A first assessment of laser hybrid welding of 420 mpa steel for offshore structure application

• For many years, laser hybrid welding has been used in various industries to increaseproductivity and reduce costs. One example is the adaption of the hybrid process inshipbuilding. The next natural step is to further develop the process for the oil and gasindustry, where the welded joint properties requirements are more severe, and the ability tohandle tolerance deviations is more critical. As a first attempt to develop hybrid laser processfor the use in offshore structures, the present investigation addresses preliminary weldingtrails carried out with 15 kW fibre laser with appropriate gas metal arc welding equipment,using double Y joint geometry and 20 mm thick 420 MPa steel plates. The subsequent weldtesting included both Charpy V notch impact and CTOD fracture mechanical testing at -30°C.The results indicate that the heat affected zone (HAZ) of the examined steel appeared withsatisfactory Charpy and CTOD toughness (> 200 J, > 0.2 mm) while the weld metal hadinsufficient toughness (20-40 J, < 0.2 mm). With a better welding wire, designed for lowtemperature applications, it is reasonable to suggest that laser hybrid arc welding can be usedfor applications even below a temperature of -30°C.

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Materialteknik -- Bearbetnings-, yt- och fogningsteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Materials Engineering -- Manufacturing, Surface and Joining Technology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Manufacturing Systems Engineering

Produktionsutveckling

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

kon (subject category)