Laser-vapour interaction in high-power cw Nd:YAG laser welding

J. Greses, P. A. Hilton, C. Y. Barlow, and W. M. Steen

Citation: ICALEO 2003, 1606 (2003); doi: 10.2351/1.5060022

View online: https://doi.org/10.2351/1.5060022
View Table of Contents: https://lia.scitation.org/toc/ica/2003/1
Published by the Laser Institute of America
Laser-Vapour Interaction in High-Power cw Nd:YAG Laser Welding (1607)
J. Greses, P.A. Hilton, TWI, Granta Park, Great Abington, Cambridge, UK; C.Y. Barlow, Engineering Department,
University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; W.M. Steen, Material Science Department, University of Cambridge,
Cambridge, UK and Laser Group, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 3GH, UK

ABSTRACT
During high-power cw Nd:YAG laser welding a vapour plume is formed containing vaporised material ejected from
the keyhole. Spectroscopic studies of the vapour emission have demonstrated that the vapour can be considered as
thermally excited gas with a stable temperature (less than 3000K), not as partially ionised plasma. In this paper, a
review of temperatures in the vapour plume is presented. The difficulties in the analysis of the plume spectroscopic
results are reviewed and explained. It is shown that particles present in the vapour interact with the laser beam,
attenuating it. The attenuation can be calculated with Mie scattering theory, however, vaporisation and particle
formation also both play a major role in this process. The laser beam is also defocused due to the scattering part of
the attenuation mechanism, changing the energy density in the laser beam. Methods for mitigating the effects of the
laser beam-vapour interaction, using control gases, are presented together with their advantages and disadvantages.
This ‘plume control’ has two complementary roles: firstly, the gas must divert the vapour plume from out of the
laser beam path, preventing the attenuation. Secondly, the gas has to stabilise the front wall of the keyhole, to
prevent porosity formation.

1. INTRODUCTION
This paper deals with the laser-vapour interaction in high-power cw Nd:YAG laser welding. In a previous paper1,
also included in these proceedings, a review of the laser-vapour interaction in high-power cw CO2 laser welding was
presented.

2. REVIEW OF THE VAPOUR TEMPERATURE WHEN ND:YAG LASER WELDING

Compared to the quantity of experimental results available on electron temperature and density in CO2 laser
welding1, only a few researchers have investigated the plume vapour temperature and electron density when pulsed
or cw Nd:YAG laser welding.

Peebles and Williamson2 detected atomic Fe lines – iron is a major contaminant in aluminium alloys - when pulsed
laser welding of Al 1100. For an incident laser irradiance of 1.6MW/cm2, the plume electron temperature was
3400±300K at a height of 0.5mm above the weld pool. The absolute upper limit of the plume temperature under any
of their conditions was 4200K, with an electron density of 5x1015cm-3. This corresponds to an ionisation fraction of
only 0.3%. They calculated that, even in the case of a fully ionised Al plasma (at more than 10000K), the total
inverse Bremsstrahlung absorption of the laser beam by the Al plasma would not exceed 2% for the Nd:YAG laser
wavelength.

Matsunawa3 investigated the spectroscopic emission from a Al-Mg alloy plume induced by pulsed Nd:YAG laser in
air and in argon atmospheres. At 1mm above the surface, an electron temperature of 3280±150K was calculated
using atomic chromium (Cr I) lines in the Boltzmann-plot method. Analysing the atomic and ionic magnesium (Mg
I and II) lines, an electron density of 1.85x1013cm-3 was calculated.

Lacroix4 studied the plumes generated when pulsed Nd:YAG laser welding stainless steel and pure iron. In their
experiments, electron temperatures based on the atomic Fe I lines varied in the range of 4500-7100K, and electron
densities in the range 3x1016cm-3 - 6.5x1016cm-3, depending on height, pulse duration, average power and shielding
gas flow rate.

