Laser-assisted narrow gap arc welding of an 18MND5 steel thick plate

Abstract Narrow gap arc welding is a common solution for the welding of thick structures. In this study, a defocused laser beam is used to pre-melt the narrow gap walls in front of an arc-welding bath. Such a welding configuration can be referred to a hybrid welding configuration. In the present work, a particular attention is given to evaluation of the interaction between an arc plasma and a defocused laser beam. High-speed imaging of the metal transfer through arc plasma is achieved thanks to a diode laser illumination system. Electrical arc parameters are logged, synchronously, in order to perform a correlation analysis and to make a diagnosis of the interaction level between laser beam and arc plasma.