Suitability of high alloyed wire electrodes for the positional laser-GMA-hybrid welding. (11th October 2010) - Lorenz, S.
Laser-gas metal arc (GMA)-hybrid welding enables a high deposition rate and a stable welding process. Process stability was found to be profoundly dependent on the type of the applied filler wire (solid or tubular cored). Whereas solid wires are deposited in pulsed arc mode, tubular cored wire electrodes are weldable by a stable spray-arc process within a wide operating range. This fact applies above all to a high alloyed metal cored wire electrode, of which the achievable deposition rates exceed the upper limits recommended by the manufacturer. A further interesting aspect is the application of a rutile tubular cored wire for positional laser-GMA-hybrid welding. A modern 20 kW-fibre laser source was available for the experiments. This study is concerned with the weldability of high alloyed tubular cored electrodes for high power laser-GMA-hybrid welding. Results obtained from comparative investigations between tubular cored and solid wire electrodes relating to process stability are summarised.