HIGH BRIGHTNESS HYBRID WELDING OF STEEL

Paper 106
Brian Victor1, Brad Nagy1, Stan Ream1, Dave Farson2
1

EWI, 1250 Arthur E. Adams Dr., Columbus, OH, 43212, USA

The Ohio State University, 1246 Arthur Adams Dr., Columbus, OH, 43212, USA

Abstract

welding (SAW), laser welding, and electron beam

welding.
While the arc welding processes are
relatively inexpensive, they generate high heat input
and considerable distortion at moderate welding
speeds. Electron beam welding can produce deeppenetrating, high depth-to-width ratio welds with low
heat input at fast travel speeds, but the equipment is
very expensive.
High-brightness lasers are
approaching the penetration and depth-to-width ratios
possible with electron beam welding, but at a lower
cost.

Recent advances in solid-state laser technology have

improved the return on investment for laser and hybrid
welding in deep-penetration applications. In this
research, a high-power high-brightness fiber laser was
coupled to a pulsed gas metal arc welding (GMAW)
system to evaluate hybrid laser-arc welding (HLAW)
of carbon steel. The effects of multiple process
variables on weld penetration were tested. These
variables included shielding gas, beam-to-wire
distance (BTWD), laser focal position, and process
orientation. High-speed video was used to record
welding trials. A custom diode laser illumination
system was developed to improve clarity and image
quality of the high-speed videos. Additionally, a
custom integration package was developed in
collaboration with The Lincoln Electric Company and
The Ohio State University Welding Engineering
program to provide synchronized pulsing of the laser
and GMAW systems. Welding trials were conducted
with this system to evaluate the benefit of synchronous
or asynchronous pulsing of the two welding processes.

Although the power and performance of highbrightness lasers is improving, autogenous laser
welding still has some limitations.

The small spot size of the focused laser beam

makes it difficult to tolerate gaps in the weld
joint.

Undercut and underfill can occur without the

addition of filler material.

Hybrid welding, or hybrid laser-arc welding (HLAW),

combines laser welding and GMAW into a single
welding process. By combining the two processes, the
advantages of each process can be realized. Deep
penetration and high travel speeds are obtained from
the laser welding process, while alloying and filling of
the joint are achieved with the GMAW process. Due
to the deep penetration possible with the HLAW
process, joint preparations requiring less filler metal
can be used as compared to conventional arc welding.
In addition, HLAW can fuse thick-section joints in a
single pass with low heat input, low distortion, and in
some cases without the need for backing material.

Introduction
In recent years the performance of high-power, highbrightness solid-state lasers has rapidly improved. The
primary
laser
technologies
influencing
this
improvement are the fiber laser and disk laser, which
share the following characteristics: can be fiber
delivered to transmissive optics, have excellent
electrical efficiency, can produce excellent beam
quality, and can produce higher output power than
previous generations of fiber-delivered lasers.
While the performance of disk and fiber laser
technologies has progressed, the cost to purchase these
technologies has continued to decrease. With the
growth in performance and reduction in cost of highbrightness lasers, laser welding is becoming a more
attractive option for thick-section welding applications.

Although HLAW has some advantages over

conventional thick-section welding processes, there are
several factors preventing it from being implemented
in industrial settings.

Several automated welding processes exist that can be

used for welding thick-section steel. Among these are
gas metal arc welding (GMAW), submerged arc

79

Investment costs for a hybrid laser welding

system are considerably higher than for an arc
welding system.

Implementing a laser welding system requires

increased safety, protection, and operator
training.

The gap bridging tolerance for hybrid welding

is far less than conventional arc welding
processes.

Currently, there is no AWS or ISO standard

pertaining to HLAW.

There has only been limited implementation

of this process outside of a laboratory
environment.

changes in penetration. Bead-on-plate was selected for

certain trials to eliminate effects from joint gap or
mismatch. A 10-kW IPG Yb-fiber laser was coupled
to custom EWI focusing optics to deliver the beam to
the work-piece (Figures 1 and 2). The laser optics
included a 200-m process fiber, 150-mm collimator,
and a 250-mm parabolic focusing mirror. A Lincoln
Electric Power Wave i400 and LN-10 semi-automatic
wire feeder were used for the GMAW portion of the
hybrid process. All trials were performed using pulsed
GMAW waveforms unless otherwise noted. All welds
were shielded with 90%-argon / 10%-CO2 shielding
gas delivered through the GMAW torch. Backside
shielding was used for certain full penetration welding
trials. The GMAW filler wire used for all trials was
0.045-in. ER70S-6. The GMAW torch angle was 30
degrees from the beam axis for all trials.

