Distortion and residual stresses in laser beam weld shaft-hub joints

In laser beam welding, a serious challenge is to control the distortion during the process. Understanding the whole process chain in view of different distortion potentials applied in each processing step provides the ability to control the distortion of the welded components. Every manufacturing step induces residual stresses in the component which can be released by the heat of the welding process, while further residual stresses are introduced into the welded parts upon cooling. The laser beam sources of the new generation permit a high power welding process and high beam quality at the same time. These laser beams are capable of producing deep and narrow seams. Thus the thermal strains of the joined parts are expected to be minimized. Especially axial welded shaft-hub joints show an irregular distribution of bending deformation, which is caused by the self-influencing welding gap. This work deals with the investigation of different laser beam sources and their effect on the welding distortion in axial welded shafthub joints made of steel (20MnCr5). The aim of the work done was to achieve minimal distortion after the welding process. To characterize the influences on the distortion behaviour of the welded parts, residual stresses have been determined by neutron diffraction.