Improvement of laser keyhole formation with the assistance of arc plasma in the hybrid welding process of magnesium alloy

In the previous work, low-power laser/arc hybrid welding technique is used to weld magnesium alloy and high-quality weld joints are obtained. In order to make clear the interactions between low-power laser pulse and arc plasma, the effect of arc plasma on laser pulse is studied in this article. The result shows that the penetration of low-power laser welding with the assistance of TIG arc is more than two times deeper than that of laser welding alone and laser welding transforms from thermal-conduction mode to keyhole mode. The plasma behaviors and spectra during the welding process are studied, and the transition mechanism of laser-welding mode is analyzed in detail. It is also found that with the assistance of arc plasma, the threshold value of average power density to form keyhole welding for YAG laser is only 3.3×104 W/cm2, and the average peak power density is 2.6×105 W/cm2 in the present experiment. Moreover, the distribution of energy density during laser pulse is modulated to improve the formation and stability of laser keyholes.