Arc characteristics and weld formation during laser-pulsed MAG hybrid arc welding of 304L stainless steel

The influence of process parameters on arc characteristics and weld formation was investigated during laser-pulsed MAG hybrid arc welding of SUS304L stainless steel, and the control strategy of arc characteristics and weld forming was obtained. The results show that the stability of hybrid welding process was enhanced by introducing laser beam. But a high-power laser beam made the base value of arc voltage fluctuate when the current of pulsed MAG arc was at the base value. And the high-power laser beam had compression effect on the pulsed MAG arc, but this effect was weakened at peak value of MAG current. The coupling effect of process parameters and weld geometry had direct impact on the weld size which could be controlled by optimizing the process parameters.