For these reasons, there is limited hybrid welding

experience and expertise in manufacturing.
This study evaluated hybrid welding of carbon steel
with a 10-kW Yb-fiber laser. Welding trials were
conducted to evaluate the effects of beam-to-wire
distance (BTWD), focal position, and process
orientation (arc-leading vs. laser-leading) on the
welding process. Both full- and partial-penetration
welds were investigated. Welding trials were also
conducted with modulated laser power synchronized to
the pulse waveform of the GMAW power supply.
High-speed video was used to record the HLAW
process. To improve the image quality and clarity of
the high-speed videos, a diode laser illumination and
filtering system was developed and evaluated.

Figure 1. IPG 10-kW Fiber Laser (right) and 4-Fiber

Beam Switch (left)

Objectives
The objective of this project was to develop process
knowledge of hybrid welding with high-power, highbrightness lasers by:

Developing a diode illumination system to

improve high-speed video quality

Testing the effects of various HLAW

parameters on weld profile and penetration

Designing and testing a control system

capable of synchronous pulsing of the laser
and GMAW power supply

Figure 2. Custom Laser Welding Optics Built by EWI

Diode Illumination for High-Speed Video
In this research, a 915-nm 100-W CW fiber-delivered
diode laser from JDS Uniphase was used for
illumination (Figure 3). A Vision Research Phantom
high-speed camera with a maximum frame rate of
10,000 fps was used to capture the video.

Evaluating the effects of synchronous pulsing

on weld profile and penetration.
Experimental Procedure

Partial- and full-penetration HLAW bead-on-plate and

square butt trials were conducted on mild carbon steel
(AISI 1018) in the flat position (1G). Partialpenetration was selected for certain trials to quantify

80

Arc-Leading vs. Laser-Leading

Two distinct orientations can be used with the HLAW
process: arc-leading or laser-leading (Figure 4). In the
arc-leading direction the GMAW torch uses a drag
angle. In the laser-leading direction the GMAW torch
uses a push angle. Both orientations were investigated
during the BTWD trials. In both the arc-leading and
laser-leading cases, the laser beam was oriented
perpendicular to the work. Cross-sections and highspeed videos from the BTWD trials were evaluated to
determine the effect of process orientation at different
BTWD.

Figure 3. Experimental Setup for Diode-Illuminated

High-Speed Video Trials
Baseline high-speed videos were taken using only arc
illumination. The arc-illuminated trials used a 940-nm
interference filter. Using the same GMAW parameters
as the arc-illuminated trials, diode laser illumination
was tested using a 905-nm laser line filter. The power
and spot size of the diode laser were adjusted to
improve illumination. To reduce the brightness of the
arc and improve image quality with diode illumination,
additional filters were tested.
With the optimum filters and laser irradiance selected,
the incident diode laser angle with respect to the
camera viewing angle was evaluated. The optimum
angle of the laser was determined for the side,
front, and front-oblique camera views. Each of
these camera angles were used to capture different
phenomena of the welding process. Once the diode
illumination and filtering system was optimized, highspeed video was used to evaluate the effects of various
welding process adjustments.

Figure 4. Laser-Leading (Left) and Arc-Leading

(Right) Orientations
Process orientation was also evaluated to determine the
effect on weld pool mixing. In deep-penetration
hybrid welding the composition at the top of the weld
is mostly filler metal, while the composition at the root
is mostly base metal. To evaluate the effect of process
direction on filler metal mixing, hybrid welds were
conducted with 0.045-in. ER308 stainless steel filler
wire. Full-penetration welds were performed on 9.5mm steel square butt joints using both process
orientations with two BTWD. The welds were then
cross-sectioned and etched to determine the level of
filler metal mixing for the different conditions. Table
2 lists the parameters used for these trials.

