Disk laser welding of armor steel

The paper describes the application of an Yb:YAG disk laser with a maximum output of 3.3 kW for the butt welding of armor steel plates ARMOX 500T 3.6 mm thick. The influence of laser welding parameters such as laser power beam, welding speed, focal point position on weld quality and mechanical properties of joints was studied. A proper selection of disk laser welding parameters provides non-porous and cracks free fully-penetrated welds with the aspect ratio up to 6.4. There was approx. 40% reduction in the hardness of heat affected zone (HAZ) in comparison to hardness of the base material (BM). The hardness values at the weld metal and the BM were similar. The joints exhibited about 15% lower ultimate tensile strength when compared with that of the BM. Charpy absorbed energy of the joints was approx. 30% lower than that of the BM.