Mueller5 analysed the plume spectra when cw Nd:YAG laser welding galvanised steel. At 1mm above the keyhole
aperture, a few iron line peaks were visible, but difficult to identify. Fitting the spectra emission to a blackbody
radiation curve, the calculated temperature for the plume was about 2700K, higher than the weld pool temperature.
However, atomic emission lines of aluminium, magnesium and manganese could be observed when cw Nd:YAG
laser welding of 5000 and 6000 aluminium series. In addition, Mueller5 pointed out that the lower melting point of
these materials could account for the formation of a keyhole at much lower surface temperatures and even lower
plume temperatures. However, no indication was given about the spectra being calibrated against the background
and that particular spectrometer. In a similar way, Hurup7, for the case of 2kW cw Nd:YAG laser welding of
stainless steel, was able to fit the measured radiation to a blackbody radiation shape with a blackbody temperature of
1300K.

Greses8 also applied the blackbody emission method for a calibrated plume spectrum. He stated that a plume
consisting of a thermally excited gas (at around 2000K) could be expected when 3.5kW cw Nd:YAG laser welding
mild steel, with the plume shape characteristics changing depending on the gas used as a control mechanism for the
vapour. In addition, it was found that the plume temperature was stable and independent of the control gas
parameters.

As a general result, plume temperatures when pulsed Nd:YAG laser welding seem to be higher (at around 4000K)
than the plume temperature when cw Nd:YAG laser welding (well below 3000K). The electron density of the plume
has only been calculated when pulsed Nd:YAG laser welding, and with a much lower results than when CO2 laser
welding. The methods for analysing both temperatures are different and that could account for some of the
differences. However, atomic iron lines could not be identified by Mueller5 nor Greses8 when cw Nd:YAG laser
welding mild steel, making the Boltzmann-plot method unusable under those circumstances.

In addition, the method of fitting and comparing the plume spectrum to the theoretical blackbody spectrum at any
given temperature, also presents some difficulties and problems. Blackbodies are theoretical objects with emissivity
equivalent to one, meaning they both are perfect absorbers and emitters of radiation9. The plume vapour could be
considered as a grey radiator or “greybody”, implying a spectral emissivity lower than one, but also constant over a
particular spectral range. Since spectroscopic methods are also used to analyse the plume spectrum, the same
problems and difficulties1 explained in the review of electron plasma temperatures in high-power cw CO2 laser
welding apply to the use of Nd:YAG lasers. Nevertheless, apart from the assumption of considering the plume
vapour to be a perfect blackbody, the blackbody method is much simpler and less prone to misinterpretation than the
Boltzmann-plot method used to analyse the plasma when CO2 laser welding.

In general, spectroscopic methods are expensive to perform and require considerable precision to apply correctly.
Furthermore, interpretation of the data is problematic and based on questionable assumptions (such as local
thermodynamic equilibrium in plasma conditions). A high-temperature Langmuir probe system10 could partially
solve some of the problems encountered with spectroscopic methods to accurately determine the plume temperature.

3. VAPOUR AND PARTICLE FORMATION WHEN ND:YAG LASER WELDING

The absorption of a high intensity beam by a metal can transform the solid structure of the target area into a melted
one. The melt surface temperature can exceed the boiling temperature because the laser interaction, under typical
conditions, is accompanied only by surface evaporation, and volumetric evaporation, i.e. boiling, does not occur11. A
description of the particle formation, clustering and size distribution, for Nd:YAG laser welding, was given by
Greses12. The measured diameter of the evaporated particles present in plasma vapour when cw CO2 laser welding at
3.5kW was around 4nm. Tu13 used a different approach to measure and analyse the particles present in the plasma
when 20kW CO2 laser welding, but also found a mean particle diameter of 4nm. Greses12 argued that the plasma
effect over the Knudsen layer, which controls the vaporisation process, reduces and homogenises the size of the
CO2-induced particles, although the mechanism for this is not clear. The sizes of the evaporated particles when
welding with 3.5kW of Nd:YAG laser power were also measured in the previous work12. The measured average
particle diameter was 40nm, with the particle size distributed over a wide range of diameters up to a maximum size
of 160nm, although 98% of all particles had a diameter smaller than 100nm.

