhardness attains the minimum
at the laser beam axis and increases toward the edge of
the irradiated spot. The attainment of the minimum
hardness at the welding zone center is associated with
the slow cooling rates in this region. Consequently,
hardness profile almost follows the residual stress
distribution in this region. The maximum hardness is in
the order of 1.4 times the base material hardness.
However, increasing the distance from the irradiated spot
edge along the y-axis, microhardness reduces. This is
because of the heat-affected zone formed in the region
next to the welding zone, i.e., microhardness reduces
across the heat-affected zone.

1
0.0006

DISTANCE ALONG Y-AXIS (m)

Fig. 13 Microhardness and von Mises stress variations along the core
of the weld zone. The von Mises stress is predicted from the numerical
simulations

5 Conclusion
Laser welding of Haynes 188 alloy sheet is carried out.
Temperature and stress fields developed in the welding

124

region are predicted using the ABAQUS numerical code.

An experiment is carried out to examine the morphological
and microstructural changes in the welding section. It is
found that temperature in the welding section, in particular
in the irradiated spot well, exceeds the melting temperature
of the substrate material and superheating in the liquid
phase takes place in the melt pool. The high-temperature
gradients are formed in the vicinity of melted zone.
Temperature-dependent elastic modulus reduces von Mises
stress in the welding region during the heating cycle.
However, once the cooling cycle is initiated, von Mises
stress attains high values, particularly in the region of the
high-temperature gradients. This results in high residual
stress levels in the vicinity of the irradiated spot edge. In
addition, slow cooling rate in the welding core causes stress
relaxation, and the residual stress reduces in this region.
Due to high-temperature heating in the melt pool, the
surface tension gradient causes curvature of the top surface
of the welding section. This appears as a cavity upon the
solidification. The core section of the welding zone consists
of the fine structures, and the heat-affected zone next to the
welding core is narrow. The dendritic structures are
observed in the vicinity of the welding core indicating the
high cooling rates in this region. The microhardness profile
across the welding zone follows almost the residual stress
distribution in this region.
Acknowledgments The authors acknowledge the support of King
Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
for this work.

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