Beam-to-Wire Distance Evaluation

BTWD is the distance between the laser beam axis and
the GMAW wire measured at the work surface.
Various distances were evaluated to determine the
effect on penetration and profile of the welds. All
welds for these trials were bead-on-plate made in the
partial-penetration mode.

Table 2. Welding Parameters for Filler Metal Mixing

Trials

The variables listed in Table 1 were fixed for all

BTWD trials. Only the BTWD and process orientation
(arc-leading or laser-leading) were varied. Trials were
conducted in both the laser-leading and arc-leading
orientations for BTWD of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12
mm. High-speed videos were taken from the side view
to evaluate the effects of BTWD. The welds were then
cross-sectioned to measure the penetration.

BTWD
(mm)
2
5
2
5

Table 1. Fixed Variables for BTWD Evaluation

Wire Feed
Travel
Laser Spot
CTWD
Speed
Speed
Power Size
(mm)
(m/min) (kW) (m) (m/min) (ipm)
2
5
333
8.89
350
16

Orientation
Arc-Lead
Arc-Lead
Laser-Lead
Laser-Lead

Travel
Speed
(m/min)
2.3
2.3
2.3
2.3

Laser
Power
(kW)
9
9
9
9

Wire
Feed Speed
(m/min) (ipm)
8.89
350
8.89
350
8.89
350
8.89
350

Focal Position Evaluation

For both hybrid welding and autogenous laser welding,
other researchers have reported an increase in
penetration by moving the focal position of the laser

81

Laser-Arc Interaction

above or below the top surface of the plate. The focal

position most often reported as optimum by other
researchers is 1 to 4 mm below the top surface of the
plate. To test the validity of these claims, autogenous
and hybrid welds were conducted to evaluate the effect
of focal position on penetration.

To evaluate the effect of laser power on the welding

arc, GMAW trials were conducted in constant voltage
(CV) mode with and without the laser. Baseline GMA
welds were made using four different arc power levels.
The trials were then repeated with 5 and 9 kW of laser
power added to the welding arc (Table 5). For all
trials, the CTWD was set at 16 mm, and the travel
speed was 1 m/min. For the hybrid welds, the BTWD
was 2 mm.

The variables listed in Table 3 were fixed for all

autogenous laser welding focal position trials (partialpenetration, bead-on-plate). Trials were conducted
with the laser at focus and 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 mm above
and below the top surface of the plate. These welds
were cross-sectioned to evaluate the penetration.

For each weld, the average arc current and arc voltage
was calculated using a data-acquisition system. Highspeed video was used to record the welds from the side
view. A still shot was taken from each video that
showed a representative arc length. The arc length of
each weld was measured using the known diameter of
the GMAW wire as a reference. The arc length,
current, and voltage were then compared to determine
if the laser power had an influence on the arc.

The variables listed in Table 4 were fixed for all hybrid

welding focal position trials (partial-penetration, beadon-plate). Focal position was evaluated for hybrid
welding in the laser-leading direction only. The torch
position was adjusted to maintain the same contact tipto-work distance (CTWD) for all trials (Figure 5).
Trials were conducted with the laser at focus and 2, 4,
6, 8, and 10 mm above and below the top surface of
the plate. The welds were cross-sectioned to evaluate
the penetration.

Table 5. Welding Variables Evaluated for Laser-Arc

Interaction Trials
Voltage Set
Wire Feed Speeds
Points
(V)
(m/min)
(ipm)
7.62
300
29.0
8.89
350
30.5
10.16
400
32.7
11.43
450
33.6

Table 3. Fixed Variables for Autogenous Laser Focal

Position Evaluation
Travel Speed
Laser Power
Focusing Optic
(m/min)
(kW)
(mm)
2
5
250
Table 4. Fixed Variables for Hybrid Laser Focal
Position Evaluation
Travel
Laser Focus Wire Feed Speed
Speed Power Optic (m/min) (ipm) CTWD
(mm)
(m/min) (kW) (mm)
2
5
250
8.89
350
16

