Keyhole is the most important characteristic for laser deep penetration welding, and its formation indicates the beginning of laser deep penetration welding mode. The keyhole developing process was analyzed and the keyhole formation time was calculated according to welding speed and the length of weld bead formed in the keyhole formation process. The results showed that the keyhole forms in 40 -70 ms at different rate of change of laser power. In laser deep penetration welding process, the variation of light intensity radiated by laser induced plasma can identify the keyhole formation, but it can not be used to estimate the keyhole formation time because of delay effect.
According to the differences in melting point between aluminum alloy and steel, 6013-T4 aluminum alloy was joined to galvanized steel by large spot Nd：YAG laser ＋ MIG arc hybrid brazing-fusion welding with ER4043（AlSi5） filler wire. The microstructures and mechanical properties of the brazed-fusion welded joint were investigated. The joint is divided into two parts of fusion weld and brazed seam. There is a zinc-rich zone at fusion weld toe, which consists of α（Al）-Zn solid solution and Al-Zn eutectic. The brazed seam is the Fe-Al intermetallic compounds （IMCs） layer of 2-4μm in thickness, and the IMCs include FeAl2, Fe2Al5 and Fe4Al13. FeAl2 and Fe2Al5 are located in the compact reaction layer near the steel side, and Fe4Al13 with tongue shape or sawtooth shape grows towards the fusion weld. The tensile strength of the joint firstly increases and then decreases as the welding current and laser power increase, the highest tensile strength can be up to 247.3 MPa, and the fracture usually occurs at fusion zone of the fusion weld. The hardness is the highest at the brazed seam because of hard Fe-Al IMCs, and gradually decreases along the fusion weld and galvanized steel, respectively.
Aluminum alloy plates were joined to galvanized steel sheets with lap joint by laser-MIG arc hybrid brazingfusion welding with AlSiS, AlSi12, AlMg5 filler wires, respectively. The influences of Si and Mg on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the brazed-fusion welded joint were studied. The increase of Si element in the fusion weld can make the grain refined, and increase the microhardness of the fusion weld. Therefore, the microhardness in fusion weld made from AlSi12 and AlSi5 filler wires can be up to 98.4 HV0.01 and 96.8 HV0.01, which is higher than that from AlMg5 filler wire of 70.4 HV0.01. The highest tensile strength can reach 178.9 MPa made with AlMg5 filler wire. The tensile strength is 172.43 MPa made with AlSi5 filler wire. However, the lowest tensile strength is 144 MPa made with AlSi12 filler wire. The average thicknesses of the intermetallic compounds （IMCs） layer with AlSiS, AlSi12, AlMg5 filler wires are 1.49-2.64 #m. The IMCs layer made from AlSi5, AlSi12 filler wires are identified as FeAl2, Fe2Als, Fe4Al13 and Al0.sFesSio.5, that from AlMg5 filler wire are identified as FeAl2, Fe2Al5 and Fe4Al13.
