Influence of Nd:YAG laser+pulsed GMAW arc hybrid welding parameters on weld width

The influences of Nd:YAG laser + pulsed GMAW(gas metal arc welding)arc hybrid welding parameters on weld width were investigated by bead-on-plate tests.The results show that the hybrid weld width increases with the increase of arc power and laser power, and decreases with welding increased speed, while the laser-arc distance and defocusing distance have little influence on it. Hybrid weld is slightly wider than that of pulsed GMAW and much wider than that of laser welding for the same welding parameters, which indicates that hybrid weld width is determined for a given welding speed by pulsed GMAW arc power because the area heated by pulsed GMAW arc is much larger than that by laser beam. The analysis and comparison also show that laser can greatly improve the welding speed in hybrid welding process.