Full-Penetration Root Evaluation

Full-penetration hybrid welds were performed on 9.5mm square butt joints to evaluate the formation of root
profiles during welding. A backing gas chamber with
a clear acrylic window was constructed to enable
viewing of the root during welding. Still air, moving
air, argon, nitrogen, and helium were tested in the
backing gas chamber. High-speed video was used to
capture videos of the keyhole and backside weld pool
during welding. Laser power and travel speed were
also adjusted to evaluate the effects on root profile and
spatter.
Laser and GMAW Synchronization
Other researchers have claimed increased penetration
and extended process synergy from hybrid welding by
coordinated modulation of the laser power with the
GMAW arc pulse. To evaluate these claims, a
synchronized modulation system was designed to
modulate the laser power in phase or out of phase from
the frequency of the pulsed GMAW current. In this
task, Lincoln Electric and The Ohio State University

Figure 5. Focal Position Variation and Terminology

82

(OSU) Welding Engineering Program collaborated

with EWI to develop a synchronized hybrid welding
modulation system.

modulation. Each weld was then cross-sectioned to

measure penetration depth and profile.
Table 6. Fixed Variables for Synchronized LaserGMAW Trials

Lincoln Electric developed a custom solution in the

i400 GMAW system to produce an output signal to
control the laser power. The laser output signal was
synchronized to the frequency of the current pulse for
any wire feed speed. The phase delay between the
laser and arc, the laser peak power, and the laser
background power could be adjusted from the i400
controls on the wire feeder. The output signal
generated by the i400 was a 0- to 10-V analog signal.
This 0- to 10-V signal was wired into the fiber laser to
generate an output of 0 to 100% laser power.

Travel
Speed
(m/min)
2

Spot
Size
(m)
333

Wire Feed Speed

(m/min)
(ipm)
8.89

350

Pulse
Frequency
(Hz)
190

CTWD
(mm)
16

Table 7. Welding Parameters for Synchronized LaserGMAW Trials

Trial
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24

With the synchronized modulation system developed, a

series of welding trials were designed by OSU to
investigate the effects of in-phase and out-of-phase
modulation with different BTWD and process
orientations. Partial-penetration welds were conducted
in the bead-on-plate configuration. The laser power
modulation was designed to maintain an average
power of 5 kW for comparison to baseline welds
completed with 5-kW constant laser power. Figure 6
illustrates the two laser modulation conditions.

Orientation
Arc-Lead
Arc-Lead
Arc-Lead
Arc-Lead
Arc-Lead
Arc-Lead
Arc-Lead
Arc-Lead
Arc-Lead
Arc-Lead
Arc-Lead
Arc-Lead
Laser-Lead
Laser-Lead
Laser-Lead
Laser-Lead
Laser-Lead
Laser-Lead
Laser-Lead
Laser-Lead
Laser-Lead
Laser-Lead
Laser-Lead
Laser-Lead

Phase
In
In
In
In
In
In
Out
Out
Out
Out
Out
Out
In
In
In
In
In
In
Out
Out
Out
Out
Out
Out

BTWD
(mm)
1
4
7
1
4
7
1
4
7
1
4
7
1
4
7
1
4
7
1
4
7
1
4
7

Peak
(kW)
8
8
8
6
6
6
8
8
8
6
6
6
8
8
8
6
6
6
8
8
8
6
6
6

Background
(kW)
2
2
2
4
4
4
2
2
2
4
4
4
2
2
2
4
4
4
2
2
2
4
4
4

Results and Discussion

Diode Illumination for High-Speed Video
Typically, high-speed videos of the GMAW process
are illuminated by two types of sources: light from an
external lamp or light produced by the arc. In the case
of external lamp lighting, the source is generally
broadband light from a halogen, xenon, or
incandescent bulb. The light can be directed at the
process from the same direction as the camera or it can
backlight the process.
Backlighting produces a
silhouette of the process to witness droplet detachment,
shape, and size. However, since the image is a sideview silhouette, only limited information can be
gathered.