Researchers have used different methods for collecting the particles generated when laser welding. Therefore, it
should be taken into account that the measured size of the particles could be affected by a number of factors,
including the distance from the weld pool/keyhole (where the particles are generated), the type of the collector, the
material of the collector (i.e. plastic, glass, etc), the laser energy intensity, the mode of laser operation (i.e. pulsed or
cw) and other laser or welding parameters. Invariably, the preferred method for analysing particle size is by
measuring the size from high-resolution TEM (transmission electron microscopy) photographs. Therefore, since
each experiment is unique in its own way, direct comparison between results from various researches is difficult and
may explain the observed size variations.
4. EXTINCTION COEFFICIENT
From the temperature and electron density results presented in the section 2, plasma absorption by inverse
Bremsstrahlung is not possible when cw Nd:YAG laser welding due to the Nd:YAG wavelength being 10 times
shorter than that of CO2 laser light1. Changes in the refractive index of the vapour, which are dependent on a
gradient of electron density, are not as steep as in CO2 laser welding, if present at all. Nevertheless, similar effects to
those caused by plasma formation when CO2 laser welding, i.e. loss of penetration and wine-glass cross-section
shapes at low speeds, have been noticed when cw Nd:YAG laser welding at high power14. Therefore, despite lower
temperatures and uncertainty about the electron density in the plume, it is apparent that the plume still plays a major
role in attenuating and/or defocusing the laser beam.

Mie scattering applies to the scattering of light by a group of spheres. All the spheres should be of the same diameter
and composition and they should also be randomly distributed and separated from each other by distances that are
large compared to the wavelength of the light15. The rigorous demonstration of Mie scattering theory for spheres (i.e.
particles) of arbitrary size is outside the scope of this paper, but can be found in16. Van de Hulst16 also gives some
simple formulae for general use in a medium containing a number of particles per unit volume (N). The extinction
coefficient (αEXT) in that medium, independently of the state of polarisation of the incident light, is caused by
scattering and absorption (also in17) and can be defined as

α EXT = QEXT πr 2 N (1)

where r is the average radius of the particles, N the number of particles per unit volume, and QEXT, is given by

 8πr m 2 − 1 4  πr  3  m 2 − 1  2 m 4 + 27 m 2 + 38 
QEXT = − Im +    2  
 λ m + 2 15  λ   m + 2  2m 2 + 3
2

2
8  2πr  m 2 − 1  6  2πr  m 2 − 1 
4 2

+   2 1 +   2 + ... (2)
3  λ  m + 2  5  λ  m + 2 

where m is the complex refractive index (m = n + ik) and λ the laser wavelength.

The first part of equation (2), is recognised as the absorption term (QABS), and within this only the first fraction is
generally significant. The second part is the scattering term (QSCA), where again only the first part of the expanded
series is relevant and has been included in equation (4). This formula is valid if the second part of the scattering
term16 is less than 0.2. In this case, QEXT = QABS + QSCA, with

4 2
 8πr m 2 − 1  8  2πr  m 2 − 1
Q ABS = − Im  (3) QSCA =   (4)
 λ m + 2
2
3  λ  m2 + 2

Equation (4), QSCA, is the well-known Rayleigh scattering formula, which is a special case of Mie scattering
theory15. The term QSCA was also derived by Matsunawa and Ohnawa18, but using the complex refractive index
rather than the dielectric constant. Although in equation (4), the scattering term is inversely proportional to the 4th
power of the wavelength, this does not necessarily mean that the scattered loss is also proportional in the same way,
since the refractive index of most metals, including iron, strongly depends on the wavelength16.

The extinction, i.e. absorption plus scattering, coefficient, approaches a definite limit if the size of the particle
increases. As indicated before, equations (1-4) will be valid if the second part of the scattering term in equation (2)
is less than 0.2, which translates16 into the term 2πr/λ being less than 0.3. This is true when the particle diameter is
smaller than 1/10th of the wavelength of the light9. For the Nd:YAG laser wavelength (1.064µm), the maximum
particle radius for general validity of the equations (1-4) is therefore 50nm. Since the particles in the plume (see
section 3) have been measured with an approximate radius of less than 25nm (less than 50nm in diameter), the given
equations appear applicable. It should also be stressed that the evaporated mass, i.e. number of particles per unit
volume (N), plays the main role in the attenuation.

For pure Fe radiated with 1µm wavelength, the complex refractive index19 (m) equates to 3.81+4.44i and
considering an average particle radius of 20nm, then from equations (3) and (4), QSCA = 5.492x10-4 and QABS =
4.497x10-2. The scattering (QSCA) can be considered practicably negligible compared to the absorption, for very
small particle radius.

