Author(s)

Maxwell Wiechec¹, Brad Baker^1*, Terry McNelley², Manyalibo Matthews³, Alexander Rubenchik³, Mark Rotter³, Ray Beach³, Sheldon Wu³

¹United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD, USA.
²Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, USA.
³Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, USA.

In this research, several conditions of high power diode laser heated HY-80 steel were characterized to determine the viability of using such lasers as a preheating source before friction stir welding in order to reduce frictional forces thereby reducing tool wear and increasing welding speeds. Differences in microstructures within heat affected zones were identified at specific laser powers and traverse speeds. Vickers hardness values were recorded and analyzed to validate the formation of additional martensite in diode laser heated regions of HY-80 steel. Conditions that produced little to no additional martensite were identified and relationships among high power diode laser power, traverse speed, and martensite formation were determined. The development of heat affected zones, change in grain structure, and creation of additional martensite in HY-80 can be prevented through the optimization of laser amperage and transverse speed.

Mechanical Characterization, Martensite, Welding, Martensitic Transformations

Wiechec, M. , Baker, B. , McNelley, T. , Matthews, M. , Rubenchik, A. , Rotter, M. , Beach, R. and Wu, S. (2017) Analysis of High-Power Diode Laser Heating Effects on HY-80 Steel for Laser Assisted Friction Stir Welding Applications. World Journal of Engineering and Technology, 5, 97-112. doi: 10.4236/wjet.2017.51009.