Figure 6. Illustration of Modulated Laser Power

Conditions, Both with 5-kW Average Power
The parameters listed in Table 6 were fixed for all
synchronized laser-GMAW welding trials. Table 7
lists the parameters that were varied. Current, voltage,
and laser power were recorded with a data-acquisition
system for all welds. High-speed videos were also
taken to evaluate the effects of synchronous

83

The other source typically used for illuminating highspeed videos of GMAW is light emitted by the welding
arc. Because the arc light is generally too bright for
the camera, the incoming light must be attenuated by
filters, an aperture, or both. When properly attenuated,
the arc light can illuminate the wire, droplets, and weld
pool. However, due to the broadband spectrum and
high intensity of the welding arc, it is difficult to limit
the brightness of the central arc column without
sacrificing overall image clarity. Producing clear highspeed videos of pulsed GMAW is particularly difficult
because of the bright arc at peak current and the low
light during the background current.

Figure 7. Stills from Arc-Illuminated High-Speed

Video, during Peak Current and Background Current

The solution developed in this program for

illuminating high-speed videos was to use a diode
laser. Because the diode laser light is monochromatic,
filters can be used to attenuate the incoming light
allowing only the illumination wavelength to reach the
camera. This can enable higher quality video images
and better attenuation of the arc than other illumination
methods. In addition, the power, spot size, and
incident angle of the diode laser light can be adjusted
to precisely control the intensity of the illumination
area for repeatability.

Figure 8. Stills from Diode-Illuminated High-Speed

Video, during Peak Current and Background Current

Other researchers have used diode lasers, both CW and

pulsed, of various wavelengths for illumination of
high-speed videos. In this research, a 915-nm 100-W
CW fiber-delivered diode laser from JDS Uniphase
was used. This laser was chosen for portability, air
cooling, and ease-of-integration with the existing
hybrid welding setup. The 915-nm wavelength was
beneficial because the intensity of the arc is relatively
low in the infrared region. This enables the arc to be
attenuated while not filtering too much of the diode
laser light.

In addition to improving the clarity of viewing the arc

welding process, diode illumination enables viewing of
the laser keyhole, which is difficult with other
illumination techniques. Typically, the laser keyhole is
a bright spot on high-speed video; however, by using
diode illumination, the depression and shape of the
laser keyhole can be seen. In addition to the keyhole
shape, diode illumination can enable viewing droplet
detachment, wire feed speed, weld pool depressions,
and base metal that may not have been possible with
other illumination methods of GMAW or HLAW highspeed videos. Figure 9 is a screen shot from a diodeilluminated high-speed video of a hybrid bead-on-plate
weld.

Baseline high-speed videos were taken using only arc

illumination. Figure 7 is a screen shot from the arcilluminated high-speed video trials during peak and
background current.
Using the same GMAW
parameters, welds were completed with diode laser
illumination and a 905-nm laser line filter.
An additional 905-nm laser line filter was added to
further limit arc light, and a 0.2 OD neutral density
filter was added to attenuate all wavelengths and
reduce spectral glare from laser reflections. Figure 8 is
a screen shot from the final diode filtering trial during
peak and background current. The optimum laser
irradiance with these filters was approximately 20
W/cm2 of CW laser power.

Figure 9. Diode-Illuminated High-Speed Video Still

84

Beam-to-Wire Distance Evaluation

angles in each direction, the convexity of the weld

reinforcement is different. Arc-leading produces a
narrower, more convex bead. Laser-leading produces
a wider, smoother surface profile.

The welds from the partial-penetration BTWD trials

were cross-sectioned and weld penetration was
measured. From this data, the BTWD seemed to have
little effect on penetration depth. As seen in Figure 10,
the arc-leading welds had consistently more
penetration than the laser-leading welds, but both
process orientations followed the same trend with
BTWD.
Hybrid Penetration vs. BTWD
9

Penetration (mm)

8
7
6
5
4
3
0

10

12

BTWD (mm)
Laser Leading

Arc Leading

Figure 10. Hybrid Weld Penetration vs. BTWD

BTWD had an effect on the fusion profile. At short
BTWD, the weld profile seen in the cross-sections
appears as one solidification zone. At longer BTWD,
the weld has two distinct solidification zones due to the
separation of the processes. At 2-m/min travel speed,
the BTWD at which two solidification zones occur
appears to be around 5 mm.
Arc-Leading vs. Laser-Leading
From the BTWD trials, arc-leading was shown to have
deeper penetration than laser-leading by an average of
0.5 mm for all BTWD. At short BTWD in the arcleading orientation, the laser beam strikes the part in
the arc depression. This can be seen in the high-speed
video stills in Figure 11. At long BTWD in the arcleading condition, the laser strikes the deposited metal
(Figure 11); however, penetration is still deeper than
the laser-leading condition at the same BTWD
(Figure 10).
One explanation for the increased
penetration may be that the beam is always striking
molten metal in the arc-leading condition. In the laserleading condition, the laser is always striking base
metal at any BTWD.