A different problem faced when using this refractive index is the issue of the composition of the particles. For the
attenuation results in the paper by Greses12, the particles were presented as being pure iron and the appropriate
refractive index has been used. However, an analysis of the particles showed a combination of particles made of
pure iron and its oxides, as also indicated by Tu13 for CO2 results. Only a very small quantity of oxygen in the plume
is required for the iron particles to oxidise. Matsunawa20,21 analysed the gas composition inside the pores, showing
that entrained trapped oxygen reacted with the base metal forming oxides on the wall of the pore. However, most of
the trapped gas inside the pore came from the gas used as plume control or shielding gas, indicating that due to the
instabilities of the keyhole it is possible for the gas, even the atmospheric gas which contains oxygen, to enter the
keyhole. Although it can be assumed that oxidation takes place both during welding and after welding is completed,
it may be a good approximation to use the complex refractive index of pure iron for the attenuation calculations.

In general, the extinction coefficient is very difficult to determine with accuracy, not only due to the difficulty of
calculating the refractive index of the evaporated particles that form the plume, but due to the uncertainly in the
values of particle density and radii.

5. PLUME EFFECTS

5.1 Attenuation
The laser intensity I(z) transmitted through the plume-laser interaction zone along a path length z can be described
by the Beer’s law as

I ( z ) = I O e − zα EXT (5)

where I0 is the incident intensity of the laser beam and αEXT the extinction coefficient from Mie scattering theory,
equation (1).

Tsubota22 directly measured the attenuation of a probe laser (different laser types were tried: CO2, Nd:YAG and He-
Ne) crossing a plume perpendicular to the main Nd:YAG laser beam. For the CO2 probe wavelength, the beam
attenuation was nearly constant, at 5%, along the length of the plume. For the Nd:YAG probe, the beam attenuation
varied from over 50%, at a height of 3.5 mm from the weld pool, to around 20% at 15 mm. For the He-Ne probe
laser, the attenuation was even higher than observed for the Nd:YAG wavelength18. Both Tsubota22 and
Matsunawa18 pointed to Rayleigh scattering as the main mechanism for beam attenuation.

A different approach for understanding effect of the plume on the laser beam, was studied by Russo23. For a single
Nd:YAG laser pulse (i.e. no keyhole formation), a Huygens-Kirchhoff diffraction model was used with several
plume shapes, at atmospheric pressures. The plume temperature decreased from the boiling point of the metal at the
top of the weld pool, to ambient values several cm above the surface. The laser power at the centre of the plume was
significantly reduced and the laser power intensity redistributed over a larger radius. Unfortunately, the effect of
plume diffraction when cw keyhole Nd:YAG welding was not included in this research, but this topic should be
further investigated for a better understanding of the effect of the plume on the laser beam.

Greses12 measured the attenuation of a 9W Nd:YAG probe laser beam, horizontally incident across the plume
generated by a high-power Nd:YAG laser, at various positions with respect to the beam-metal interaction point. Up
to 40% attenuation, that is absorption plus scattering, was measured at positions corresponding to zones of high
concentration of vapour plume. The attenuation decreased along the plume, away from the top of the keyhole as the
volume ratio (particle density) decreases. It was found that an increase in attenuation of the incident beam
significantly reduced weld penetration and fusion area24, although the use of a gas side jet to “blow” the plume away
from the laser interaction path was proven as an effective method of reducing the attenuation.

A knowledge of the evaporated mass contained in the plume is critical to estimate the attenuation of the laser beam
by the plume. Greses25 found that the evaporation rate when welding approximately doubled, from ~0.012g/s to
~0.024g/s, when changing from a Nd:YAG laser power of 2kW to 3.5kW. The focal spot was kept constant at
0.6mm. However, since the vaporisation rate is dependent on the energy density, the plume formation and associated
attenuation will also affect the vaporisation rate. As explained in section 4, the plume formation changes the energy
density via attenuation of the laser beam.

5.2 Scattering
Lacroix26 modelled the scattering effect in the plume using a radiative transfer model in a semitransparent medium.
The scattering produced a significant defocusing effect on the laser beam, which increased with high particle volume
ratios. For larger particles (around 1µm) the plume temperature decreased (due to less absorption as reflected in
equations (3) and (4)).

