The effect of the welding direction on the plasma and metal transfer behavior of CO2 laser+GMAW-P hybrid welding processes

•The CO2 Laser+GMAW-P hybrid welding processes behaviors have been systematically studied.•The shadow graph technique and optical emission spectroscopy were employed.•The total weld pool of arc leading mode could be depicted as “gourd-shaped” while the laser leading is like a “bullet”.•We reported the temperature and electron density distribution.

During laser–arc hybrid welding, the welding direction exerts direct effects on the plasma properties, the transient behavior of the droplet, the weld pool behavior, and the temperature field. Ultimately, it will affect the welding process and the weld quality. However, the behavior of the CO2 laser+GMAW-P hybrid welding process has not been systematically studied. In this paper, the current–voltage characteristics of different welding processes were analyzed and compared. The dynamics of the droplet transfer, the plasma behavior, and the weld pool behavior were observed by using two high-speed camera systems. Moreover, an optical emission spectroscopy was applied to analyze the plasma temperature and the electron number density. The results indicated that the electrical resistance of the arc plasma reduced in the laser leading mode. For the same pulse duration, the metal transfer mode was the spray type with the laser leading arrangement. The temperature and electron density distribution showed bimodal behavior in the case of arc leading mode, while this phenomenon does not exist in the caser of laser leading mode. The double elliptic-planar distribution which conventional simulation process used was not applicable in the laser leading mode.