Figure 11. Keyhole Location in Weld Pool for

Different Process Orientations
To test the effect of process orientation on filler metal
mixing, hybrid trials were conducted with stainless
steel filler wire. Stainless steel filler was chosen to
contrast the carbon steel base metal after etching the
cross-sections. Welds were performed in both the arcleading and laser-leading directions at two BTWD
(Figure 12). In the arc-leading welds, the mixing
appears to be similar for both BTWD. In the laserleading welds, the 2-mm BTWD produced better
mixing than both arc-leading cases. However, at the 5-

Another notable difference between arc-leading and

laser-leading is the profile of the weld reinforcement.
Because of the different push/drag GMAW torch

85

hybrid welding, the tolerance appears to be

approximately 4 mm above or below the top surface of
the plate before penetration starts to decrease.

mm BTWD, the GMAW pool was far enough behind

the laser beam to prevent any mixing. There are
clearly two solidification zones Figure 12-d.

Penetration vs. Focal Postion

9

Penetration (mm)

3
-10

-8

-6

-4

-2

Focal Position (mm)

Autogenous

Hybrid

Figure 13. Penetration vs. Focal Position for

Autogenous and Hybrid

Figure 12. Filler Metal Mixing Trials, (a) Arc-Leading,

2-mm BTWD, (b) Arc-Leading, 5-mm BTWD, (c)
Laser-Leading, 2-mm BTWD, (d) Laser-Leading, 5mm BTWD

Laser-Arc Interaction
From the data collected, laser power does not appear to
have a significant effect on the arc characteristics. The
data acquisition verified that the GMAW power supply
in CV mode maintained the arc voltage within less
than 1% error regardless of the laser power. For the
same arc settings, the average current at 5 and 9 kW
was within 3% of the average current at no laser
power.

Most noteworthy from these stainless filler wire

mixing trials is that in all cases there was incomplete
mixing to the root of the 9.5-mm joint. For this mixing
evaluation, only four welds and four cross-sections
were made. Additional trials should be conducted to
evaluate a larger sample size. A more closely
matching filler wire composition is also recommended
for further testing.

The arc length measurements do not show a clear trend

with voltage, laser power, or current. This may be due
to the measurement method for arc length. One
representative still was taken from each video and
measured rather than averaging multiple measurements
for each video. In addition, from the side view videos,
weld pool depression could not be accounted for in arc
length measurements.

Focal Position Evaluation

The weld penetration for different focal depths is
plotted in Figure 13. The best penetration for both
autogenous and hybrid welding was found to be when
the laser was focused at the top surface of the plate
(focal position of 0 mm). Other researchers have
reported the best penetration to occur when the laser
focus was moved 1 to 4 mm into the plate (focal
position of -1 to -4 mm). This may be due to focal
shift of the welding optics. Moving the nominal focus
into the plate would compensate for a focal shift.

Full-Penetration Root Evaluation

With no back-shielding, the exit side of the keyhole
was violent. Large spatter globules and vapor or
smoke sprayed from the keyhole opening. Most of the
spatter traveled away from the plate, but some of the
globules were directed toward the backside of the
plate. Due to this violent and chaotic spatter transfer,
the resulting root profile is irregular as seen on the
right of Figure 14-a. A typical discontinuity in hybrid
welding is underfill or suck-back on the root that may
be caused by spatter loss from the keyhole or keyhole
instability. By changing the shielding gas in the
backing chamber to helium, the keyhole was much less

As seen in Figure 13, hybrid welding produces slightly

more penetration than autogenous welding. More
interestingly, hybrid welding maintains penetration
over a wider range of focal position variations than
autogenous welding. The tolerance to focal position
variations for autogenous welding appears to be
approximately 1 mm above or below the top surface of
the plate before penetration starts to decrease. For

86

10

violent and ejected only a fine spray of spatter. With a

less violent keyhole and less spatter loss, the root
profile produced with helium back-shielding was much
smoother as seen in Figure 14-b. The effect of argon,
nitrogen, and moving air were also tested on root
profile. The performance of each backing gas is listed
in order of best to worst: helium, argon, nitrogen,
moving air, still air. Performance was determined by
material loss and root bead consistency.