Another aspect that has to be considered when using Mie scattering theory is the direction of the scattered radiation.
Following the same approach that derived equations (3) and (4) from Mie scattering theory (equation (2)), then the
intensity of the scattered light for perpendicular (IPerp) and parallel (IParall) polarisation is defined as16

6 2 6 2
 2πr   m2 − 1   2πr   m2 −1 
I Perp =   2  (6) I Parall =   2  cos 2 θ (7)
 λ  m + 2  λ  m + 2

where r is the particle radius, λ the laser wavelength, m the complex refractive index of the particles and θ the
scattering angle.

Equations (6) and (7) represent Rayleigh or elastic scattering. For a particle radius of 20nm, m=3.81+4.44i and
λ=1.064 (Nd:YAG), the intensities are plotted in polar co-ordinates, in Figure 1. This was generated using MiePlot
v2.0 developed by Laven27.

Figure 1 Intensity of the scattered light for perpendicular and

parallel polarisation based on equations (6) and (7) for
Rayleigh scattering using MiePlot v2.0 from Laven27.

Lacroix27 calculated that for the Nd:YAG laser wavelength, a particle diameter of 50nm and m=1.21+1.3x10-3i, the
incoming beam was scattered isotropically in the forward and backward direction, with minor deviations on the side
direction of the incoming beam. For bigger particles of 1µm diameter, keeping the same wavelength and complex
refractive index, there is a departure from the plane of symmetry, with more light being scattered in the forward
direction. This phenomenon is often called the Mie effect15. Some researchers have tried to control the welding
process by monitoring the back-reflected light through the optical delivery system of the laser28. However, it is not
clear if the collected light is coming from the Mie effect, emitted by the plume vapour or directly reflected from the
metallic surface or the weld pool. Hansen and Duley29 also investigated the angular distribution of the scattered
light, leading to similar results to those obtained by Lacroix26.

6. PLUME CONTROL
When Nd:YAG laser welding12, the interaction (i.e. attenuation) of the laser beam by the plume above the surface of
the workpiece reduces welding efficiency. However, as opposed to the many different ways of controlling the
plasma formation when CO2 laser welding1, only one method of control, by suppressing or restricting the plume
vapour formation above the keyhole using a gas side jet, has been applied successfully to date when cw high-power
Nd:YAG laser welding. Olivier and Gerritsen30 and Greses12,24 showed that when Nd:YAG laser welding, the
ionisation potential of the gas was not as important as in CO2 laser welding but that the position of the side jet was
critical for high penetration and quality in the weld.

Reilly31 demonstrated, in a theoretical approach to the interaction between a side jet and a supersonic vapour
emerging from the keyhole, the importance of the dynamic pressure of the side jet on the plume. However, the
vapour jet is not supersonic during laser welding32. Nevertheless, the dynamic pressure of the side jet is very
important and is influenced by many parameters, such as type of gas, nozzle diameter, side jet position, etc.

Douay33 presented a study of a free jet, modelling the behaviour of the gas as it exits the tip of the side jet nozzle.
When this model was tested against an idealised plasma emerging from a keyhole when CO2 laser welding, it was
found that a helium side jet flow with a Mach number of only ~0.4, far from supersonic, was necessary to divert the
idealised plasma by 90degrees. The idealised plasma vapour was based on experimental data that estimated a flow
rate of 0.04g/s and a velocity of 150m/s. Following on Douay’s work33, Hamadou34 also simulated the interaction
between the plasma vapour and the gas side jet, by 3D modelling of how the thermo-convective effects from the
heated surface and the flow induced by the ejected plasma could perturb the control gas.

