NOVEL WELDING STRATEGY IN HIGH DEPOSITION RATE LASER-ASSISTED DOUBLE-WIRE WELDING PROCESS WITH NONTRANSFERRED ARC

Laser-assisted double wire welding with nontransferred arc melts material using an arc between two conveyed wires. Driven by gravity the molten metal drops onto the substrate. A laser beam is oscillated on the melt pool to bond the weld beads to the substrate without undercuts. Claddings at high deposition rates (11.6 kg/h) were performed with 316L on mild steel. The first welding strategy (AAA) is to weld adjacent beads (A) with a varied track spacing of 7 to 9 mm. The second strategy (ABA) consists of beads (A) welded at a distance of 14 to 18 mm from each other, so that a third bead (B) can be deposited in the space between. Claddings with the determined track spacing for AAA of 9 mm and ABA 18 mm were created in order to compare the resulting surface properties. The ABA cladding did not achieve a more uniform surface and less waviness than the AAA cladding.