Rudimar Riva

Laser Surface Remelting and Hardening of an Automotive Shaft Sing a High-power Fiber Laser

An automotive shaft was surface-remelted and hardened using a 2 kW fiber laser and an adapted linear axis whose rotating axis produced helical tracks at 120 RPM. The process variable was the laser power, ranging from 300 to 1100 W, which produced two regions in the material: a martensitic region (MR) and a partially transformed region (PTR). The MR is formed after rapid solidification or austenitization followed by rapid cooling (107 K.s-1). The PTR is composed of martensite, unchanged pearlite and proeutectoid ferrite. The maximum case depth was about 0.3 mm. The microhardness inside the martensitic regions are at least double that of the base material, i.e. between 800 than 600 HV compared to 300 HV. Thermal simulations using a modified Rosenthal formalism help elucidate the phase transformation inside the material and show good agreement with experimental results. The experimental laser-steel absorptivities were measured; they ranged between 38 and 59% depending on the laser power and the amount of liquid at the surface.

Laser beam welding aerospace aluminum using fiber lasers

This work intends to contribute towards the knowledge of AA6013 aluminum alloy weldability, autogenously welded with a high-power fiber laser. The quality and metallurgical characterization of the welds were done considering laser speed and power as process parameters. The present study shown that is possible to obtain welds with good macroscopic quality; i.e. with regular welds borders and without the presence of holes, cracks or porosities in speeds around 5 m/min using 1 kW laser power. Additionally, it had been verified that the liquation zone is well confined around 50 μm. The presence of porosities in longitudinal cuts was linked to keyhole instabilities, which could be appropriately controlled by the process parameters. Although this alloy is known for some propensity for solidification cracking, any cracking was verified. This could be linked to an appropriate thermal cycle during welding due to the high quality laser beam, which produces short solidification interval. The present results indicate that other difficult-to-weld Al-based alloys could be properly joined using the fiber laser.

Comparing mechanical behaviour of aluminium welds produced by laser beam welding (LBW), friction stir welding (FSW), and riveting for aeronautical structures

Abstract Three welding processes for aluminium parts have been considered for aircraft fabrication: riveting, friction stir welding (FSW) and laser beam welding (LBW). These processes have advantages and threats, which were analysed in the present work focusing on T-pull and Hoop tensile properties. Concerning T-pull tests, LBW coupons presented higher ability to withstand the applied loads. This was due to the better distribution of loads when the strain is done in the stringer direction. In the case of the Hoop tests, which stress only the skin, the results obtained after FSW were notably higher in terms of ultimate tensile stress, yield stress and maximum strain. It was concluded that both LBW and FSW could replace riveting usually applied for commercial aircraft manufacturing.

Ultrasonic inspection of AA6013 laser welded joints

Interest in laser beam welding for aerospace applications is continuously growing, mainly for aluminum alloys. The joints quality is usually assessed by non-destructive inspection (NDI). In this work, bead on plate laser welds on 1.6 mm thick AA6013 alloy sheets, using a 2 kW Yb-fiber laser were obtained and inspected by pulse/echo ultrasonic phased-array technique. Good and poor quality welds were inspected in order to verify the limits of inspection, comparing also to X-ray radiography and metallographic inspections. The results showed that ultrasonic phased array technique was able to identify the presence of grouped porosity, through the attenuation of the amplitude of the echo signal. This attenuation is attributed to the scattering of the waves caused by micro pores, with individual size below the resolution limit of the equipment, but when grouped, can cause a perceptive effect on the reflection spectra.

High Cycle Fatigue Behavior and Microstructural Characterization of 6013-T4 Aluminum Alloy Laser Welded Joints

Laser beam welding (LBW) may be used in the place of the traditional riveting process for the welding of the stringers to the skin in aircrafts. This work intends to investigate the mechanical behavior of laser welded aluminum AA6013, subjected to post-welding heating treatments (PWHT). A fiber laser with an average power of 1.5 kW was used to weld two 1.6mm thick sheets in T-joint configuration. After welding, the samples were separated in three groups: the first just welded, the second subjected to a PWHT during 4 hours at 190°C and the third during 2 hours at 205°C. Hoop tensile tests showed that the thermal treatment at 190 oC for four hours increased the tensile strength in 76 MPa, but the strain had decreased 4%; the thermal treatment at 205 oC for two hours increased maximum strength in 65MPa, with a decrease in strain of 5%. In T-pull tensile tests, the tensile properties of as-welded and PWHT samples remained the same. Standard S-N curve showed that the welding reduce the number of cycles to failure for the tested stairs. PWHT did not affect fatigue properties.