Kamimuki35 studied the prevention of welding defects by the use of a gas side jet when cw Nd:YAG laser welding.
Gas delivery angles which are too small (10°) and too large (40°) result in humping formation. With an increase of
the gas side jet pressure, the bead width became narrower and the penetration depth became deeper, although too
much pressure also caused humping bead formation. It was found by Kamimuki35 that when the position of the gas
side jet is optimum, the front wall of the keyhole changes the direction of the vaporised flow. The resultant
backward vapour flow pushes the molten metal to the rear, and the width of the keyhole is increased. A deep hollow
is thus formed in the molten pool just behind the keyhole. The molten metal near the surface flows rapidly
backwards along the backward vapour flow. By the formation of this hollow, the distance between the molten
surface and the tip of the keyhole shortened, allowing bubbles generated at the tip of the keyhole to easily come up
to the pool surface. However, due to the weak molten metal flow along the bottom of the molten pool, some of the
bubbles move along the bottom part of pool and are trapped at the solidifying front, remaining as porosity. This
backward liquid flow in the weld pool, which is generated by the side jet, enlarges and stabilises the keyhole
opening. As a result, the Nd:YAG laser beam can reach directly to the bottom of the keyhole and thus the
penetration depth increases. Reduced porosity formation when CO2 laser welding, results more from increased
plasma stability than the widening of the keyhole1.

The enlargement of the keyhole and weld pool by dual36, and triple focus beam welding37, has been emerging lately
as a method to control the keyhole and/or the plume formation. Dual and triple focus beam welding was originally
intended as a porosity control mechanism, although it was found that this could also benefit plume control. Filler
wire addition could play a similar role to that of multi-focus beams, enlarging the keyhole and weld pool38,39.

The gases used in plume control do not differ from those whose characteristics were described in a previous paper1,
although the ionisation property is not as important1. However, there is more use of heavier gases such as to “blow
away” the plume, when Nd:YAG laser welding.

7. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

It is reasonable to state that the temperature of the plume vapour when Nd:YAG laser welding mild steels lies
between 2000 and 3000K. In contrast to the plasma temperature when CO2 laser welding, the calculation of plume
temperature is not sensitive to the ratio between atomic/ionic lines since these lines can not be detected.
Furthermore, it is believed that the blackbody method to calculate the temperature in the plume is less problematic
than the Boltzmann-plot method used to calculate plasma temperature.

As in CO2 laser welding1, the use of different control gas conditions when Nd:YAG welding does not affect the
plume temperature, but does affect the size and extent of the plume vapour. The size of the plume is extremely
important as this determines the particle density within it, and therefore the attenuation coefficient due to Mie
scattering. As discussed in section 4, the laser beam will be absorbed by the plume and part scattered. Due to the
size of the particles forming the plume when Nd:YAG laser welding (less than 50nm in radius), the attenuation of
the Nd:YAG laser beam is mainly due to absorption, with only a small part of the beam being scattered. However,
enough absorption and scattering is produced by the plume when high-power Nd:YAG laser welding, to defocus the
laser beam and change its energy density. A defocusing of the laser beam will reduce the maximum penetration that
can be achieved at a certain energy density and processing speed. Defocusing is also responsible for changes in the
weld shape, mainly the wine-glass cross section, and porosity formation, due to the plume instabilities causing
keyhole collapse. It was found that optimisation of the penetration can be achieved using a side jet of argon gas
delivered at a high flow rate and using a small diameter, precisely positioned nozzle24. However, the tolerance in the
gas side jet position when Nd:YAG laser welding was very narrow (less than 1mm with respect to the impingement
position of the laser beam with the workpiece). This is due to the delicate balance between the two roles of the
control gas. Firstly, the gas side jet diverts the plume ejected from the keyhole from the interaction path with the
laser beam. Secondly, the gas side jet further opens the keyhole opening stabilising the keyhole front wall.

8. COMPARISON OF RESULTS OF Nd:YAG AND CO2 LASER WAVELENGHTS

As explained earlier1, the aim of this work was a better understanding of the physical processes involved in the
interaction between the laser beam (of different wavelengths) and the vapour ejected from the keyhole, and its
effects. In summary, the differences between temperature and composition in the vapour outside the keyhole for CO2
and Nd:YAG laser welding of mild steel have been established. These differences in temperature and composition
are responsible for the effects that the plasma/plume vapour produces in the weld, being mainly the weld shape and
its penetration. When CO2 laser welding, defocusing of the laser beam due to a gradient of electron temperature,
density and refractive index in the plasma changes the beam energy distribution and focal position. For Nd:YAG
laser welding, defocusing due to scattering is also largely responsible for the weld shape, although the absorption
part of the attenuation is responsible for changes in penetration. These conclusions should help in understanding the
steps necessary to provide higher quality and repeatable keyhole welds under high-power laser conditions.

