Laser welding aluminum without filler metal using continuous wave and pulsed Nd:YAG lasers
A problem with automotive aluminum tubing applications, particularly for air conditioning heat exchanger assemblies, is terminating the tube reliably and inexpensively. An alternative to upsetting and mchining threads to the tube end is welding a nut (made from a stronger, easily machinable alloy such as Al 5456 or Al 6061) to lengths of tubing (made from a softer alloy such as Al 3003). Laser welding was investigated in order to reduce heat input and increase process speeds copared to brazing or gas metal arc welding (GMAW). Nd:YAG lasers were selected as beam source because of better absorptivity of the wavelength compared to CO{sub 2} lasers and simplified tooling with fiber optic beam delivery. It wa determined that a pulsed Nd:YAG laser produced 1.0 mm penetration at 0.3 m/min with 400 W average power, and 1.0 mm penetration at 0.75 m/min with 1000 W average power, however, an Al 4047 filler metal was required to eliminate solidification cracking. A 1900 W CW laser could weld the Al 3003 tube to the Al 5456 nut without filler metal, however, there was insufficient penetration (0.25 mm) to meet the mechanical and hermeticity requirements. To enhance penetration, but still reduce the tendency for hot cracking, the 1900 W average power beam was sine wave modulated from 400 W to 3600 W at 250 Hz and usd to weld the Al 3003 directly to the Al 5456. These parameters produced 1.2 mm penetration at 1.2 m/min without significant cracking and without using a filler metal. In addition, the welds passed all hermeticity and tensile strength tests. This combination of materials, joint design, and laser parameters produced tube assemblies that passed a leak check (300 psi nitrogen in 60{degrees}C water for 1 min) and tensile (tube breakage 100 mm from the joint, 5.2 kN tensile strength).
- OSTI ID:
- 115430
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9404233--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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