Arc Voltage

Arc Current w/ Laser Overlay

Figure 15. Data Acquisition Trace of In-Phase Laser
Modulation

Arc Voltage

b
Arc Current w/ Laser Overlay
Figure 14. Video Still of Keyhole and Weld Root with
(a) Still Air and (b) Helium Backing Gas

Figure 16. Data Acquisition Trace of Out-of-Phase

Laser Modulation

Laser and GMAW Synchronization

Figure 17 summarizes the laser-leading trials for both

in-phase and out-of-phase at three different BTWD.
The 4- to 6-kW laser power modulation produced
deeper penetration than the 2- to 8-kW modulation.
Both modulation amplitudes produced deeper
penetration than the 5-kW constant power welds
produced in the previous BTWD evaluation trials.
This is most likely due to the higher peak laser power.
Phase did not appear to have an effect on penetration.

Once the synchronized laser-GMAW system was

integrated to the i400 power supply by Lincoln
Electric, test welds were completed to verify the phase
delay and laser output with data acquisition. Figure 15
is a data-acquisition screen shot from a weld with inphase laser pulse at the 4- to 6-kW laser power
modulation. The top green trace is the measured arc
voltage, and the bottom green trace is the measured arc
current. The purple trace is the laser output signal
overlaid on the current trace to verify phase delay.
Figure 16 is a data-acquisition screen shot from a weld
with 180-degree out-of-phase laser pulse at the 2- to 8kW laser power modulation.

Figure 18 summarizes the arc-leading trials for both inphase and out-of-phase at three different BTWD. The
4- to 6-kW laser power modulation again produced
deeper penetration than the 2- to 8-kW modulation,
and both modulation amplitudes produced deeper
penetration than 5-kW constant power. Overall, arcleading produced deeper penetration than laserleading. Phase did not appear to have an effect on
penetration for arc-leading trials.

With the system output verified, hybrid welding trials

were conducted according to Table 7. The welds were
completed with the same equipment as for all previous
trials. Analysis of the welds and data was completed
by OSU.

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(6) Inert shielding gas on the root side of fullpenetration hybrid welds improves the root
bead profile and reduces backside spatter.
(7) There is no significant penetration increase
due to synchronous or asynchronous pulsing
of laser power and GMAW current.
Acknowledgements
EWI acknowledges the contribution of the State of
Ohio, Department of Development and Thomas Edison
Program, which provided funding in support of Edison
Technology and Industry Center Services.
Meet the Authors

Figure 17. Data Acquisition Trace of Out-of-Phase

Laser Modulation

Mr. Brian Victor is an Applications Engineer in the

Laser Processing group at EWI. His primary areas of
expertise include hybrid laser-arc welding, laser
welding autogenously and with cold-wire addition, and
laser processing of concrete. Mr. Victor received his
B.S. and M.S. in Welding Engineering from the Ohio
State University.
Mr. Brad Nagy is an Applications Engineer in the
Laser Processing group at EWI. His primary areas of
expertise include hybrid laser-arc welding, tandem gas
metal arc welding, and automated GMAW. Mr. Nagy
received his B.S. in Welding Engineering from the
Ohio State University.

Figure 18. Data Acquisition Trace of Out-of-Phase

Laser Modulation

Conclusions
From this research, the following conclusions can be
drawn:
(1) Diode illumination can provide excellent
high-speed videos of hybrid welding.
(2) BTWD and process orientation directly affect
through-thickness filler metal mixing and
fusion profile.
(3) The arc-leading orientation generates slightly
more penetration than laser-leading.
(4) Hybrid welding has a higher tolerance to focal
position variations than autogenous laser
welding.
(5) Laser power has no discernable effect on arc
characteristics in CV GMAW of steel.

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