As a final conclusion, a summary of the overall project, highlighting the plasma/plume formation characteristics and
its effects in CO2 and Nd:YAG high-power laser welding, are presented in Table 1 and 2.

Comments Comments
Laser Source CO2 Nd:YAG
Characteristics
Wavelength 10.6µm 1.06µm
Vapour 6500K Partially ionised plasma 2000K Thermally excited gas due to
Temperature to formed due to inverse to the low radiative transfer from
12000K Bremsstrahlung absorption 3000K attenuation
in the laser beam
Measured ~ 4nm The plasma affects the ~ 40nm The particle size is distributed
Particle Knudsen layer (formed over a large range due to
Diameter in between the liquid and lower temperatures in the
Vapour vapour phase of the vapour, possible caused by
outside the keyhole), minimising and localised high temperature
Keyhole homogenising the particle areas in the keyhole or vapour.
size.

Table 1 Summary of plasma/plume effects in CO2 and Nd:YAG high-power laser welding.
 Comments Comments
Laser Source CO2 Nd:YAG
Characteristics
Vaporisation Not The effect of the plasma on ~ 0.024g/s Depends on the energy density
Rate measured the Knudsen layer also of the laser beam.
in this reduces the vaporisation
work rate.
Loss Plasma Although the plasma Attenuation Mie particle scattering theory
Mechanism absorption absorption is small when (absorption is applicable to calculate the
causing using an optimised control and energy loss in the plume. The
beam gas, the absorbed energy is scattering) major part of the energy is
defocusing enough to create a gradient absorbed, with a small part
of electron temperate and being scattered. Attenuation
density, resulting in a mainly depends on the
gradient of refractive index vaporised mass in the plume
in the plasma. and the refractive index of the
particles.
Recommended A high ionisation potential The molecular weight of the
Process Helium is important. Argon gas is important. CO2 and N2
Control Gas can also be used depending on
the material characteristics.

Energy 100% Plasma formation may Plume formation attenuates

Transfer with a enhance the energy transfer 85-90% the energy transfer between
Efficiency with helium between the beam and the the beam and the workpiece.
Optimised control gas workpiece. The incident with an The incident energy density is
Control Gas at energy density is modified argon modified due to beam
low speeds due to beam defocusing. control gas defocusing caused by Mie
( < 1 m/min) scattering.
Energy 100% The laser-plasma 100% The laser-plume interaction
Transfer Eff. or close interaction does not effect or close does not effect to a great
at high speeds to a great extent the extent the transfer efficiency.
( > 1 m/min) transfer efficiency.
Penetration By doing a comparison between CO2 and Nd:YAG laser welding at 3.5kW using
optimised control gas conditions, the penetration was higher for the CO2 laser light than
for the Nd:YAG laser light. The higher penetration could be due to the higher beam
quality of the CO2 laser.
Weld Shape Wine-glass at low speeds ( < 1 m/min) Wine-glass at low speeds ( < 1m/min)
The weld shape is caused by the The weld shape is caused by the defocusing
defocusing of the laser beam as it crosses of the laser beam via the Mie scattering
the plasma. The plasma has its higher mechanism as it crosses the plume.
electron temperature and density inside The geometrical characteristics of a gas side
the keyhole, close to the top part, re- jet help to stabilise the front keyhole wall to
radiating part of the absorbed energy into prevent porosity formation, as well as
the keyhole, maybe stabilising the front diverting the plume away from the path of
keyhole walls. the laser beam.

Table 2 Summary of plasma/plume effects in CO2 and Nd:YAG high-power laser welding (continuation Table 1).

9. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
TWI equipment and the dedication of the staff of the Laser Department made this work possible. Part of this
research was carried under EPSRC grant No. 99313089.
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Meet the authors:

José Greses joined the Laser and Sheet Processes Group of TWI (UK) in May 2003, after completion of his PhD on
laser welding at the Engineering Department of the University of Cambridge (UK). E-mail: jose.greses@twi.co.uk.
Paul Hilton is Technology Manager at the Laser and Sheet Processes Group at TWI (UK), Claire Barlow is Senior
Lecturer at the Engineering Department of the University of Cambridge (UK) and Bill Steen is Emeritus Professor at
the University of Liverpool and Distinguished Research Fellow at the Univ. of Cambridge (UK).