Dissimilar welding of carbon steel to 5754 aluminum alloy by Nd:YAG pulsed laser

Laser welding of low carbon steel to 5754 aluminum alloy was studied in keyhole welding mode in steel-on-aluminum overlap configuration. In order to decrease formation of intermetallic components during laser welding, effect of laser power, pulse duration and overlapping factor was investigated. Tensile test was performed to identify the effect of each parameter on the weld. The phase composition was characterized by energy dispersive spectrometry and Vickers microhardness test and microstructure by optical and scanning electronic microscopes. Results obtained show that increasing peak power (in constant pulse energy), pulse duration (in constant peak power) and overlapping factor (in constant pulse energy and peak power) will increase percentage of intermetallic components (PIC). On the other hand, decreasing the mentioned parameters will cause destructive effects such as inadequate penetration depth, spattering and cavity formation. Improvement in the tensile strength was attributed to low values of intermetallic components in weld metal. Finally, an optimized peak power, pulse duration and overlapping factor were reported.